Manzo — Restaurant in Albufeira

Starter was 5 out of 5 - Wagyu spring rolls off the special board and tiger prawns between two of us

The service was generally very good, but they let themselves down a bit in two ways: firstly the other waiting staff were heckling our waiter when he was trying to explain the different steak options. Secondly, they didn’t really explain the different cooking options for different cuts, it was all ‘medium rare’ for everything.

We went for Australian wagyu chuck roll steak. It was a bit tough, not outrageously tough, but less tender than I would expect for the money. Asked for it medium and it came medium TBF. Tasted great and the grill leaves a fantastic finish on the outside of the steak.

The sides were very nice and cheap, but on the small side, so would recommend at least 5 sides between 2 people.

Overall, I feel a little harsh giving only 3/5 but in context, this is a steak restaurant. The price of the steak itself is on par with higher end restaurants in London, so expected much more in terms of quality of end product. I should note at this point, that they had great knowledge of the various meats they sold who ch were all fantastic quality rare, but I had to prompt them to talk about cooking them, which is not a great sign.

This place could very easily go from 3/5 to 5/5 with a few tweaks to the cooking of the steak. Take a note from the South American restaurant franchises: all steak from rare to well done, should be cooked in a way that it can be cut with a table knife.

I feel I should also reiterate, if this was a ‘normal’ restaurant, not a steak specialist, I would...

I went with my family of five and we had our expectations quite high as we saw the “real” reviews on it , we arrived and sat down and everything was going well , service very attentive and we got our drinks in a very timely manner , the staff were very kind and welcoming but then things started to go downhill , I ordered plain fries with peppered sauce , while the rest of my family ordered stakes , it arrived relatively quick , when my fries were set down in a metal container I puck it up about a minute after it was sat down and the container was piping hot ! I didn’t really care but then I tasted the chips , they were quite dry and the peppered sauce had tasted bitter and watered down , my family also thought this , my fathers stake was extremely dry and burnt and zero flavour whatsoever ! And my family aren’t picky eaters , my younger siblings meals arrived , the size of their stakes were so small , the same size as my mum and dads …I wouldn’t even feed it to a baby , their stakes were also burnt and …horrible , and the price was insane , it was the most expensive meal we got in Portugal ! Even though it was minimal portions , the food was HORRIBLE and I feel like the atmosphere was quite odd but the staff and the actual building was great but the major letdown was the food .

Unless they severely up their game and re price so it doesn’t put you in debt !

I would...

Still have some work to do. We came after comparing this to another steakhouse in Quinta do lago. We did a booking through internet. It was quite a hot day and we got seats at the terrace. Staff was overall friendly but they seemed bit lost on who is doing what and running around. Orders were taken and everything went well after minor mistakes with water.

Maybe it was the heat but 40min wait after order seemed quite long. We had really good rose so it eased out the wait. We checked this wine that cost 33e in Vivino and avg price was 12e. Usually restaurants put 100% on top but here it was bit more expensive.

We received food and unfortunatelly meat was overcooked. We ordered medium and it was more welldone. Staff did everything right by asking if we want to return the steak, but as it was 38c heat we didn't really want to spend more time in heat. Besides meat was ok anyways. Other dish was lamb rack which was quite nice.

I have been to many steakhouses and concept if fairly simple. Nice clean restaurant that serves good quality meat cooked just right. Add friendly staff and you have the perfect combo. But if you offer 5 different choices on how meat is done, you shouldn't make mistakes like this. Restaurant uses Josper bbq grills which should be even easier to control cooking temps...