I'm coming back here before I die to visit my friend Luisa the owner. She stays open until the weee…read morehours of the morning until no more customers come in. The secret salad is truly outstanding. The homemade desert pictured below is a real treat even with the wines of the land.

Definitely one of the highlights during my recent trip to Beautiful Cuenca. Was pleasantly brought…read morehere due to the yelp reviews and so glad we did! The restaurant is located on the Old Town of Cuenca, so be ready to climb up that hill! We had to wait about 15-20 min to be seated but was offered wine and tortilla espanola (spanish omelette) while we waited. The restaurant is very unique when it comes to their decor, inviting and appealing to the eye. Now onto the important stuff..the food! We shared an appetizer which was zucchini filled with goat cheese , so nicely done! it was very fresh and tasty. For entree, we ordered the Seafood rice. It's a soupy rice cooked on tomato broth with Shrimp, Lobster and fish. That dish is definitely a winner and big enough to share. We didn't have enough room for dessert but if we are ever back in Cuenca, will definitely be back to try some more of their dishes! The owner was at the restaurant and was very nice and warm, as well as the staff.

Went here after a field trip and it was the perfect place to satisfy our hungry stomachs! We felt…read morethere were numerous options in the plaza, all around the same price for the menu del dia, and we are so glad we chose this one. We had a group of 10+ people and they seated us in a room upstairs family-style. Everyone got the menu del dia. I got: - wine - Tastes fine to me but I'm not an avid wine drinker. It went well with my food! - bread + balsamic - Hefty portion of bread loaves. You pour the oil and balsamic yourself. - paella - My first time eating paella ever! To be honest, it was quite salty but it helped a bit to squeeze the lemon on it. I ate it with bread. I thought starters were meant to be small but I found this portion to be quite big! - lamb stew - The photos online looked small but the portion was decent, especially along with the starter paella. The bones and meat were soft and had lots of cartilage. Potatoes were a good accompaniment. - salad - Just standard salad lol but my body really misses vegetables after being in Spain for a while. The service here was quick, prompt, and overall a great experience! We were worried about our big group but not only did our food all come out at the same time in a timely manner, it was also great talking to the servers! We were all able to pay separately too. I highly recommend this place!

We rented a flat just next door. This place has a very nice decor. A bar at the front and dinning…read moreroom in the back. We went at 7:45 pm and dinning room was closed. Barman told us it would be open in 10 minutes. Ordered a beer and it came with a free boquerones tapa. The have lots of menu choices. From 11 to 25 Euros. We ordered the 20 Euros one and a La Mancha red wine. Amazing. Juan, our waiter, did his best to take care of us. Breakfast is not great but it's inexpensive.

Restaurante Mangana is one of -10 street side Cafe's in Plaza Mayor in old Cuenca. We didn't have…read morea way to choose between them so we sat here because it already had a busy crowd. Either the other people had good Intel or we are just all collectively sheep. Anyway, this sheep was very happy with the choice. My wife and I sat outside under one of the many canopies. Our waitress greeted us and instantaneously knew we didn't speak Spanish and without asking brought us an English menu. Very nice! Also she was very patient with us non-Spanish speakers for the entire meal. We sat down around 2 pm which is roughly when people eat their "big" meal of the day. Someone immediately brought bread and table lagniappe (fried potatoes and roasted bacon) and took our drink order. Dos cervezas por favor! For lunch we picked items, 2 each, from their daily menu. I chose the Beans with Chorizo and the Sea Bass as my two. My wife selected the Gourmet salad (walnuts, fresh tomatoes, greens, balsamic) and the roasted chicken. The meal was fantastic. The beans were cooked in a tomato based sauce with flavor coming from the chorizo. The sea bass was prepared with skin-on and was super tender. My wife's meal was equally delicious. One thing we've noticed about Spanish food in general, and it applies here, is that food is prepared so that the natural flavors are dominant. Salt, olive oil, and maybe lemon or vinegar are the primary added flavorings. At Mangana this was the case and the food was beautiful. The corn on my salad tasted like it was just cut off the stalk. As for the European dining experience, this place has it. You are sitting at the entrance/exit (2 way traffic through a single open on the three arches) of a major gathering place of Plaza Mayor. You have the hustle and bustle of busses, cars, tourists, school kids, and motorcycles all passing by and in near proximity with dozens of like minded people enjoying their beer and food out in the open. You will see outside stuff outside, like birds and bugs. Not crazy amounts, but they are there naturally. If you want a more traditional eating experience, they also have a second floor, in-door dining room upstairs. I went up there and there were a few people up there, while most opted to sit in the dry, sun soaked 75F day outside. Downstairs they have very nice bathrooms as well to round out your visit. After the meal we had a couple of coffees to finish out our meal and they were very good as well. I can't say how Mangana compares to all the other places but we definitely had a great experience here.

No bueno. Worst meal of our trip. Wet and old calemares. Not fried all the way. For some reason the…read moreflies were covering the tables, but not those at the restaurant next door? Not sure what the scoop was. Friends ate next door and enjoyed their meal. All 4 of us left most of the food on our plate.

Stopped in here for a quick bite to eat before continuing our tour. It was chaotic to say the…read moreleast! You order at the counter, find a seat, and then wait for them to call you when your order is ready. When called, you go to the little window that's attached to the kitchen and get your food. Beverages are served at the order counter, but they don't tell you that it's there; you just figure it out when you don't have it and see it sitting on the counter! We each ordered something different. My friends ordered nachos with ham, potato sandwiches, and some kind of nuggets. I got the salad with chicken and cheese. Each of us thought our food was okay; certainly nothing to rave about. My salad wasn't as described. I was expecting mixed greens, carrots, tomatoes, olives, chicken, and cheese but only got iceberg lettuce, some tomatoes, and the chicken and cheese along with a package each of olive oil and vinegar. Not very satisfying. The fresh orange juice was good, though! One thing about both Portugal and Spain... the orange juice is always fresh squeezed! I probably wouldn't go back to this place, but it was okay just to tie us over until a real meal!

We enjoyed our lunch here. Stopped for a quick bite. They…read moredo not speak much English, but using whatever Spanish we knew, combined with calling our friend to translate, it worked out. They seemed pretty friendly. You can also just point out items on the menu. It essentially broken down into tapas, salads and grilled seafood and meat platters, with some specials. The bravas miguelitas are basically patatas bravas and they were awesome, in a delicious paprika coating with aioli. The salad with Jamon y queso was pretty good. I've had better salads elsewhere but this was a huge portion and not too bad. The octopus (pulpo) special came in an oil and paprika mixture over a bed of thinly sliced potatoes. It was excellent. The portions were fairly big even though we ordered the smaller size. The prices were reasonable. Would recommend if you are driving by this town.