Hi folks,
It was also very quiet when I went in on Saturday evening a couple of weeks ago while on a quick week-end visit on my 'tod' (a bit like the lone restaurant critic really). About half a dozen other people in on the Saturday night at about 21:00 - I did expect it to be quiet in early December though. I have not aired my comments so far as I did not want to put out any negative vibes while the restaurant was trying to get established. Now we are getting a few comments back, I can tell you what my impressions were. I found it to be nowhere near the standards I remember from Polaris restaurants of same name on La Torre last year. It could be that I made all the wrong choices but here we go.
I had been to El Valle in the afternoon golfing with Kev from J12 and had a very nice club sandwich with trimmings mid-afternoon there after the round. So, went to the restaurant in Al Kasar on the evening 'not ravenous' so just ordered main meal & dessert. Started with the bread, alioli, olives and (chopped onions I think ?). I found the bread to be dry & stodgy. The olives were very bitter with stones (nothing like the pitted ones you get usually with Polaris food or in the supermarket). The alioli was very strong - now I don't mind a bit of garlic but this was overpowering. For the main, I just tried a seafood pasta. Good fresh pasta, but prawns were those awfull 'Iceland ring' type which are totally devoid of flavour or texture. So 0 out of 2 on the satisfaction scale so far. I had read on T & J's site that the tiramisu was very good so I thought 'try something else to check it out'. Ordered panacotta which I'm afraid turned out to have a sloppy base topped off with a layer of squirty cream and drizzled with a bit of fruit syrup. Once the first spoolfull was taken, the whole lot just mingled together. Not at all what I was hoping for. Full time..... 0 - 3 I'm afraid.
Had a couple of beers to wash down - first class, no issues - got that right. Nothing wrong with the service from the staff.
The decor of the place is far too sterile (surgery detractors take note). White walls, white sky high ceilings, white lighting, grayish non descript tiling on floors (I think, cant really remember). A few decent pots plonked in the wall alcoves are not enough to give the place a homely feel. Crying out for some foiliage and colour in the place. It is presently not a place I would take any guests to impress them for sure.
I think they need to go to their partner sites pronto and see what they have got right there (it did not happen there overnight - there were lots of complaints from La Torre residents) and quickly apply this logic to Condado before the rot set's in. It does not take much to put people off in the restaurant buisness.
Interesterd to hear other's views.
Regards,
This message was last edited by Billbo on 20/12/2009.