Casa Rural Nelia — Restaurant in Villalba de la Sierra

Our expectations were probably too high.

As context, we eat out a lot all over the world, and have visited Spain many, many times and embrace all manner of cuisines.

Initially lovely atmosphere, lots of families eating Saturday lunch together very buzzy!

Had been highly recommended to visit and made a special trip. We were 6 visitors from the Uk. Nice food. Not exceptional, however very patchy staff. Not well trained, not very friendly, did not expect an English menu, and there was not one available anyway, which was fine as one of our party has pretty good Spanish and we had even written down our order to read to the waitress from, having done lots of Google translation at the table to make sure we got the right food.

When we asked about details of whether vegetables came with each main course were told no, and when asked whether we could order extra, were told categorically no extra vegetables available or potatoes or even chips available ( even though other dishes came with veg and chips) to accompany what was a very delicious but lonely piece of venison for example.

2 major errors in our order. One a missing main course the other pork instead of fish.

No apology, or attempt to find a solution given, quite the opposite they blamed us and the younger of the 2 waitresses just shrugged.

No attention to detail, very little help or understanding that Spanish was not our first language.

Very disappointing and a very late offer of 4 free espressos but again no apology at all.

A feeling that they were a bit indifferent as we were not Spanish and that they are resting on their laurels having been established for so long.

Another large Spanish party were at point of payment very disgruntled as we left too, which made us feel we were not alone in being less than happy with...

I had high hopes for this restaurant, but unfortunately, it fell short in every aspect. From the rushed service to the subpar food, my experience was extremely disappointing.

We had reservations at 4 PM, but within one minute of walking in, the server was already pressuring us to order. It felt like they were trying to rush us out the door. We ordered drinks, which were promptly delivered to our table, but before we could even finish them, the server was back asking if we were ready to order appetizers and mains.

The food came out at lightning speed, which is definitely not a good sign in Spain where meals are meant to be enjoyed leisurely. By 4:30, the server was already asking if we wanted dessert because the kitchen was closing. Why take a reservation for 4 PM if the kitchen is going to close just 30 to 40 minutes later?

To make matters worse, the food was not worth the rushed service. The homemade pasta was mushy, the calamari lacked flavor and tasted fishy, the steak was chewy and full of gristle, and they drowned the foie gras in an overwhelming amount of jelly. The only saving grace was the gazpacho, which was actually quite good.

Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. It was a complete letdown and I am baffled as to why Michelin would even consider giving it a rating. Save yourself the disappointment and...

Volvimos a este restaurante con el objetivo de tomar el ajo arriero con albaricoque que tan buen sabor de boca nos dejó en una ocasión anterior y debo reconocer que estaba tan rico como lo recordábamos. Pero eso fue todo lo que podemos resaltar de la cena. Pedimos chuletas de cordero lechal a la brasa, secreto de cerdo con salsa de frutas y una pizza de secreto que nos llamó la atención. Para empezar pedí una caña que sirvieron en un vaso desportillado. Apenas habían servido los entrantes cuando nos trajeron los platos de carne, cosa que nos sorprendió porque tuvimos que dejar los primeros sin terminar para que no se nos enfriaran las carnes, lo que por cierto también ocurrió muy rápidamente. Nos sorprendió este hecho ya que siendo un restaurante que tiene un cocinero dedicado específicamente a las brasas en el centro de la terraza nos trajeron las chuletas y el cordero como si se tratase de un restaurante chino en el que sirven todos los platos a la vez. Las escasas chuletas se sirvieron sin ningún tipo de acompañamiento, aunque fuera dos tristes hojas de lechuga. El secreto era un amontonamiento de trozos y la salsa de frutas no la encontramos por ningún sitio. Pedimos una ración de pan que estaba seco y un tanto duro. Al preguntar si nos lo podían tostar un poco la camarera nos contestó que no era posible, (nueva sorpresa). La pizza se salvaba. En definitiva, para un restaurante que trata de tener un toque de distinción creemos que tiene todavía mucho margen de mejora. La relación calidad precio deja un tanto que desear. Solamente volvería a por el ajo arriero con...