We attended the Saturday daytime Benijofar Tapas Trail 2023 offering. Read on for the good, the bad, and, sadly, the quite ugly.
What I will say here is these are not detailed reviews but just an overview of each of the locations we visited. Everybody loves a great tapas dish, so this was a chance to visit and try several different ones.
Different places had different drink offerings ranging from tiny disposable plastic cups to others offering a 20ml bottle of beer. At €3 per round, there were some great dishes, and these events are great.
So let’s go through in the order we visited. We decided to make notes on Service; was it friendly, polite, hurried, etc.? Ambience: Was there a nice atmosphere? Was there a buzz? Did it feel enjoyable? Drinks: this is based mainly on the beer and Coke we ordered, so size, was it flat or fizzy? Last but not least, the tapas. The flavours, how it looked, was it enjoyable to eat. After all, this is the perfect way to showcase your kitchen offering.
Tommy’s Bar
Super fast and friendly service, but this was possibly because we were the first people in there and had a coffee while waiting for the 11 a.m. kick-off. There were several others in the place, and it was already quite lively.
I had a beer, Soph opted for water, and the tapas were beercan chicken and bacon jam taco. The tapa was a bit messy to eat but really tasty. Definitely something we would order if it were on the menu.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
Victorias Palace
Super quick service as we were the first in there; the tapas was chicken pakora. The pakora was freshly cooked, light, and tasty. Another place that we’d now go and try a full meal at.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 6/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 30
The food was very nice, so much so we have added this to our list of places to visit for a meal. As we were the only people in, there was no ambiance as such.
Plaza Diferente
This was by far the best tapas of the trail for most of our day out; it was delicious. Entitled ‘Tapa Diferente’ and was chicken cooked on the plancha with a soya spicey sauce.
We have eaten here for breakfast months back, which was nice, but this taster today really was good and was presented beautifully. Service was really friendly, and the staff seemed to be enjoying the day and not stressed out as in other bars! We will be back to Plaza Diferente to do a full review of this wonderful diner later in the year.
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Drinks: 8 /10
Tapas: 9/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 35
By our own scorecard, this was the Benijofar Tapas Trail 2023 runner-up, the food was delicious.
American Diner
This was the first time we had visited; the place was very busy, mainly with Brit expats. Service was a little disjointed, and the staff seemed stressed. Drinks, sadly, were tiny, which was disappointing. Most other locations were doing a bottle of beer or a cana glass, but there was a little plastic disposable cup of beer or bottled Coke.
The tapa was a deep-fried tortilla with pulled pork salad and BBQ sauce.
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 7/10
Drinks: 5 /10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 27
We have this place on the list for a full review as we do hear lots of positive feedback, so maybe it was just a tough day for the staff. I’m keen to try the Sunday lunch with homemade Yorkshire puddings!
Restaurante Los Dos
We have never been here before, but after the visit today, we will return. Service was prompt and friendly. The tapas of a Mexican miniburger was nice, fresh, and tasty with just a little bit of a kick.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 7/10
Drinks: 7/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 30
El Mundo De Espana Benimar
We originally went there second, but the gates were all chained closed, so we returned after visiting the locations mentioned above. This is a nice location, with super friendly staff who all looked happy to be there and provided great service. The tapas was like a chicken satay with rice and was really tasty; we would definitely order that as a full-size meal.
We have added this to our list of places to visit for a drink or meal in the future.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
DH Urban Fusion
This is a nice-looking location with quick service, and their menu looks nice. But sadly, this is where things didn’t quite meet expectations. The tapas menu said it was a mini smash burger, but what we were given fell well short. it was similar to a mini Westlers type broiled burger in a hard small bun, and it was cold.
It is such a shame that an opportunity to showcase their food was wasted.
Service: 8/10
Ambience:8 /10
Drinks: 6/10
Tapas: 5/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 27
Bay Leaf
The tables outside in the shade were all taken, so we walked into the restaurant to be told we could only sit outside for the tapas trail. Sad, really, as there was only 1 table inside in use, and we would only have been there 15 minutes or so.
