3 & 1/2...Unsurprisingly considering the hordes of mostly British tourists that swarm into the…read morebeachside city of Torrevieja during the scorching Spanish summer, this longtime stalwart really laid it on thick with both the verging on Epcot level, verging on cheesy "traditional" decor right down to the hanging hams, as well as the waiters schtick-heavy presentation that we fell for resulting in him "putting together" a way too massive order for us, and the corresponding sky high check to match. Luckily the meal overall was good enough to push it over the line to make my first real meal in Spain rank as a sweet experience as opposed to an exasperating rip off, though it certainly straddled the line.
The definitive highlight of the meal for me, and the taste that sticks with me most vividly were the sea urchin, served au natural in their own spiky shells cracked in half they tasted as rich and unctuous as imaginable an deeply and wholly of the sea, with a texture as smooth and creamy as foie gras or fresh durian. I've had uni countless times both atop sushi and numerous in other creative preparations, but I had never experienced it presented so simply allowing the deep richness to permeate so profoundly. The simple presentation of these creatures in their gnarly and scary shells only reinforced my longtime fixation on imagining who was the first person crazy enough to think to try eating them, and how self satisfied they must have felt after discovering that their insanely reckless behavior yielded such insanely delicious results. Also very memorable was a massive plate of various prime cuts of tuna, which is rightfully just as venerated in Spanish cuisine as the cured hams, presented in a manner as you would serve prime cuts of beef in a steakhouse, with the different cuts offering just a much richness and depth of flavor that would would encounter with top-tier dry-aged beef. Other highlights included huge platters of those Serrano hams that are hanging above you, salty, smooth with gloriously marbled fat, clams in a flavorful garlic sauce and well cooked shrimps in their shells in slightly lighter sauce, as well as perfectly fried octopus and an extremely rich and decadent oxtail cannelloni in a béchamel sauce, which I would surprisingly come to find to be a staple of menus across the country, apparently just a much a Spanish dish as an Italian one. There were a few duds on the menu, like an astonishingly bland and mealy foie gras dish, and we certainly could have done with out the at the table stone cooked beef set we were heavily pushed by the waiter which was also strangely bland and of which we barely made a dent in as it arrive late in the meal.
Overall if you find yourself in this tourist town and looking for a nice meal I would give this place a shot, just maybe exercise some restraint and don't be taken in by the skills of the longtime old school staff who have become very talented in their presentation and limit yourselves to a few dishes to start. Like the old adage goes, you can always order more, but you can't order less.
