Dayu Alai - Calafell

I sympathise with the people who run this restaurant, but for those of you who check Trip Advisor before eating out unlike me on this occasion please take what I type here very seriously as there is the odd good review, which is hard for me to understand. We went to this place because my wife really wanted a Chinese buffet and seafood and this place had both. I was a little uneasy about the buffet as it looked a little sporadic; so I asked the Spanish waitress who assured me that the food would be topped up within the next ten minutes. Given that information I decided to go with the family's wishes to eat at Dayu Alai. Service was nearly non existent, but the Spanish waitress tried her best. The food is poor, very very poor. No rice was out on the buffet during our time there except some remains that had dried up under the heat lamps. The dishes that were there were bland and disappointing. One of the worst things the seafood was all frozen in blocks of ice!!!! No one had explained how it worked either but turned out you take your chosen piece of fish, squid or meat to a serving hatch and ask them to cook it for you. We had to actually ask for an ice pick to free up an individual squid! Since this experience several people have told me that this is a major food hygiene breach. During our visit I complained about the lack of food on the buffet without a pleasant reply from the manager/owner. My wife complained and eventually after considerable negotiation managed to get some drinking glasses with water (another story! and when I went to pay and calmly asked for a discount as I was so unhappy. The owner was so abruptly uninterested in my complaint I raised my voice, mainly highlighting the ludicrous Chinese buffet with no rice. It was only then that he was prepared to even consider my position. He called his niece to speak to me who turns out spoke very good English. She listened to me but her response wasn't great. I eventually agreed to pay what was about 60% of my bill. I personally felt we shouldn't have paid a cent, but we still ate something and sat at a table so my rational mind was willing to compromise. In summary, no matter how much effort the Spanish waitress put in the owner's attitude and the quality of the food holds this place back. He is short tempered, rude, ignorant and ultimately needs to start running the restaurant instead of busying himself at the bar with tasks he should be delegating. I hope with my review I can save at least one family making the mistake of eating at Dayu Alai, but the more the better.

Even though we came early in the season (no printed menu yet and even though there was a language barrier (limited Spanish and limited to Spanish ; we had a wonderful evening out. We opted for the menu for 4 (2 adults and 3 children , completely trusting the assurance of the lovely lady that it would be 'bueno '. And it was. We were the only clients and sat outside (even though there was a lot of space inside, plus the guarantee that the footbal game Barça-Malaga could be watched there . The children hovered between soaking in the beach, the sea and the sunset and the delightful food brought to the table. At times picky eaters they finished 2 huge portions of fried rice, a dish of rice crackers, the spring rolls and ate most of the almond chicken. My husband and me ended up ordering more rice to have with the beef in oyster sauce, the sweet 'n ' sour pork and the fried chicken wings (well, the three that were left after our magpies visited once more . We could not finish it all, nor could we fit in dessert...

"Charming"

Muy buenas tapas! ¡Sehr Gute tapas!