The dish was decent; it was an onion bhaji, and there was also a potato pakora on the plate.
Service: 6/10
Ambience: 6/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 7/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 27
Las Papas Doradas
This is on our list to return to. Wow, oh wow, where to begin!
Friendly staff greeted us; there were plenty of tables to sit at despite this being one of the busiest places on the route. The table had a knife, fork, and napkin already in place. A glass of beer here and a can of Coke, none of this tiny 7oz plastic cup or flat Coke out of the 2-liter bottle.
The tapas dish was slow-cooked veal in a dark brown sauce, and this was delicious; it really was restaurant-quality food. This restaurant did exactly what the tapa trail should do for those taking part, and that’s to encourage us to come back for a full meal. As it’s upstairs it’s easy to miss, and the chances are we would never have gone here had it not been for this event.
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Drinks: 9/10
Tapas: 10/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 37
I was actually tempted to stay and have another portion of this; it was so delicious! By our own scorecard, this was the winner of the Benijofar Tapas Trail 2023.
Rincon De Mateo Cafe
The staff were looking a little stressed here, but the bottle of beer made up for this and we really didn’t wait very long at all. The tapas was a desert of tarta zigzag ferraro, which was really nice visually but didn’t quite have enough chocolate taste for my palate.
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 7/10
Drinks: 7/10
Tapas: 7/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 28
No 7 On The Square
Well, this was chaotic, to say the least. Stressed-out staff and this was only part way through the day. It really was uncomfortable listening to the person in charge being pretty rude to members of the team.
A bottle of beer was nice, but half a plastic cup of Coke really didn’t do it. The tapas of sauteed potatoes and chorizo were awful; we both left ours, as they were swimming in fat, tasteless, and bland.
This experience was not helped by staff rinsing out throwaway dishes under cold water and leaving them to drip dry.
Service: 4/10
Ambience: 4/10
Drinks: 6/10
Tapas:2 /10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 16
Summary Of Benijofar Tapas Trail 2023
We have always enjoyed these types of social events because you often visit bars you have never been to before and get a brief snapshot of their food, their premises, and also, importantly, their style and levels of service. There are at least four places we have driven or walked past before that are now on our list to go to.
I think some of the locations could have been a bit clearer on communications, especially those more active on social media. We arrived at Tommy’s Bar at just after 10.30, with the plan to have a quick bacon butty, but we were told breakfasts were not available, yet there was a guy on a table nearby finishing off a full English.
Had we seen on FB, for example, a notice of no breakfasts after 10.30, we’d have arrived at 10.15 or gone elsewhere. We saw several groups arrive for breakfast but have to leave as no food, other than the tapa, was being served.
We’ve seen some complaints on social media that additional charges were made for any drink other than the beer that was promoted as part of the deal. To be fair to the venues, it is very clear on all the promotional material that the offer is a beer and a tapa. So, all those that offered alternatives were really going above and beyond what was required. We made sure to ask what soft drinks were included to ensure there were no problems when it came time to pay.
The train is a great idea to get from bar to bar, but it can get full easily, so be prepared to wait or start the day off early when it is still quiet.
Rewards
Voting on the Benijofar Tapas Trail 2023 means that the winning restaurant gets not only a plaque but also a prize of €1,000.
Being a visitor also has its perks, as you can win prizes for taking part in the tapas trail.
If your name is drawn out and you have completed 5 locations and have at least five stamps, you have a chance to win a meal at the winning restaurant.
Also, at the 5-stamp level. There are 5 x prizes of €50 each to dine at any of the restaurants taking part in the tapas trail.
Collecting ten stamps earns you a chance to win €300 in cash.
If you manage to complete all the locations and your stamped card is full, there is a prize of €500 in cash.
The Benijofar Tapas Trail 2023 was good fun, and although we didn’t get around all the venues, we mostly enjoyed the ones we did get to. Join us again for the Benijofar Tapas Trail 2024!
