Aristo Alex
Google
My partner and I had the profound misfortune of dining here last night, lured in by the Instagram hype. It was, without exaggeration, one of the worst culinary experiences of our lives, especially for the exorbitant price.
We ordered two appetizers and their signature Txuleta Simmental steak, accompanied by a bottle of fine Burgundy. The meal began with a laughably small portion of bread and some fish spread adorned with a single radish cut in half. We are in France, the land of sublime baked goods, yet this bread was stale and tasted like it was baked last week.
The appetizers arrived. The grilled octopus (€15) was a joke—two measly skewers, more akin to conference finger food than a restaurant-quality tapa. The beef carpaccio (€24) was so microscopic we had to use that terrible bread to make it into a semblance of a bite.
Then came the main event: the disaster. The famed steak (€130) was an inedible, gristly, fatty mess. It was utterly impossible to chew. We left most of it on the plate. When we told our waitress we were dissatisfied, her response was to simply take the plates away and ask if we wanted dessert. No concern, no offer to replace the dish, no apology. Nothing. We are accustomed to fine dining around the world, where if a guest is unhappy, the staff shows concern and offers a solution—a replacement, a complimentary dessert, or at the very least, an apology. Here, they simply did not care.
The final insult was at the exit. The manager asked if everything was alright. We told her plainly that it was the worst meat we’d had in recent memory. Her response? A blank smile and a casual "OK." Not an "I'm sorry," not a "Let me make this right." Just "OK." Curtains on this farce.
After this "magnificent" €300 dinner for two, we went to a supermarket, bought a bottle of good Burgundy and a bag of chips, and had a more satisfying meal in our suite at the Mandarin Oriental.
Conclusion: Do not be fooled by the social media hype surrounding this place. It is a spectacular waste of money that values your presence not as guests, but as walking wallets. Avoid at all costs.