"Encouraged by the TA reviews, and the fact that it was a 2 minute walk from our apartment, we tried the Poniente on our first night in Salamanca. We left disappointed with the quality of the food and aspects of the service. When we first entered the restaurant, we were encouraged by the stylish decor and the professional, welcoming attitude of staff. They tolerated our very poor Spanish as they guided us through the menu. The choices were fairly limited, but we found dishes that we thought would suit our tastes. We were surprised when the bread arrived two perfectly nice rolls placed directly on the table cloth no plates. Never seen it done before. For an entree we shared a plate of croguets. The obviously hand made, irregularly shaped croquets were quite tasty. but nothing perceptibly different from those sold as pintxos in most bars. For mains, I had the Bonito grilled and topped with crushed garlic. I had to send it back to the kitchen. The large, thick piece was seared on both sides, but cold and uncooked through the centre. When it arrived back it was indeed cooked through, but now tough and dry. I struggled to eat some, and between my wife and I we probably consumed less than a third of it. It was neither tasty nor enjoyable to eat. My wife had a leg of lamb for her main. It was well cooked, but a little bland seemed to lack any significant seasoning or spices. Accompanying vegetables consisted a small serving of potato chips and a roasted bell pepper. It was an quite good, but not the something special you expect from a restaurant. The prices were OK, but higher than other Spanish restaurants we have tried In Salamanca and other towns. It was certainly not good value considering the quality. Perhaps we were expecting too much, or maybe we just do not like their style of cooking, but we went away disappointed and struggled with a 3 star rating."
