El Bareto — Restaurant in Leeds

If I could share another half star here I would as I feel three is a bit harsh, but I can't justify four stars.

The restaurant has a wonderfully rustic and authentic feel to it, and clear to see this is potentially family ran, although the majority of waiters and waitresses were from Leeds. I think perhaps one of the owners is whom meets and greets at the bar as you enter, and takes payments at the end.

We were introduced to our table in the basement, where the majority of the restaurant is sat. The wooden red stained tables and stools really gave it the look and feel of a back street tapas bar in Seville, whilst they were pretty uncomfortable and on their last legs (excuse the pun) it still felt very authentic. However, then came the menu - it was clear to see that this bill wasn't going to be one of a back street tapas bar; so high expectations at this stage.

The waiter greeted us, to which he gave us some complimentary bread sticks (which were delicious) and some menus. It took him at least 10-15 minutes to return take a drinks order however, with the bar literally situated behind our table. At this point we ordered drinks & food at the same time.

We decided on six dishes, as recommended, to share between two. Potatoes Alioli, Spanish Meatballs, Chorizo in Spanish Cider, 'Garlic King Prawns', Jamon and Cheese Bread and Jalaepneo Croquettes. Some of these choices are questionable, but they simply didn't have a menu full of choice. I am comparing this with Bar San Juan, in Chorlton Manchester, very similar size and setting, similar feel, only much more choice and absolutely sublime food. I was looking for ox cheek amongst other dishes, but they simply weren't available.

I asked the waiter if they had pil pil prawns, one of my favourite dishes, to which he pointed to the garlic king prawns on the menu. I was dubious, if they were pil pil the menu would say, and at £8.95 for one dish you'd expect them to be pretty sure. Anyway, the dishes came, I'd probably say all within 3-4 minutes of us ordering, which I found quite unsettling.

We received what felt like a pot of 6 King prawns in some microwaved garlic oil, not prepared with the usual peppers and fresh hot oil of normal basque pil pil. The potatoes were greasy and a bit sickly. The jamon and cheese was essentially half of a ham and cheese toasted bagel that wasn't great. Chorizo was extremely greasy, and has no element of cider to them at all. The food that came first, potatoes, chorizo, meatballs and prawns were not freshly prepared, they were definitely a mixture of microwaved or dipped back in the fryer. On a slightly positive note, the jalepeno croquettes were OK, the meatballs were very tasty. As was the jug of sangria, this was very well prepared indeed.

To finish, I ordered an espresso, as well as a potion white chocolate cheesecake to share. Great coffee and even better dessert. I didn't expect the dessert to be that tasty after the level of disappointment from the mains, but it was!

The bill came to £73.70 with service charge added that wasn't discretionary. For what we had, it felt very very steep. I'd expect the quality of the food to be much better. That said, it was an overall pleasant experience but I couldn't see myself re-visiting. The owner (I believe) did ask us how our food was twice when paying, I felt she sensed we weren't overly impressed, despite claiming everything was fine.

I wouldn't put anyone off going here, it has a great look and feel to it and I'm sure there are other menu options that are much better than what we chose. However having visited the aforementioned San Juan, as well as several other tapas settings, and in some instances at less of a cost, I can't say that this place comes...

The food and service here is terrible, my wife and I went a few weeks ago for some simple tapas dishes when they arrived everything was frozen cheap food tasteless and unappetising. Couldn’t even attempt to eat a few of the dishes after trying them so I ask for the waitress to take them away and I expressed I wasn’t happy for pay for the dishes I havent eaten . Once the waitress past the message on to he manage I was then confronted by a very defensive and rude woman. She came over and try to tell me how good the food was and that she didn’t appreciate the fact I returned the dishes I wasn’t happy with. After this very stressful confrontation she left and was speaking to here staff in Spanish as they gives us aggressive looks. This continued for about 15 minutes in which time I still haven’t received my bill for the food I was willing to pay for ,we then decided to walk upstairs to the bar at the entrance to the restaurant were we were greeted with a full team of staff all talking about us. A Spanish man sat at the bar was in the middle of all this so I asked “is there a problem and can I have my bill” the Spanish man who I now know is the owner of the restaurant then start shouting “why don’t like the food” of which i explained how it was frozen tasteless food . He then shouted “ of course it’s frozen food , no where does fresh food anymore you idiot” he then swore at me and threatened to call the police , at this point I had enough and agreed with him and told him to call the police as he was robing people charging high end prices for very low standard food. We left at the moment feeling very angry and anxious, not the feelings I was looking for . We shall never be returning...

Having lived in chapel A for 7 years I used to visit often and was excited to take my partner here who recently moved in with me in the neighbourhood.

Unfortunately it wasn’t the experience that i remembered and wanted to introduce to her.

I’m writing this as genuine feedback to the owners and not as a complaint.

Previously the restaurant had an excellent atmosphere and feel with nice candle lit atmosphere and great home cooked food.

However unfortunately now, a lot of the food does not appear home cooked. The services was amazing as I remembered it but for the food alone I would no longer return. Which is a huge shame as this would be the kind of place I would visit monthly if it was as it used to be!

In these kind of places small details matter such as real candles vs fake ones. But ultimately it was the food that was lacking and did not taste home made or authentic.

Again this is not meant as complaint, but as constructive feedback and with the knowledge that this place has...