The Bazaar by José Andrés

I dined at The Bazaar to celebrate a special occasion and thoroughly enjoyed the food. There was plenty of it, with great variety, with accommodations for my gluten intolerance. Some of the initial portions were small, and it built up nicely to mains of sorts including steak, brussels sprouts, octopus and potatoes. All delicious! The drinks were decent and promptly served. Service was attentive but inconsistent in quality. While not a Michelin star restaurant yet, it is still similarly priced/ is very high end, so I was surprised to see the service staff being inconsistent with which side they pour water from, and clear plates from. They were also a tad casual with how they placed new silverware after each course, almost throwing it towards us instead of carefully placing it correctly. The waiters are also not trained on how to correctly maintain a polite physical from seated guests. Small things, but the devil is in the detail! Food was great, and innovative. I enjoyed it, despite the overuse of foam :)

Updated review: after a not so great experience, we were invited to give the Bazaar another try. We all have bad days, so I agreed. Les took amazing care of us, and really made us feel very welcomed. This time, the food was so good. The leeks were phenomenal. The right balance of flavors, acidic and sweet at the same time. Fresh greens added a lot brightness to the dish. The steak with peppers was absolutely delicious with the perfect balance of flavors in the sauce. There’s no heat to the peppers, so if you’re not a fan of spicy food don’t let that deter you from this dish. The beef cheeks surprised me, they were so tender with a rich, savory sauce. My husband enjoyed the taco and Caesar salad. The taco is a one bite experience combining the flavors of caviar and iberico. The salad is stacked leaves, with lots of dressing and anchovies, along with small pillow like croutons. He also tried the salmon, which came with small potatoes—he said it was delicious and enjoyed it. All in all this was a much improved experience and I really appreciate the opportunity to dine here again. If you have dietary restrictions or allergies there are options! I ate here dairy free and gluten free and was able to enjoy many dishes with some small tweaks. Previous review: I stopped at this property for lunch, and I’m sad to say I was very disappointed with both the food and the service. The Brussels sprouts were too fruit forward and felt more like a fruit salad than a vegetable dish. The accommodations for my allergies seemed limiting (they couldn’t prepare patas bravas any way but in a shared fryer, also be sure to check on ingredients because not all ingredients are listed on the menu). The ham and eggs lacked texture, it’s a dish of tomato sauce with runny eggs and ham—no bread, no crunch, quite mushy. The salad was a small portion without substance, it leads with celery more than anything else, which isn’t pleasant if you aren’t a fan of celery. Our napkins were damaged and dirty when we arrived at the table. The coconut rice was delicious, and was the stand out dish. But I was charged for a version with scallops even though I received a version without. When I pushed back on this, they removed $4 from the cost… which doesn’t feel like an appropriate amount for scallops. But I was so frustrated with the entire interaction that it wasn’t worth pushing back anymore. The service was disappointing and unbecoming of a hotel of this caliber. We love José Andrés and love to support him and his causes, but I’m sad to say that this restaurant left me underwhelmed and frustrated.