sevilla | Azahar Sevilla Tapas

I’d been looking forward to visiting the new Alcuza Tapas location as I have always liked their original restaurant, so my friend and I planned a birthday lunch there (we have birthdays a day apart). The location is lovely, tastefully decorated with a kind of indoor/outdoor front patio and an L-shaped dining area. And the menu looked promising too, though with fewer tapas than you may expect from a place called Alcuza Tapas. I’m going to say right now that I may have given them a 4-orange rating except…

The service. Now I admit this may have been a “personality clash” but I found our waiters almost rudely obsequious if you know what I mean (I got the feeling they thought we were tourists). So let’s talk about the food. It was fine, a bit hit and miss, but we enjoyed the pastries filled with cheese, prawns and leeks, the rolled and breaded “serranito” and the presa in teriyaki sauce. The croquetas could have been better and the prawns were gritty (peeled but not deveined – why?).

Then the bill came. I mean, you know me, I almost never order bread because 1) it’s too filling and I prefer to try more dishes instead and 2) I don’t want to pay a stupid price for two slices of bread and a bag of picos. Same this time. Except when I disputed the extra charge because we had refused the bread I was told it was a service charge, the menu was brought over and thrust in my face, with the waiter pointing and saying “you see if it’s here on the menu we can charge for it”. Except you know what? They really can’t. In the end I didn’t pay the extra 5€ of course, but I left there really not wanting to go back (you may fare better).

SERVICE CHARGE: 2.50€ PER PERSON
(note: bars and restaurants are not allowed to charge for “service”)