La Cata

We have been on Cda for two weeks and have eaten in all the restaurants with varied success but last night we decided against my better judgement to give La Cata a try despite vowing never to set in the place after last years disastrous visit,we sat 20 minutes with staff walking past not even offering a menu or drink when we asked for a menu the waitress mumbled something then disappeared never to be seen again.We then got up and left only to pass the waitress on the way out who gave us the most terrible look we then proceeded to the Bulgarian where there was 4 waitresses standing at the door so thinking the service would be better we sat down only to be in there 50 minutes before the food arrived.
Not good enough Condado restaurants it wasn't even late it was 7.30pm very disappointed.

Such a shame...they seemed to be doing well!!

We were out the last week of July and had a meal at La Cata, it was a really nice meal, good value and very good service it was about 8.30 at night, and busy but still really good. We also endured slow service but good food at one of the other restaurants

They cant get it right all the time but they are trying

Leigh & Claire

exactly you will get bad service from time to time anywhere.

saturdays are very busy because of the market la cata is a fab restaurant lovely food and we have always found the staff pleasant july & august is so busy and if your on holiday in spain chill take your time you will get your food eventually x

saturdays are very busy because of the market la cata is a fab restaurant lovely food and we have always found the staff pleasant july & august is so busy and if your on holiday in spain chill take your time you will get your food eventually x

saturdays are very busy because of the market la cata is a fab restaurant lovely food and we have always found the staff pleasant july & august is so busy and if your on holiday in spain chill take your time you will get your food eventually x

I love La Cata and I'm very chilled but waiting for 45 minutes for a drink and 1.5 hours for the meal to arrive in dribs and drabs is totally and utterly unacceptable. The only restaurant that seems to be able to cope with good service is the American diner. So....if they can do it why can't the others? Why don't the restaurants have dedicated drink waiters. Someone to welcome you, take a drinks order the minute you sit down and get the drinks to you within 30 minutes!!! Then a waitress can come and take your food order. The restaurants would make more money as they'd sell more drinks.

There were 7 of us and had we not had to wait 45 for a drink we would have had at least another round. We all ended up eating at different times. My little boys pizza arrived 30 minutes after my meal was served. It's soooooo bad it's not even funny. The staff also just don't seem to care.

I'm all for being chilled out but there's chilled out and laid back - this is neither it's total disaster.

I keep being old by the staff that the kitchens are too small - ok - so don't have so many tables and offer a super service and keep clients happy. Open up the bar and let people chill with drinks while they wait for a table. This is when the restaurants make their money - so many people are being driven away by such terrible service. So sad to see.

Wise words Clair. It's not rocket science is it ! If I was a manager of an establishment, I would be appalled if my restaurant was being run like this. I think any of us that has been to La Cata at busy times will have experienced this unprofessional outlook from the management & staff and it clearly rankles most customers, chilled or not. As Clair says, if you are going to cater for a larger crowd, then taylor your staffing levels and kitchen set up accordingly. Don't tell me there is shortage of locals who would be gratefull of some seasonal waitresssing work with the prediciment Spain is in right now. The La Cata premesis is set up in such a way that the walls are patitioned off and do not go back to the full depth of the surface area of Al Kasar. If you look, quite a few of the smaller outlets are fitted out like this. Surely, the kitchen area could be expanded back over into that dead space ?
I would say La Cata would be my first choice for eating on Condado quality wise but while they have these issues with service we tend to be apprehensive about visiting when the place is busy, as was the case while we were there last weekend for the Fiesta.

Regards,

This message was last edited by Billbo on 05/08/2013.

Rumour is they want to sell!!!

Hi, 

We've just spent the last six weeks on Condado and are now on our way back home. Unfortunately we have had a few bad experiences on Condado with service and it has put us off eating on site, We are a family of five and have experienced very slow and irratic service at La Cata, mediocre food at Big G's and uncooked food and poor service at the Bulgarian. Next summer we will avoid Condado from mid July onwards as the restaurants on site are not yet geared up to a busy summer! Take a short drive to the Port of Mazzaron and you can find much better service and food. La Siesta in Bolneuvo is lovely and so are quite a few along the front in the port so unless the restaurants get it right on Condado people will start to vote with their feet. On a positive note I think The Clover and Condado Club are fantastic at what they do the staff are hard working and dedicated. The Ice cream parlour is a firm favourite with my three kids and the sweet shop looks like becoming a close second so it's not all bad news! The gym, yoga, zumba classes made my summer complete  but the poor service and food on site was very dissapointing. Hopefully they will get it right next year!

I think the key is the silly season from mid July to end of August where restaurants bring in casual staff and struggle with heavy demand combined with heat and customers who are renting visitors who have different requirements from the usual regulars during the rest of the year. It has to be expected that standards on many fronts will suffer but you can't criticise businesses for cramming them in as this is what will sustain them in the winter months.

