This restaurant is in a fantastic location, opposite the beach in St Heliers. The interior is nicely designed, and lit by oversized battery operated candles.
On the evening we visited (Saturday), a duo were singing Spanish style music, and this provided great atmosphere.
The restaurant has changed hands recently, and this led 8 of us locals to book at table for a meal out. The menu has a Spanish influence, with a selection of Tapas. However, the owner does not appear to have any spanish origin, neither did the chefs. This was reflected in the meals.
Two of us had scallops with cauliflower puree and and gin and tonic sauce for a starter, (not exactly Spanish sounding!). The scallops were neither pan friend and caramelised, nor seasoned. The cauliflower puree and sauce had turned into a runny sludge, and the gin and tonic flavour was not in evidence at all. Calamari were reasonable, a charcuterie plate was fine, and spare ribs definitely microwaved to a roof of the mouth scorching temperature.
The mains took some considerable time to arrive, perhaps an hour, and when they did, the sauces on all meat dishes were the same, other than for the accents, such as mustard. The sauces were very strong and salty gravies, with an unidentifiable meat background, somewhat the consistency of varnish. My fillet was barely luke warm, and I sent this back. The same steak was returned to me, and I suspect that this had been microwaved. It was steaming on the outside, and was the toughest fillet I have ever experienced. Others sent cold baskets of fries back, and no one raved about their meal, including those that ordered a traditional paella.
Two desserts were ordered, an affogato (you can't really get that wrong!), and a sticky date pudding. Most of this was left, as those that ordered it found the dates gritty and unpleasant. I suspect that they hadn't been soaked in hot water initially.
Other than the food, the service was not great. It took 2 requests for water, and we eventually got this 25 minutes after the last people arrived at the table. The restaurant wasn't busy when we first arrived, and this is a small restaurant with 3 staff on the night we visited, yet drinks sometimes didn't arrive. When a reminder was issued for one glass of wine, 2 glasses of the same wine arrived within minutes, though only 1 had been ordered.
The owner appeared very concerned that people were enjoying the food, one can only question her knowledge of Spanish food, and indeed of the restaurant industry.












