Mano's Bistro — Restaurant in St. Helier

Meh. I really wanted to like this restaurant. I'm fond of Portuguese cuisine, but sadly too often restaurants outside of Portugal follow the same blueprint that Mano's Bistro does. Very rich menu, with lots of different dishes, none of them very enticing when actually appearing in a plate (we saw a few of them going by and were really not impressed). Also, I don't understand why even though there are hundreds of bacalhau recipes in Portuguese cuisine, all restaurants in Jersey do the same two (grilled cod and bacalhau a gomes e sa). Anyway, my squid with tomato sauce was definitely not unforgettable (too much sauce, squid a bit on the rubbery side), as was the bacalhau (excessively cooked, too onion-y, etc.). The frango espetada was decent, but again nothing to write home about. Lots of over-fried polenta as a side dish. I asked for a pint of Sagres (which is a pretty good beer) and I'm sure I got a Carling instead. Creme caramel probably thickened with starch, not very good and with a lemony aftertaste. Grumpy waiters. Blueish, cold ambiance. Overall, not the place for...

My review is based on our visit yesterday with my 2 children, brother, celebrating my Mother’65th birthday.

The service was very bad for us. The food took 1 hour 15 minutes to come out, which was ridiculously too long. When it did come, the steak was very much undercooked, the fries were cold, the Portuguese dish I was recommended; potatoes and fish was tough and very chewy, the fried polenta was very hard, it obvious maybe sat for a while before being served or just overcooked. We were very disappointed with the food! When we let the house manager know, he offered no apology but told us the full Sea bass takes a very long time to cook. That too came out soo dry. He also stated that, that’s how the Portuguese like it! I believe this place is overrated and sure there are other nicer Portuguese...

We popped in without having a reservation on a Wednesday evening, Not the busiest day of the week, So we're given a choice of seating for 6 with one 4yo. The adults ordered 4 of the various espadatas, And my wife being Coeliac (Allergy to gluten)ordered a rib eye steak, our 4yo was treated like Royalty, Being a bit of a princess (in our eyes) being served quickly while we adults chose our dishes. When our food arrived the steak was exceptional, Tender and perfectly cooked med/Rare, And huge. Our espatadas were equally excellent, with a mix of Beef, and King prawns. We have given a high score as the attention, Service and quality of...