It was our last day and we got careless. We were hungry and searching for a couple places that ending up being closed. And every place we've been to so far had been very good. So we finally settled on this place with loud music. That should've been the first sign. The loud music was the biggest draw they had. That and a couple friendly waiters.
We ordered a couple salads, apps, and a couple seafood rice dishes. The tomatoes in the tomato salad were a bit hard and a tiny bit green. But, no big deal. The octopus salad was fine too. Hard to mess up a salad. Throw some cooked or maybe canned octopus into a salad and toss around.
The rice dishes looked nothing like the pictures. Definitely not worth the nearly $20 Euros. Could've gotten shrimp fried rice at a Chinese take out for a few dollars that would've been better.
We had hung into a menu in case we wanted to try other items. But, after seeing the rice dishes, we decided not to order any more. (We later went to another restaurant for take out).
The waiters were very nice.
But then when we tried to pay, they told us "cash only." It was our last night in Lisbon. My wife and I only had $20 left in small bills and coins. And our friends had gotten pick pocketed the day before. $1500 lost. True to the warning that pick pockets are a huge problem in Lisbon. (When they went to report it at the police station, another couple behind them were reporting the same thing. Keep all your valuables in your FRONT pockets. Or in a bag in front of you. Nothing of value should be left in a backpack bon your back. Separate your cash between you and your spouse. Don't carry an expensive looking purse, especially behind you. And don't carry a tiny little purse. That's a sure sign that the ONLY thing you have in your little purse is a wallet. Easy picking. Much harder to pick through a large backpack full of useless things, water bottles, maps, books, etc.)
So we were directed to the nearest ATM to get cash, leaving our wives.
Unfortunately, the streets are all very twisty. So we didn't find it. I looked up the nearest ATM. 8 min walk. Couldn't find it. The next one is another 8 minutes away. But it's out of cash. We finally found cash at a third. But now we're quite far from the restaurant. 15 minutes. I googled it and it turned out there are multiple with the same name. Crap.
We went to one and it wasn't that. We were lost in the labyrinth of Alfama.
We finally found our way when our wives texted us a link to another shop in the area. We finally made it back after an hour. And then they told us that they could now take credit. Apparently they had borrowed a card scanner from another store. The manager/owners looked pissed as they discussed allowing me to use credit. Not a great way to run your business. I would've apologized profusely for allowing a foreign customer to walk a whole hour to get cash and having the whole party wait an additional hour at my shop.
The waiters were again very nice and apologized. I told them it wasn't their fault multiple times to make sure they understood it. I also told them I wasn't angry at them but at the restaurant, while pointing back at the owners inside the restaurant.
Lessons learned: Check to make sure the shop takes credit. take a minute to Yelp or google a place. Don't be pressured by pushy waiters. And don't let loud music distract you from what is probably going to be a lousy place.
Also, I make it a rule to not do reviews of less than 4 stars bc it would negatively affect a business. However, this experience definitely deserved to be written up. And a little apology from the manager would've probably prevented this. But, to allow 5 people to experience lousy food, and then surprise them with an hour of waiting to find an ATM was too much. read more