Been here before. Tried to make a reservation during the afternoon, but nobody answered the phone…read moreuntil 10 minutes prior to the opening.
No English menus available, although they had them the last time.I was able to go online to Yelp and open in English. I ordered a number of appetizers, knowing that portions were quite small. I ordered the appetizers and entrées, pointing to each, citing the number listed on the menu provided and confirming it with the waiter, who is the owner.
It took half an hour for the drinks to come out. I ordered a chorizo appetizer, which consisted basically of seven or eight slices small pieces of chorizo. It came out 45minutes after our arrival.. no tableside flambé.
I also ordered a small shrimp appetizer with garlic and oil garlic. Basically, it was three small shrimps which were very dry in a garlic oil sauce. I knew to specifically order this garlic shrimp because last time I had been there, I ordered what was supposed to be tiger prawns but they were very overpriced iand the portion vastly inadequate. I specifically did not want to pay €16.80 and chose the a different shrimp appetizer,which was approximately nine euro, I also ordered an appetizer of mussels in sauce. It was in a creamy sauce but the mussels themselves tasted really funny. i've been to Portugal on four different occasions for a length of time and I've eaten a lot of Portuguese food in Portugal and also from my family's preparation. I knew something was off.
My friend suggested it was because of the cream being saturated with onion. I should know better that when something doesn't taste right, especially seafood, not to eat it. We initially ordered olives and cod fritters. I asked repeatedly four times for them during the course of the appetizers for them. They didn't come out until after the entrées were served.
My friend had sea bass. It was a relatively small portion and he found it very dry. I had what was portrayed as a leg of lamb dish. It basically consisted of 4 flat pieces of lamb in a bland brown sauce. Woefully small portion....There were some potatoes intermixed with onions for a side. This was for the price of approximately €20 per dinner. Both portions were inadequately small. That is why I had ordered so many appetizers.When we finished, it was two hours since we had sat down. I repeatedly asked for the check in both English and German. After approximately 20 minutes, the check never arrived. We were tired of waiting and asking , so we went up to the bar in order to pay.
After another 10 minutes of waiting at the bar with nobody coming to accept our payment, the owner, said that the credit card machine was not working. He asked me for cash. I told him I need to use a card.Total cost fir 2 was 104 Euro and we left hungry.
After a few seconds after I told him I would be paying by card and did not have the cash, the credit card machine mysteriously stated working. I asked the man why I was being charged for king Tiger prawns at the price of 16.90 Euro , when I ordered the shrimp in garlic in oil. There is a seven euro difference. I knew not to order the tiger prawns again because I had them the last time I had visited and found them to be very inadequate for the price of €16.90.
He started to argue with me and said that since I ate the tiger prawns I must pay. I insisted that I didn't order them. He admitted that he had made a mistake and knew I had ordered the lesser price shrimp appetizer but said I still had to pay for the more expensive appetizer. I specifically told the owner/waiter I that I did not order the tiger prawns and II pointed to exactly what I had wanted on the menu. The portion I had received wasn't even near the size of large shrimp and not even close to being a tiger prawns. They were much smaller than the shrimp I had had the last time I was there. He made a disparagingly rude comment to two people at the bar, who appeared to be regulars about my American background and my not paying what he had initially charged. I understand Portuguese to an extent, so I knew exactly what was being said but I didn't let on.There are major problems in this place. The owner does not want to hire additional staff. He tries to do everything himself. He is waiter, owner, cashier, etc.
He has three family members,including one in the kitchen, so he doesn't have to pay for additional help. This result iis the owner himself taking orders and running around in a state of confusion, messing up orders. The worst part of this is that the mussels themselves were indeed spoiled . I now have severe intestinal distress in them and I am home, unable to enjoy the rest of the evening. I will never return here and I am extremely disappointed being of a Portuguese background, that this place does not portray the Portuguese cuisine faithfully. And, also, the owner's making an insult was was unacceptable. Remember, you never know who speaks the language...
