Recreo Peral - Cuenca

Despite the best attempts of our waitress to make us feel welcome, our general impression was that they were too busy dealing with other clients (perhaps locals... read more Despite the best attempts of our waitress to make us feel welcome, our general impression was that they were too busy dealing with other clients (perhaps locals who are regular customers) to pay much attention to us. Furthermore, we were very disappointed to be given a ridiculously large table (suitable for eight diners) for what we had expected to be a romantic meal. We had booked the table three weeks in advance! I had artichokes as a starter and wished I hadn't. From experience I know that artichokes can be hit or miss at regular restaurants, but at fine dining establishmenst like Recreo Peral, I took it for granted that they would know how to cook them. I was served with undercooked, rubbery and tasteless artichokes. I guess I should have shown some wits and realised that they aren't in season at the moment. My bad. The rest of the meal was excellent, especially the gluten-free manchego cheese cake.

The restaurant is beautiful and the food was fantastic. The service ranged from cold to rude and was very slow. I wouldn’t return, despite the quality and prepa... read more The restaurant is beautiful and the food was fantastic. The service ranged from cold to rude and was very slow. I wouldn’t return, despite the quality and preparation of the meal, just not a pleasant experience.

Unfortunately that's it. But I must post a special thank you to Esther who did her most and best to make us feel confortable, but she was the only highlight. Ma... read more Unfortunately that's it. But I must post a special thank you to Esther who did her most and best to make us feel confortable, but she was the only highlight. Maybe we got there on what is called a bad day. The service showed slow, poor and unfriendly. This changed after we changed tables. The orders took a long time and got to our table by serving first 2 people of us 4. The French fries were cold. The list could be continued. But finally let us also thank Juan for his professional service.

After doing plenty of research on places to eat in Cuenca, we decided on Recreo Peral due to the location right by the river. The location is indeed quite prett... read more After doing plenty of research on places to eat in Cuenca, we decided on Recreo Peral due to the location right by the river. The location is indeed quite pretty, and the inside ambiance is lovely: although we sat outside, certainly this would be a beautiful place for a couples dinner inside. We decided to order a few items, to try out the menu. We ordered the shrimp salad with tropical fruit, the trout tartare with avocado, and the little fried calamari all half orders. The salad came and it was enormous. Although all the ingredients were, separately, good quality and tasty, unfortunately, the combination together was such that we could not bring ourselves to finish the salad. If the salad was fruit, salad (lettuce and radicchio), avocado, and shrimp, separated, it might have been salvageable, but the addition of the blueberry jam or confit on top of everything was a bit too much. The fried calamari were tasty and excellent, with some piquillo peppers on top too certainly worth a try. The trout tartare unfortunately, we were told, was sold out. Overall, the service was a bit hit or miss too. One of the more experienced servers was very friendly, charming, and knowledgeable, and willing to answer questions, but the other server who was handling our table seemed very uninterested to serve us. If anything, he seemed a bit annoyed to have the table to serve, which didn’t make us want to stay. Given we have had a wonderful two weeks with excellent service and food in Italy and Spain, this overall experience was disappointing, especially in the backdrop of a lovely town like Cuenca.

We discovered this restaurant by chance as we stoped here for a quick drink when we were walking along the river Júcar promanade and just loved it so we decided... read more We discovered this restaurant by chance as we stoped here for a quick drink when we were walking along the river Júcar promanade and just loved it so we decided to come the next day for dinner. Dinner was excelent, location is beautiful, the ambience is great and staff is very efficient and nice. We will repeat next time we visit Cuenca.