CASA DO BENFICA — Restaurant in Sydney

We were so excited to come to try this food for the first time but were dissatisfied of the outcome. We hadn’t eaten breakfast to be able to order on empty stomachs to try the entree, main menu and dessert. We first arrived to have no allocated seats available which was fine as we found an area to eat, They say we have to come and order in the counter as we don’t have reservations. They do table order when u reservation . Which is fine we had ordered at 1:20pm and spent $193 but not including the dessert and drinks knowing it was going to be a long wait to begin with, after 40 minutes we had realised that our order coming with an entree has not arrived. Wondering where it was I had asked them, they had reassured us that we haven’t forgot ur order that we have placed. Although, 1 hour in and we still haven’t received our entree which was promised to be given soon, at this point I had asked again on our wait time which was handed to us a minute after. It was apparent that our order was later than expected , this was a problem as we had intended to dine for an hour and a half in our time frame. Comes by the one hour and 10 mark we still hadn’t received our main menu, at which point we decided to leave it at that to receive the money we paid, to the unpleasant realisation that we had to pay for the entree that we had eaten before that we waited an hour for. This was really disappointing as we expected to get our money back entirely. As we were discussing this, I had seen that they had practically just given the order to the cooks which was frustrating to see, whilst other people are dining with their order though we had ordered firsthand. Disappointed poor service. No reservations you should treat The same !!!

I’ll say the entree was...

While Petersham is well known for its Portuguese offerings, you might be less aware that Marrickville hides a beauty inside the Marrickville & District Hardcourt Tennis Club. Casa Do Benfica is a family-run restaurant named for a football club in Lisbon, Portugal. We visit for an early dinner while the courts are still in operation. The thwack of tennis balls is quickly eclipsed by the hubbub of a convivial dining hall, which fills up around us with people finishing their games. Lined with national flags and sporting memorabilia, it’s a casual club dining experience rather than a restaurant.

Drinks are accessed at the tennis club bar, making it perfect for groups. A Johnny Walker black label with dry ginger ale will set you back a tenner, or you can imbibe a thematic Soalheiro Alvarinho 2023 ($32/half bottle). Bread rolls, butter green olives and Lurpak butter arrive soon after your order is taken. Go easy on the bread, because if you order garlic prawns ($27) you might want to use it to mop up those delicious oils. Polvinhos grelhados ($26) is a substantial plate of grilled octopus, piled high with tender tentacles best accentuated with a squeeze of fresh lemon. There’s probably too much protein on the plate for two people, especially if you intend to tackle your own main. Chocos grelhadas ($30) teams a trio of grilled cuttlefish with boiled spuds and crisp salad. Carne de porco à alentejana ($32) is a tasty medley of marinated pork, clams, golden hand-cut square potato chips and pickles. We didn’t have room for dessert, but I have it on good authority the pudim de caramelo ($8) or caramel flan...

This is the third time we’ve been here and we have always enjoyed the food here. We came here for lunch today with a group of ten people and the service was very slow but that’s understandable as it was busy. After the meal I spoke to my friends and they independently mentioned that the servers were unhelpful and rude (e.g when my friends were checking the bill after lunch the server said rudely “it’s all there no need to check it” and when I went to the counter to see if I could order a kids meal for my 5 year old before the other guests arrived I was told by a server that they were busy with something else and that wasn’t I aware there was table service and just walked off. She could have just told me politely that they would come to the table to take my order in a few minutes). That’s unfortunate because I had good experiences previously and have always found the staff to be friendly so hopefully this was a one off but I don’t think I’ll be back. There are other places like Frango which is consistently good with...