"Lovely restaurant in the heart of Almeria,
Staff was super friendly, explaining the menu and helping with the menu.
Food was delicious and service excellent! Recommended"

Luigi Strangis

"I recently had a highly disappointing experience at this restaurant, and I feel it's important to share. We ordered a selection of tapas and a paella, but unfortunately, the quality left much to be desired. The paella was extremely bland—despite requesting additional salt, the dish remained insipid. Worse, the rice was mushy and overcooked, and the overall consistency of the dish was watery. To top it off, the prawns and king prawns had not been deveined, which is an unacceptable oversight in a dish like this.

As for the tapas, the croquette dish was misleading, as it included just one croquette, a rather underwhelming offering. On a more positive note, the tapas with fried egg and potatoes was tasty and satisfying, but it didn’t make up for the rest of the experience.

What really marred the evening, however, was the service. We initially chose not to mention anything to the staff, but when a waiter (who seemed to be a manager) asked if the portions were too large because we hadn’t finished the paella, we decided to share our feedback politely. After that, the waiter’s demeanor changed drastically. He no longer attended to us and left the rest of the service to other staff members. When it was time to pay, we walked inside the restaurant and were blatantly ignored, even as we stood at the counter. No one acknowledged us, and the initial waiter didn’t even offer a goodbye or glance in our direction. The bill was presented without any gesture of goodwill—no apology or discount, which would have been a minimum courtesy in this situation.

While I understand that mistakes happen in the kitchen, the cold and dismissive service after we voiced our concerns was unacceptable. A simple apology or even a small gesture to make up for the subpar meal would have gone a long way. Instead, we left feeling entirely disregarded. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant based on this experience—both the food and the service were a huge letdown."

Christina Andrea Rosamilia

"Found La Encina via the Michelin guide (2019)
I was here for a late lunch. The set menu was good, not to big, which I always appreciate, to much courses becomes really hard for a chef.
The staff was attentive, and tried their best to explain (they had poor English and I have an even poorer Spanish😅) but there was no difficulties mordering at all, the waiter was so helpful😃
Really good food👌
more than reasonable prices. Michelin food plate 2019, not sure if they have returned, but the food is still really good!
I didn’t try the tapas! But I assume they do well, because of the good cooking."

Jonatan