Come September, which is the best month for visiting CDA for me, things will be back to normal. Incidentally, La Cata suffered a lot prior to the holiday season when the former head waiter defected to the Clover as he was very good and on top of things. A good signing by the Clover management I think. JF

I have to say, the last time we went to the Bulgarian (last year) it was lousy. We chose from the set 3 course menu that was on an entertainment night and it was fairly insipid affair. Tasteless main course and some sloppy mess served up as cheesecake as a desert. Typical of the packet mix stuff you maybe once tried when your mam could not afford the real thing.
One or two meals like that and most people will be back in the car off down to Mazarron Port. On that theme, I noticed that a new restaurant has opened up on the end of the jetty at the marina and looks very nice and is superbly located for views out over the bay. I wondered how long it was going to be before that final building was occupied - has anyone tried it yet ? We will definitely give it a go when we are back out at the end of the month.
Warning shot to the restaurants of CDA - we want to support you and will take a little bit of slipping standards once or twice maximum, but if you do not inspire the customers with better food and service that they can provide for themselves on their own patio, then I am afraid they will vote with their feet.

Regards,

I have never had a good meal at the Bulgarian as I too found it tasteless slop. I am looking forward to the new French Restaurant opening and I am also told that the food available at the Bocao can be better than you might imagine.

I think the standards have slipped at the Bulgarian which is surprising given the increased competition, you would have thought they would have to stay on top of their game. We are still loyal to them though as they were there on those dark lonely nights when we couldnt even rely on the Clover to be open !

We dont visit in peak season so are spoilt in the sense that Al Kasar is never too busy and we can generally get served in all of the restuarants pretty efficiently. La Cata has become our favourite on site in terms of the quality of the food (seafood paella in particular is excellent)

If we are there for a week or more, we do like to mix up dining on site and going to our tried and tested favourites - Cave, La Siesta, Amapola and a few in the port. Again, we feel a sense of loyalty when we had nothing on site and the Cave in particular did a lot to attract custom from Condado and deserves to succeed

Firstly we really do have to take the Spanish attitude to things & just chill but having said that some of the wating times are just not exceptable

I do hope that every one who has complained on this thread have also passed on their complaint to the owners of the establishments. Not the managers or the staff as your, complaints never get passed on. If the owner is unaware of how you feel they cannot rectify the situation

Jan

 

This message was last edited by hamibabe on 06/08/2013.

I have to agree with the comments made and I'm surprised that this hasn't been mentioned before. We were very disappointed this year with the standard of service and food at the restaurants onsite this year compared to previous years. The Bulgarians service was good but the food well below average; La Cata's food was ok but the service unbelievably poor. At La Cata back in June we decided to leave after waiting 45 mins for our meal, they were surprised! Sadly both believe that they have a captive market and I don't expect any improvement anytime soon as a result. There is far better value and service in the Port and at Camposol and until you vote with your feet, don't expect any change.  It is great to have services now onsite in the town but there is no excuse for the lack of service at the prices charged.

Like all Condadians I believe that we have to support on site restaurants etc .However, the standard of catering is poor. The Bulgarian restaurant does not produce anything special(can anyone tell me what is a typical bulgarian dish?) that I cannot cook myself,   Big G gives quantity but NOT quality and service(very dis organised)  is poor and having tried La Cata last year I cannot really give an up to date comment.

Having had my own catering company in the past if these restaurants do not get their act together many will go to the wall which would be devastating  to the resort.

If you do not get proper servivce ask for a complaints form all establishments must provide it on request these forms are far better at being noticed that verbal complaints. The formsare handed in to the town hall who control the licences for the busineess it is the most effective way to complain, and the complaints are logged by an independant body (the Council)

People complain all to often to the waiter and he wont pass on or the chef who wont tell his boss.

The complaint form makes them all pay attention 

We are new to the resort and on our recent first visit we tried to eat in as many of the restaurants as we could.

La Cata, agree that service can be poor as on our first visit we sat at our table for a while before getting attention even to order drinks and food delivery may not be super fast but honestly what is the rush? It was delivered well presented, tasted really good and was reasonably priced. We turned up really late one night after an Ikea trip (near midnight) looking for food and although they could not offer a menu they did supply us with a chicken, wine, chips and salad for 14 euros. We had breakfast one morning, which was nice and ate there again another night...no problem as far as we are concerned.

Big G's, this was our first taste of Condado food and service was good, no problem waiting for drinks or food. I ordered the jumbo chilli hot dog and it was very good food at a very good price!

Bulgarian, again no real problem getting drinks or food but we were not looking at our watches.

Overall I would say the range of food available, the price and experience was pretty good considering it is on our door step.