gastroteka bimendi

I recently dropped by Gastroteca Bimendi to try and have an early dinner before catching my train. I searched Spanish restaurants in the location where I was and this one came up, so I proceeded to go there. Once I arrived, the barman (who I think was French) was very friendly and I sat at the bar c...ounter. After looking at the menu, which was in Japanese and Spanish, I asked him if he had an English version. He went over to someone at the end of the bar who I presumed was the Owner or Manager (drinking wine with either another staff member or guest). The barman then came back to me to apologize that they didn’t have an English menu, but he did say he would verbally translate for me. To be honest with you, I didn’t want to feel embarrassed and nor did I want to occupy his time translating for me. I decided to leave. I then quickly returned to share my comment with him to say they need to be more foreign friendly with their menus, in particular recognizing Osaka as a worldly, international city with G20 around the corner and World Expo in 2025. What I did notice was the fact that when I walked out, he shared my comments with his Owner / Manager at the bar and they just laughed. So, I conclude by saying Gastroteca Bimendi is not a foreign friendly establishment. What a shame. I will not return there, even if they write their menus in English. They lost a good JPY10,000 revenue from me, but that’s obviously their choice.

Visited January 2019

Overall the food was very good. Try the grilled octopus, chicken and the cod. The cheese cake for dessert was exceptional. It was very challenging trying to figure out the menu which was written in Spanish and Japanese. Staff speak very limited English. Google translate of the menu was very limit...ed. The chef has definitely mastered Spanish cuisine, however the restaurant was extremely disorganized. The serving of Tapas should be free flowing. We would wait up to 10 minutes for each serving and it was extremely frustrating waiting when you are eating tapas. This is a sister restaurant from the one across the street which is exceptional. Would recommend you go when it is not a busy time because you will be extremely impatient with the waiting between dishes.

Visited November 2018