Restaurante Ponto Final — Restaurant in Almada

We booked Ponto Final back in March for our final night in Lisbon, as I’d been two years ago and had a fantastic experience. Sadly, things have changed — and not for the better.

We followed the restaurant’s own Instagram recommendation and booked a water taxi through the provider they promote. This turned out to be the first of many mistakes. The taxi was booked for 18:45 to get us to our reservation at 19:00. They were extremely late, ignored all my calls and messages, and showed up at 19:30. When I confronted the driver, he acted as though I’d never tried to contact him — even though my number clearly popped up on his phone when I called to confirm we had the correct company. I had even asked him if this delay would affect our reservation, and he assured me it wouldn’t.

At the same time, we were actively trying to contact the restaurant — calling, messaging, and even emailing before we were officially late to let them know what was happening. Every call failed, and we received no response to any other form of contact. When we finally arrived, our reservation had been given away, and no one at the restaurant seemed remotely interested in helping. The first waiter I tried to explain the situation to shrugged and told me it wasn’t his fault the taxi was late. Perhaps not — but why recommend a service that’s so clearly unreliable? It’s the only one they promote.

We were told we could wait "around the corner" for a table, which ended up being over an hour, without any updates or sense of apology.

Once seated, things didn’t improve. I ordered red mullet but was told it was unavailable, so I chose a different dish. Then, both arrived. I had already started eating the second dish, so I sent the mullet back — yet we were still charged for it (and it was the more expensive option).

My vegetarian friend had her meal completely forgotten. By the time the staff realized, everyone else had already eaten. Her food — just a plate of fried green beans as they also forgot the rice that comes with - came out much later, which was incredibly frustrating and disappointing for her. On top of that, several of our side dishes never showed up.

Honestly, if it hadn’t been for my friends doing their best to keep spirits high, the night would’ve been a complete disaster. I’m deeply disappointed — this was supposed to be a special evening, and I made the booking months in advance because I had such fond memories of this place.

Unfortunately, Ponto Final has lost what once made it special. The restaurant can no longer handle the demand and offers poor service with no accountability. I won’t be back — and I wouldn’t recommend it to...

Review for Ponto Final – The TikTok Viral Restaurant

An unfortunate and frustrating experience from start to finish.

We arrived at 7:40 PM and weren’t seated until 9 PM—nearly 2.5 hours later. Since they don’t take reservations after 7 PM, it’s first come, first served. What they don’t mention is that you’ll need to wait about an hour just to get your name on the list… and then queue again to grab drinks while you wait to be seated. That line took another hour, and we were left standing outside in freezing winds, sharing bread and olives on a stone ledge by the water as the sun set and the cold set in.

After all that waiting, our name was skipped entirely on the waitlist. We watched multiple groups who arrived well after us get seated ahead. When I pointed this out to the gray-haired host (whom everyone seems to rave about), he gave a half-hearted apology and finally seated us—almost three hours after we arrived. Because we had been out in the cold for so long, we asked to be seated inside.

Once inside, we sat for 20 minutes without any acknowledgment. No waiter approached us for drink orders, nothing. It was our last night in Portugal, and we felt invisible.

When we finally placed our order, I opened the menu only to find it covered in black mold. I lost my appetite. I flagged it to our waiter, who didn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, every table around us was getting great service and attention. We felt completely disregarded.

We were seated at 9 PM. Our food didn’t arrive until 10:40 PM—20 minutes before closing. Even then, it came in parts. My partners veal arrived much earlier than expected, and my grilled sardines were delayed another 15–20 minutes after that. I had to flag down a different server—not even ours—to check on our food. Our assigned waiter never once came to check in.

As a waitress from New York, I understand the chaos of busy nights—but this was unacceptable. We rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience was so disappointing it felt like a joke. We paid the same as everyone else, yet were treated as if we didn’t matter.

When we brought our concerns to the host at the end of the night, he brushed it off with, “Well, we have good reviews.” That’s not the point. You took our time and money, and our experience didn’t reflect your supposed standards. The arrogance was disheartening.

They comped dessert but still charged for water—what a joke. He blamed how busy the restaurant was, but every other table was properly taken care of. It almost felt personal.

The food was good, but the treatment was honestly heartbreaking. Sadly, we won’t be...

We dined at Ponto Final for lunch over the Easter weekend (Saturday) after a friend recommended.

We traveled by ferry from Lisbon from ‘Estação fluvial do Cais do Sodré’ which took around 12 minutes then caught an Uber from the ferry terminal in Almada ‘Cacilhas’ which took about 10 /15 minutes. Return ferry ticket cost around €3.60. Uber cost around €5 /6 one way.

The restaurant lived up to our expectations and we had a delicious lunch in a unique waterside setting. It is a charming, rustic restaurant serving traditional Portuguese cuisine, mainly seafood but had some meat dishes also.

We pre booked an outside table by email some months in advance but on arrival the weather was cold and windy so we chose to sit inside instead and had the only table with a view right by the door. It was a good decision as the weather became worse and started to rain and everyone wanted to move inside. It’s a small restaurant inside so do bear this in mind when you make a reservation as they may not be able to accommodate you if the weather changes especially if you have a large group.

The restaurant is located right on the water front with lovely views across to Lisboa. My husband and I shared the monkfish stew at €65 which was delicious but a very generous portion for 2! It would comfortably work for 4.

The staff were attentive and friendly especially Tiago who advised we didnt need any starters as the stew would be sufficient! However we did share a small cod cake to start (yummy) and to finish the chocolate mousse and some very good coffee. We ended up walking back to the ferry terminal and it took around 20 + minutes. The ferries are pretty regular and do leave on time. My tip for the walk to and from the ferry - you can catch a free elevator that is located very close to the restaurant that takes you to a road higher up where you can walk or catch an uber from. It cuts out much of the steep walk as the restaurant is located at a much lower level by the waters edge. Overall I would highly recommend as the perfect relaxed dining experience for eating traditional...