Le Pain Quotidien (Madrid, SPAIN) ☆☆☆☆☆

It has been an absolutely brutal day at the office but things were finally looking up when we arrived in Madrid, the last stop of our trip. We split up into two teams in El Retiro. Jelloman will try to do her final round of shopping while I bring mom and little nugget for some afternoon snacks.



Little nugget didn't have much to eat when we were in Toledo so I had to find him a place where he could have a quick bite. After turning down a couple of places, he ended up choosing Le Pain Quotidien on Calle de Serrano because he's familiar with their menu (I am guessing that's the reason).



Then things began to unfold. The rustic cafe was pretty full and just when we finally managed to find ourselves a table, we were thrown out of that area as the staff claimed it was "reserved". We moved to another table close to the toilet and were unable to find anyone who would serve us so I had to come all the way to the front and order from the take-away counter.

After waiting for another 10 minutes (server went away to replenish a few things after serving the guy in front of me), it was finally my turn. But as soon as I told her I was dining in, she gave me this silly grin and asked me to leave the line cuz she's responsible for take-aways only. I explained to her that I have been trying to get a server to take my order but no cigar, and my little one was starving but she insisted that she could only help if I order take-away. And so I did! I told her let's pack everything I order up and I'll just eat them here in their take-away boxes, if that's what she insisted. She obviously lost that argument and reluctantly took my order at the very end.

All the exchange has left a bad taste in my mouth. Coming from the other side of the world where customers are always right (especially one with a child), this wasn't acceptable at all. The biggest problem was the fact that right from the start, even before I told her I wasn't ordering take-away, she gave me the feeling that she wasn't happy to serve me. Was it because of the color of my skin, I would never find out (I would think it has something to do with it). It's been a while since I had a discriminatory treatment in Europe (last one was in Munich many years ago) but this was way different cuz I couldn't walk away like I did last time. Because I had a child who was freezing and at the same time, in desperate need of food.



So, I got this for little guy. Scrambled eggs, bacon, a small salad and sourdough toast. Surprisingly, it didn't arrive in a take-away box. I wonder why.



I got myself a small carrot cake. But I could feel this going down my spine (食咗背脊骨落)!



Some caffeine for Jelloman while I started my rant about what just happened.

These days, I found it more and more difficult to travel overseas with little ones unless you're in kids-friendly countries like Japan. Of course, it gets worse when you run into servers who are racists or places with discriminatory treatment. That's the worst experience one can ever get if you're a traveler.

Price: €€€
Address: Calle de Serrano 27, 28001 Madrid, Spain
Tel: +34 914-354358
Website: www.lepainquotidien.es
Opening Hours: 8:00am - 10:00pm (Mon - Fri), 9:00am - 10:00pm (Sat - Sun)