La Nacional — Restaurant in New York

Phenomenal Spanish tapas restaurant! La Nacional has been one of my friend's favorite NYC restaurants for the last three years, and I can absolutely see why -- the food is incredible and relatively affordable (especially for Chelsea Market), and the vibes are immaculate.

We came by for dinner on a Friday evening, and the place was absolutely bustling. Both floors were completely packed, but we thankfully had a reservation so were able to make it to our spot, a cute little two-top nestled in the corner of the second floor, with ease. We were seated right next to the curtain, which opens up to reveal a live band during the weekends -- our server made a great pitch for the live music, so we'll have to be back some other time to get the full experience.

We split a few dishes, including the patatas bravas, croquettes, green mac and cheese, and seafood paella. The portions were massive, so this was more than enough food for the two of us, and could have easily fed a third person and/or been our lunch for the next day. The patatas bravas were super crispy, with a delightfully soft, fluffy interior, and they were served on a giant, boat-like platter that stretched across our entire table. The potatoes were dotted with dollops of two sauces, a slightly spicy and tangy red sauce and a lovely aioli. The same aioli was served with the croquettes, which were perfectly crispy and oozing with gooey, melted cheese.

The green mac and cheese was similarly oozing with gooey, melted cheese, which coated the perfectly soft noodles alongside the various green veggies and herbs mixed into the sauce. The little cast iron skillet was then topped with another layer of melted and broiled cheese, and the entire dish was decadent, with a bit of a unique twist and hint of freshness from the herbs and veggies. The paella was, of course, phenomenal, as to be expected from any Spanish restaurant. The rice was super flavorful and had a slight bite, especially the slightly charred bits at the bottom of the pan. It was topped with a generous helping of assorted seafood, including mussels, squid, and shrimp. A small squeeze of lemon added a hint of brightness to the dish, making it the perfect centerpiece...

This place was the absolute biggest disappointment. I wanted so badly to love it but from the start something felt off. The waiters do not wear uniform which may not be a big deal to many people but it is simply unprofessional. It took a very long time for our server to arrive at our table, I do not even think she realized we were there. Once she came to our table she was not very welcoming, the restaurant was not very busy however she seemed very frantic. She rushed us through ordering and seemed to get annoyed by the questions we asked. Since we felt uncomfortable we only ordered croquettes and paella negra. We ordered half and half croquettes so we tried ham and cheese and mushroom. They were both good, the ham and cheese being the winner of the two. The paella was not good. It had pretty much no flavor. It came with squid, mussels and shrimp. The shrimp were ok but a little rubbery, the squid was absolutely inedible. After complaining about a lack of flavor from the paella our waitress excused it by saying they were busy, that should not have been the case. Despite the disappointments we still wanted to try dessert because I had heard wonderful things. We tried the churros which I would not even consider churros. They were absolutely atrocious and I do not think that is an over exaggeration. They had zero sugar dusted on them and they were so bland. The only thing you could taste was the oil. We did not eat them whatsoever and after telling our waitress that they were also not good she responded by saying “they’re our best seller so they’re good”. That is beyond inappropriate for a waitress to say. I have never experienced such a rude server. Overall it seemed more like a spanish diner than a restaurant, you will get spanish food for a good price but not good quality. As for the atmosphere it was very odd, it did not seem like it should have been a restaurant. There was a random TV on the wall that showed scenic places which just seems odd. I will definitely not be going back here, so many amazing spanish restaurants in new york and...

Extreamly mean host. Restaurant had a lot of vacancies. I asked to move to a bigger table because they gave a dark corner table that’s for the size of two ( we had three people). Then she responded to my request to change table: your booking is for 7. We hold table for 15 minutes. I didn’t change the reservation because in the system, it is extreamly clear that every time-slot has vacancy. Walking in would be appropriate. I was confused by how she responded because her response was not relevant to my question and all she seemed to do was trying to blame on customer for missing a prior reservation. If the restaurant had no vacancy or had a strict policy for 15 min, they didn’t have to let us sit in the first place. I asked if she was asking us to leave. She said no and put on a fake smile to say she hopes us to have a good night (already ruined by her) and finally let us switch to a table of a suitable size and had some lighting. I felt angry and embarrassed by the host who gave us a tiny dark table next to the restroom in the first place, and then trying to act like a Karen. Will never visit again and recommend to nobody. Almost every dish was extremely salty. Saw the host asking other customers if a table was okay, after being extremely mean to us when we asked for a bigger table . We are Asian. Not sure if it was related to how she treated us-giving us a bad table when there were a lot of better ones available and trying to be picky when we asked if it was possible to switch. The food three of us ordered wouldn’t fit on that tiny table for two anyways. This restaurant is extremely overrated. If there is a minus rating, I would give to them without hesitation. I gave less tip than I usually do due to the mistreatment they gave us. The print copy of the receipt even asked me to give additional...