D'gusta — Local services in Tavira

Terrible from start to finish. We had been to D'gusta a few years ago at their old premises in Tavira, and despite a rave recommendation from a friend, we were not overly impressed then - average food and service.

We thought we would give them a second go at their new location.

We understand restaurants are currently operating under unusual circumstances with Covid19. Still, our experience last night was not a result of this but unfortunately true to form with this restaurant.

We had a reservation for 7.30 and arrived 5 minutes early knowing we would have to leave our the table at 9.30. We did not want to have to rush our meal.

We were told to wait outside for someone to came to seat us. We stood outside the half-empty restaurant for nearly 20 minutes, waiting for someone to seat us while a queue formed behind us. Eventually, we had to wave the waiter down again to remind him we were waiting.

Finally seated, we were eventually bought place settings and menus. We ordered drinks which arrived reasonably promptly. When we tasted the red wine, it was so hot it was undrinkable. We noticed another table having the same issue, something the waiters seemed to be aware of as they were at the ready with ice buckets.

We then sat for over half an hour watching waiters bumble aimlessly around the restaurant doing not much more than seat people.

Eventually, over an hour after our arrival, we had to wave the waiter down again to try to order. We were told he would be back. We waited again and were just about to leave when he finally returned to take our order.

We hoped the food would outweigh the terrible service so decided to stay. Sadly, the night just got worse.

After the couvert - olives and carrots, was cleared, all of the plates we ordered were dumped on our table at the same time—both hot and cold dishes. We tried to eat the dishes in order, so hot meals would not go cold or soggy, leaving cold dishes to last even though this would not make sense on the palate.

Eating strong goats cheese dishes does not make sense before a ceviche, but cold baked goats cheese or cold, soggy puff pastry is not ideal either (and the pastry was anything but puff).

As we made our way through the dishes, they got worse and worse. The baked goat's cheese was swimming in an overwhelming amount of honey. The ginger prawns (now, cold) did not taste of ginger but were in a pool of what could only be described as a dirty oil of some description.

By now, we were stacking up plates on the corner of the overcrowded table because no one bothered to clear any dishes despite the number of waiters. (We joked it was like being at a sushi train; maybe we would have to take them to the counter when we pay the bill as proof of what we ate).

The Hake ceviche – served with toasts on the side that had been swimming in a vinegar dressing on the plate for so long they were a sodden mess. However, this was not a problem as the dish was inedible. It was a mass of red onion with a hint of fish overwhelmed with vinegar. We had to leave the dish.

When we complained to the waiter that the meals all came out at once, the prawns which had to be eaten cold, tasted nothing like ginger and the ceviche was inedible, he gave no apology only saying he would tell the chef. They did, however, manage to deliver our account to the table in record time.

Other than a nice location, we can not understand how this restaurant has gained a reputation as a good place to eat in Tavira. The service is slow, amateurish and at times, rude. The food, even when served professionally – one dish at a time unless otherwise specified by the client, is below average at best.

There are much better places in Tavira for great quality food...

The food was pretty good. Price is a bit on the high side for Portugal but probably pretty ok for most tourists. My one complaint was the service was a bit chaotic. They were not rude or anything but we had a table booked for 22:30 and waited until 23 for them to finally notice us. It was a busy night, I understand, but they were basically completely ignoring us and I saw some people that just sat down without reservation and were immediately served, so what was the point of booking a table? In addition, we had requested a table outside but first were given one inside, then I told them we wanted to sit outside. They said they'll then get us a table there only for us to wait another extra 15 min until we finally just decided to go and sit on our own on an empty table. No apologies, frankly it seems they just didn't notice...

It was obvious they weren't really paying attention and I understand it was busy but imho these issue should be avoided and it's something the staff needs to pay more attention to.

Food was, again, pretty...

This is the first time in my life I'll give 5 stars to a restaurant. Before mentioning the food, it's hard to describe how friendly and welcoming every member of the staff was with us. The place is very cozy with indoor and outdoor seats, nice decoration and a great view too. The food was simply incredible, we were 4 and everyone agreed it was one of the best restaurants in our lives. The highlights for us were the Tuna tartar, the chorizo, the vegetables "A Bras", the melted goat cheese with honey. These were simply incredible, but we also ordered many other dishes and they were all also very very. To close the dinner in a perfect way, we tried the desserts and again we were blown away by how good they were , our favourites being the Banana, Nutella and pastry, the chocolate pie and the lime pie. Oh, and we ordered the passion fruit sangria and it did not disappoint either. All this for a little more than 100 euros. Can't wait to come back and try the rest of the menu !!!! Thanks...