Lupo - Xabia

We popped in for a mid morning drink to scout the place out. We had walked passed on many occasions, and thought it looked a bit too formal. So we had a pleasant drink whilst sitting in comfortable chairs enjoying the view. The nibbles that we were brought were most welcome and delicious. So the next day the 4 of us decided to have lunch at Lupo. We chose a table, but after about a minute the ladies spotted another table they preferred. So we moved. The waiter was a little confused as he brought menus to an empty table, but then spotted us. We ordered drinks, then they decided that yet another table was better positioned. So we moved. The waiter spotted us again and brought our drinks. Far from being irritated he helped us move to yet another table, where we stayed for the remainder of our lunch. The staff were very accommodating and cheerful. The meal itself was very good, and excellent value for money. We went back a few days later and had an equally good experience. No hesitation in recommending a visit.

We were invited by friends in a large group over 50. Food was OK, veg probably tinned, guess that is mass catering. Not sure what it would be like for 2 or 4 people

Four of us went to try this 'Italian Restaurant and Bar ' situated between the Arenal and the Port on a Tuesday in September. Upon our arrival we were given a choice of where to sit and noticed several other tables were occupied which together with the comfortable looking chairs and ambience led us to believe a good night was in store. It was but not necessarily for all the right reasons, as we left at the end of our meal believing Basil Fawlty must have something to do with this restaurant and that Manuel 's brother was serving us. The fun started when we ordered drinks, I asked for red wine and the waiter opened the bottle and poured me a sample to taste, in doing so he dropped red wine all over my sparkling clean white plate. The wine was in the region of 26-27 degrees, so I asked for it to be chilled and some ice to be brought to the table, having agreed to accept the wine he then moved around the table to pour another glass before returning to add further wine to both my glass and plate......... He then left without a word of apology or taking my plate. After 5 minutes he returned to take our food order at which point I reminded him about the ice, he took two of our orders then appeared to look up at the entrance, see some more customers and promptly left us so as to deal with these new customers. A waitress then came over and we again explained about the wine being too warm, that could it be chilled and could we have ice for the table to add to the glass already poured. She then not only took our order which included bread and alioli but my wine soaked plate,returning within a minute or two with a frozen bottle jacket which she placed over the wine bottle. Five minutes later she placed a bread basket on the table containing four rolls at which I again asked for some ice. We sat talking but not drinking until our starters arrived, at this point in my best Spanish Yo quiero hielo (I want ice) I also asked for the alioli that should have accompanied the bread. Two minutes later I had my first drink........ For my starter I had garlic prawns which were larger than normal and whilst tasty the garlic did have a job to disguise the sight and gritty taste of the dark intestinal tract........... The wine bottle jacket having done its job we sit and await our main meals, the waiter attends our table with one plate and asks who wanted the Solomillo (Fillet Steak) my friends wife indicates it is her and the waiter promptly places a plate of Sliced Duck in front of her and walks off. We swop it over to my partners position and watch the startled expression on the waiters face when he returns with the real Solomillo.......... One of the waitresses then starts to clear a space for our Paella pan but instead of removing empty water bottles, surplus glasses, empty bread baskets etc she just squeezes everything together...... We then remove all the unnecessary items and hand them to her at which the other waitress places the paella pan easily in this newly acquired space. Both meat dish 's were okay as was our paella, nothing was that nice/good to make you want to rush back to Lupo for a fine dining experience. And so two of us decide to have another glass of wine, we wait and keep an eye out for the waiting staff, we have seen a total of 3 during the evening but now and for the next 5 minutes we don 't see one of them, I get up and walk down the side towards the bar where both waitresses are talking and playing with a pen. They are both so preoccupied with what they are doing they are completely unaware of me until I am next to them and speak, at which the shock and surprise is too much for one who then screams out aloud........ I order the two glasses of wine, with ice and on returning to the table pass the waiter, pushing a trolley loaded with deliveries towards me.......... The screaming waitress attends our table with our drinks and all is well we joke and enjoy the remainder of our Lupo experience. Whilst we enjoyed this evening, which as you can imagine was full of Fawlty Towers references, the staff being friendly and the food being just okay, I find myself in a quandary as to how to rate this restaurant, I believe the best and most honest way to do so, is to consider it not as a restaurant but as a bar, then you will have no false impressions or expectations and hopefully a fun evening. Yes the staff could have been more professional but they ended up making our evening in 'Lupo Towers ' all the better.

Always willing to give a restaurant another chance I gave this dreadful place another chance. Suffice to say it won't get another one. It is the most shambolic badly run restaurant I have visited for many a long day. The service is terrible and today the food was matching. My wife`s starter was tasteless, goats cheese. Her main meal, duck, had so much fat on it was sickening. We had a party of only six but they still managed to only bring five meals. When mine finally turned up it was cold and uncooked and inedible. It took them four goes to get the bill right and three goes to get the card machine to work. The staff are very uncaring and didn`t seem to care that the whole episode was a joke. So if you live here or on holiday and are thinking of going here don´t bother, go anywhere else. Total waste of time.

I had been thinking to try the restaurant for some time so went last Friday evening. We decided to try the daily menu priced at 15.50 euros. To start with we had the clams and the lasagna; I was told that the clams were very over cooked and my lasagna was like rubber. The main courses (beef and sole) were not much better, although the side vegetables served with the main course were delicious. The desserts were appalling. We were served a dry chocolate flavour cake which according to the menu was a brownie and an apple tart which tasted more of refridgerator than apple. The service was very offhand and on checking the bill I saw we had been charged for wine which was included in the menu. Will be giving this one a miss from now on.