Dom Joaquim — Restaurant in Évora

Despite having a Michelin bib gourmand, I found the food at this restaurant to be very average.

We went for lunch on a weekday and right at opening there was just 1 other table in there. After about an hour, it started to get a bit busier with 3 other tables.

The service was pretty good, and the restaurant and bathrooms were clean.

We were given their regular menu and also the menu of the day. Unfortunately they did not have a lunch menu. The menu of the day was in Portuguese only, so the waiter patiently translated and described each of the dishes. We ended up ordering both mains from the menu of the day and the appetizer from their regular menu.

The baked cheese seemed like it could be something I could make at home. It was various cheeses melted together with oregano that came with crispy crostini bread.

The lamb chops were simply grilled with garlic and came with a side of homemade chips, vegetables and potatoes. We got 7 pieces total: 3 individual rack pieces and 4 chops. Honestly the taste was very mid with not much char.

The pork and clam dish was probably the best dish of the 3. It came with a decent portion of black pork chunks that were mostly tender and not chewy, and a lot of clams. It was topped with fried potatoes, kind of like the ones you'd get at brunch. There was a lot of flavourful sauce at the bottom so it would have been nice to have more potatoes.

I felt like for a Michelin bib gourmand restaurant, it would have been better, but overall I was not that impressed. For 2 people, 1 bottle of water, 1 appetizer, and 2 mains came to 47€. Everything was just okay. I don't think I would come again or recommend to others. I had much better Portuguese food on...

Our hotel picked this place for us, so I didn't read any reviews before going. My wife says that the poor service was mentioned by others. There is no hostess so we waited for several minutes for someone to walk to the front and to be seated. Our waiter was very friendly, but as the restaurant got busy he disappeared. Our appetizer of the fantastic sausages and turnip greens was forgotten, leaving us sit for half an hour watching others who came after enjoy their food. By then our €20 half-bottle of wine was almost gone and dinner was still to come. Her pork cheeks were very tender, but flavor was lacking compared to others from the night before. They were very boring, actually. I had an expertly prepared octopus, both tender and delicious. Desserts were an option, but most things were unfamiliar and the young woman who tried to take our order was not able to help much in English so we skipped it. This is also only the second restaurant in Portugal that then asked for a tip. Perhaps as Americans we have a reputation for tipping, but they don't understand why we do it. Overall, lots of potential but poor...

It seems there are two menus in this restaurant, one for those who "speak" Portuguese and one for "others". We are native English speakers, however I speak French, Spanish, and German too. We were given only the standard menu, however the diner beside us (who spoke Italian and English, but not Portuguese) was given a menu with the chef's recommendations in Portuguese and was told by the waiter if he needed translation help he would assist. He was also told that wines were available by the glass. We were not, and ended up ordering a bottle of wine that was actually a "house" wine that probably was also sold by the glass...

When we asked why we did not have access to the "Portuguese chef's recommendations" we were told because we did not speak Portuguese!! Neither did the Italian beside us!!! And, we can read and speak Spanish which, although they dont like to admit it, is very close.

If any restaurant in the US or Canada pulled that kind of menu stunt they would be out of business in a flash.

On top of all this, the food was so so. Not Michelin worthy...