Mercado de la Reina
Apart from wannabe poshy appearance, this restaurant has a rather down-the line look. Easily overlooked glass front with grey and brown awning. The interior of the restaurant looks much better than the rest of typically Spanish eateries. A long bar decorates the entrance, there are some small coffee tables for waiting customers but the real restaurant is divided into two floors (smoking/non-smoking) at the end, overlooking calle de la Reina. Hermzz is not a big fan of wooden benches without proper back support, I on the other hand think that this rural look is practical and besides people don’t tend to occupy the place unnecessarily long. They do what they came for (Ed. Disagree, this place is full of people who get their back support from the brooms stuck up their asses).
First impression: “Ohmigod this is going to be a bit over our normal Wednesday lunch budget! “
Second impression: “Hold on, we ain’t a bunch of hobos, greet us properly, with a big smile, if you want to get your tip you semi-evolved simian!”
So first negative point is for waiters who aren’t very friendly unless it looks like you are going to pass golden nuggets every time you smile. The menu itself has only one type of hamburger and once we ordered the waiter (impressive similarity to Mike Tyson before his face got squished) didn’t even bother to ask how we want the meat done. Not off to a good start. The food did get to our table pretty quickly, plus points for that.
Let’s proceed to the plate:
- Nice layout I’d say. Oblong plate with hamburger on the bun on one side, fries on the other and the third side was occupied by three little bowls filled with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise.
- The bun wasn’t a typical hamburger bun, which is ok for me, but this one was just white with no flavor, something similar to ciabatta, which is not my favorite bun for a hamburger.
- Laying out the tomato ring and onion ring on the side is a good idea, not everyone is a big fan of those. I might object on the number though, just one of each.
- No pickles, no bacon, no salad - maybe it’s just me, but please - bacon is a must and so are pickles.
- Egg on the side, good. If you decide to be a barbarian and eat your hamburger with your hands, at least you don’t spread the egg content all over your fancy business suit.
We finished our dish in approximately 15 minute time, the remaining 45 minutes we spent waiting for the bill and after receiving for the bill, waiting for the cashier to do the rest. In his defense, we were too slow in the decision to not to wait longer for someone to be interested in our money and going down to the cashier, so there were a bunch of greasy Spanish people, who as lovely as they seemed (Ed. not really), were also a bit dumb. First they came with no bill and wanted to pay, when they finally got the cashier to print it out for them (after they figured what table they were, by telling him what dishes they ate – that’s the way how intelligent people do it, right?) they started their quest for who ate what. It took them 20 minutes and after finally paying the last cent, they still had the balls and energy to accuse the poor confused boy that he wanted to steal their money. We, smart and efficient central europeans, paid within 20 seconds.
All in all the food was good and it fed us sufficiently, but with the number of places you can choose, that are even cheaper, have bigger selection of burgers, waiters actually care about you and don’t pretend to be el Botin of the underworld, I wouldn’t suggest it. Not even to my biggest enemy. Well that is a big fat lie; I would surely suggest it to my biggest enemy.
Mercado de la Reina - second visit
We were clever and called in for a reservation this time. It makes quite an impression if you enter a restaurant and just say: “Reservation for two, name is Kristina.” We got the impressed looks and we got the good table at the window. No benches, real chairs, just the two of us. The restaurant was incomparably emptier this time, maybe due to good weather or some other inexplicable cause. Mike Tyson didn’t have his shift, so we got stuck with Mr. Smiley. I gave him this nickname because whenever he got close to our table he spread a giant smile on his childish face. In case someone didn’t get it, that was meant in a very positive way. What still didn’t change is the hamburger selection. Still rounded to one. At least you have no doubts.
The service was fast as before and also the hamburger didn’t show any signnificant flavor changes. It was still in the middle delicious, but I would still recommend a change of buns. On the other hand, we were being treated like kings this time and ordered desert as a reward. Comparison? Definitely better service than last time and shorter waiting time for everything. Plus the street view table was a nice gesture for a returning customer. I would give it thumbs up for people with thicker wallet and taste for the finer things in life (ie: posh shit).
