La Pergola — Restaurant in São Vicente

English then Portuguese

The rattan and art-on-the-walls decor of this small restaurant may seduce you, but for the rest it's tantamount to legal theft.

I am an Englishman, 35 years in Portugal, 78 years old, and speak both Portuguese and French. I have no communication problems. I am vegetarian and my friend is vegan.

She saw nothing vegan so asked for a small salad and some rice. I ordered a dish that was described as a homemade veggie burger, salad, goat cheese omelette and tomatoes ' a la provencale. ' Sorry about the missing accents.

Let me describe the food.

Mine: wet omelette with egg white/cheese water running from both ends. Pile of undressed lettuce bearing in its midst two small fried dumpling things which had a soft and slimy texture and a very salty taste. I sent the omelette back and it was returned having been drained or perhaps patted down with a large towel. It was tasteless, especially the much vaunted goats cheese from Sto. Antao. The two halves of tomato, grilled, oregano'd, were the best part, if there were one .

My friend's order: big pile of lettuce covered liberally with crudely sliced tomatoes, lots of grated carrot and beetroot, all of the above undressed, untossed and in the event, uneaten. There was no rice .

The waiter/ cook/ owner was a man of few words. When I went up to pay, leaving most of the food on the plates, I asked him what happened to the burger. He said nothing, so I asked him what happened to the rice. A vague smile played on his face, and I realised that if he had ever cared, those days were gone.

3200 escudos. 30 or so euros for another bad culinary memory.

Please avoid at all costs. We now realise why they have no WiFi - no- one can read the appalling reviews.

This is not a new story: it doesn't matter that tourists, staying on the island for two or three days are unhappy with the food. New ones will replace them.... And so the need to try fades, and the love of easy money increases. The locals must be stunned by the ease with which Europeans part with their money for really bad products, souvenirs, . . food .

Should be closed down for being unable to cook, breach of contract, inability to speak etc.

A decoração de vime e arte nas paredes deste pequeno restaurante pode seduzi-lo, mas, de resto, é equivalente a um roubo legal.

Sou inglês, moro em Portugal há 35 anos, tenho 78 anos e falo português e francês. Não tenho problemas de comunicação. Sou vegetariano e minha amiga é vegana.

Ela não viu nada vegano, então pediu uma salada pequena e um pouco de arroz. Pedi um prato que foi descrito como um hambúrguer vegetariano caseiro, salada, omelete de queijo de cabra e tomates "à provençal".

Deixe-me descrever a comida.

Minha: omelete molhada com clara de ovo/água de queijo escorrendo das duas pontas. Pilha de alface sem tempero com no meio dois pequenos bolinhos fritos que tinham uma textura macia e viscosa e um gosto muito salgado. Enviei a omelete de volta e ela foi devolvida depois de ter sido escorrida ou talvez enxugada com uma toalha grande. Não tinha gosto, especialmente o tão alardeado queijo de cabra de Sto. Antao. As duas metades de tomate, grelhadas e com orégano, eram a melhor parte, se é que havia uma.

O pedido do meu amigo: uma grande pilha de alface coberta generosamente com tomates grosseiramente fatiados, muita cenoura e beterraba raladas, tudo isso sem tempero, sem tempero e, no caso, sem comer. Não havia arroz.

O garçom/cozinheiro/proprietário era um homem de poucas palavras. Quando fui pagar, deixando a maior parte da comida nos pratos, perguntei a ele o que havia acontecido com o hambúrguer. Ele não disse nada, então perguntei o que havia acontecido com o arroz. Um sorriso vago surgiu em seu rosto, e percebi que, se ele alguma vez se importasse, aqueles dias já tinham acabado.

3200 escudos. Cerca de 30 euros por outra má memória culinária.

Por favor, evite a todo custo. Agora percebemos por que eles não têm WiFi - ninguém consegue ler as avaliações terríveis.

Esta não é uma história nova: não...

The dish I ordered was nothing like what was on the menu- it was more like a watery soup of leftovers with a can of sweetcorn emptied into, than the menu item which had meat, green corn and chickpeas featured. When I asked the waiter, after cleaning his ear out and avoiding my questions for a bit, said that this restaurant never had green corn (even though it was on the the menu) and said I shouldn't pay. The other dish of cachupa com grao was mediocre and a very small portion. Each dish cost over 7.5euros each. Very bad value for money and bad service. The only thing that was nice was the band of 3 men who were playing music and the surroundings of the restaurant, which is quite green and leafy. What happened? Feels like at some point it was a cared for place, but along the way of profit and easy to please tourists, they forgot to make food of any quality. A pity. Needless to say, we won't...

Completely overrated! Sluggish service, completely overpriced. We paid 8 euro for a bowl of a soup without any bread (probably the most expensive soup in the whole Cabo Verde!) and 9 euro for something that was supposed to be a vegetarian burger with an egg but turned out to be and omelette and 2 small pieces of something vegetarian and with a tiny salad with half of the ingredients missing compared to what was announced in the menu. Even if it was the afternoon and the restaurant was practically empty, and even if we ordered something really simple, we had to wait for at least half an hour to be served. Staff rather laid back, not attentive, finally fed up with waiting, we paid at the bar. It's a shame this restaurant is recommended...