The Copamarina beach resort is the best one in PR by a long shot. Our meal at Alexandra was nowhere near Copamarina standards.
I made a reservation for my party of 7 for Christmas dinner. I was told that it would be a limited fixed-priced menu ($70/person, not incuding beverage). I went ahead with the reservation because I was assured they would be able to accommodate me as a vegetarian. The experience was horrible. Here's my long list of grievances:
- Things got off to a very bad start when a very tiny bread basket and a small plate of balsamic vinagrete dip was promptly placed on one side of our large round table. The other side of the table was left begging for bread. There was barely enough bread for all of us, so we ended up having to pass around the bread and dip.
- SOUP COURSE: There was only one kind of soup available, made with a chicken stock base. I was told that the chef had tasted it and he could barely taste the chicken. That is not what I would call accommodating a vegetarian.
- MAIN COURSE: My 11YO son's lamb chops had to be sent back because the meat tasted bitter, according to him and my mom. He was disgusted, and the kitchen did not offer an alternative. They agreed to bring him more mashed potatoes, and that was it for that course for him. They were unwilling to make me a vegetarian entree, so they replaced the NY strip with a filet of red snapper after they asked me if I ate fish. I do, but the whole point of asking ahead of time if they can accommodate my vegetarian preference is to make sure that I could get a decent vegetarian dish with the rest of my party. I agreed to eat the fish, but had to send it back because it was so overcooked, it was rubbery and dry. It seriously put me off snapper.
- "DESSERT": What a trainwreck. 2 out of the 3 options had alcohol, thus very unsuitable for my kids. They were completely unwilling to bring ice cream or something more kid-friendly. My 13YO is a very good sport and went along with the chocolate souffle, if you can call it that. What they brought her was a dense, dry cake-like item in a ramekin that tasted very "egg-y", with no chocolate flavor and no sauce/whipped cream to speak of. It was gross! My 11YO was still hungry due to the lack of entree, so my husband went out to the Las Palmas restaurant and bought him some cookies and cream ice cream. I ordered the hazelnut "cake", which really was not cake at all. I honestly can not describe what it was, but suffice it to say, it is not very often that I don't clear my plate.
I think it is fine to have a fixed-priced menu, but when you are asking people to pay $70 per meal, it is important to have some wiggle room. It would not kill you to include some basic stuff, such as plenty of bread, ice cream, and simple preparation of fish/chicken, along with the fancier options. If you tell me you can accommodate me as a vegetarian, don't think for a minute that chicken base will be acceptable just because you can't taste it. Try a little harder to make something vegetarian that is as special as the rest of the menu. Vegetarian food is typically cheaper to produce anyway, so if I am willing to pay $70 with the rest of my diners, you should consider that an opportunity to shine. You missed that opportunity with me. And for crying out loud, if I send back a dish because it tastes nasty, do NOT charge me for it. My bill was $400+, and my 11YO was still hungry when we left your restaurant. read more