3/5 Vassilis K. 1 year ago on Google
When
history
meets
location
prepare
to
pay
a
premium!
Food
quality
was
up
to
our
expectations,
but
service
was
lacking
professionalism.
Eating
seafood
on
Avenida
de
Liberdade,
or
Lisbon's
city
center
in
general,
is
a
very
hard
and
pricey
task.
I
understand
the
fame
and
operational
costs
of
such
establishments,
but
I
need
to
perceive
value
on
things
such
as
service
and
ambiance,
which
will
improve
my
overall
experience.
Here
is
my
detailed
review
from
my
experience
and
point
of
view.
As
we
were
portuguese
speakers,
compared
to
the
international
dominant
clientele,
we
felt
that
our
waiter,
who
was
clearly
looking
forward
for
a
day
off,
was
being
pushy
and
wanted
us
to
accept
suggestions
with
little
or
any
dialogue,
just
for
the
sake
of
upsell,
or
because
from
his
past
experience
our
table
wasn't
worthy
his
service
delivery
efforts
for
the
small
expected
tips
he
would
have
got
in
return.
For
the
story
I
left
a
tip
of
2.50€
(from
the
5%
suggested
on
the
bill,
which
is
an
outrageous
imported
practice
which
appeared
since
the
Covid
outbreak
in
Lisbon)
was
a
very
kind
gesture
from
my
side
(but
the
rest
of
the
table
disagreed...he
didn't
deserve
any,
and
he
knew
it).
Moreover,
in
order
to
put
you
in
to
some
context,
we
sat
at
19h30
in
a
half
full
restaurant
already
being
served
food,
and
as
we
haven't
been
advised
of
any
2nd
sitting
time,
we
didn't
want
to
rush
and
we
wanted
to
take
our
time
and
enjoy
ordering
some
dishes
and
then
later
on
maybe
some
more,
which
is
what
we
did
(for
the
story
by
21h30
we
had
already
left).
Food
wise,
the
'sapateira',
which
is
the
spider
crab
served
with
a
mayo
filling
mixture
on
its
shelf
(and
the
legs
aside)
was
huge
(1.2kg
for
37.50€/kg)!!
Usually
in
other
seafood
restaurants
you
find
400-800g
crabs,
cause
above
this
weight
your
are
just
wasting
money
on
the
carcasses...
We
also
ordered
an
additional
crab
shelf
just
with
the
filling
(without
the
legs),
but
it
seemed
that
this
one
was
long
forgotten
on
a
fridge
shelf,
and
had
barely
crab
taste
in
it.
Of
course
when
listed
at
9.90€
compared
to
the
rest,
we
had
little
or
any
expectations...
The
clams
bulhão
pato
were
very
small
in
size,
for
a
tourist
portion
priced
at
20€.
To
the
waiter's
surprise,
I
wanted
to
order
their
best
bottle
of
white
wine,
a
Crasto
Superior
priced
at
36€
(mark-up
'x3')
wasn't
available,
and
he
suggested
the
the
2nd
most
expensive
(Rocim,
Verdelho)
as
counter
proposal,
which
isn't
of
my
liking,
and
I
declined
his
offer
opting
for
another
one
at
22€
which
has
Arinto
and
Chardonnay
grapes.
Unfortunately
the
wine
bottle
wasn't
cold
enough
and
went
back
to
the
fridge
for
15min...
The
bill
took
10
min
to
arrive,
and
the
POS
another
10min...
Meanwhile
other
clients
were
waiting
outside
for
our
table
to
be
cleared
and
reset.
Isn't
seat
turnover
what
profitability
is
all
about?
On
the
good
side,
the
huge
spider
crab
was
fresh
and
tasty,
the
medium
size
shrimps
were
good
(43€/kg)
and
the
small
shrimps
fried
with
garlic
were
also
great
and
well
served
(17€
per
portion).
I
hope
this
review
can
be
perceived
as
constructive
criticism
for
the
management
and
not
as
some
kind
of
punishment
for
one
waiter's
behaviour.
Please
remember
that
every
client
counts,
and
you
are
always
one
client
away
from
turning
a
good
reputation
to
a
bad
one.
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