Interesting disconnect between the English- and Spanish-language reviews for La Taberna del Rio. I…read morehave to say, though, I had an enjoyable, uncrowded lunch experience here and would overall recommend stopping by.
The restaurant's famous top deck with the (apparently) great view is closed for lunch, so we had to make do with a patio table with a view of the street. Service was decent; not the most attentive but servers were easy enough to flag down and were polite and attentive when they got there. Note: even though they have an English-language menu here, most of the staff spoke very poor or no English. My Spanish knowledge got a real workout trying to translate and communicate for our table of 6 American tourists, but we got by. There were a couple of mistakes and food came out as it was ready, not all at once, but these issues seemed small to me and I can't complain.
The food was beautifully presented, with a real artistic flair. As far as taste, it was delicious, but not mind-blowing. There were some highlights, however. One was the patatas bravas, delicately cooked with an incredible sauce. We inhaled that. My main dish of pork loin was also pretty good, though perhaps a bit underseasoned. They made up for it with the amazing garnish, though -- a chocolate mole sauce topped with mashed potatoes that I probably could have eaten a whole bucket of.
Overall, a delicious experience at Taberna del Rio and a great place to go for lunch (as long as you don't mind waiting until 1:30 for the restaurant to open) while you're in Cordoba.
