Clandestino by Salpoente — Restaurant in Aveiro

Summary: the restaurant website states +12 person groups may pay less for their meals but it is false and there is no actual benefit to the group.

The food has a great price/quality ratio and the waiters service is good and quick. We had, however, an unfortunate surprise:

We were a group of +12 people for lunch, which, according to the restaurant website, allows us to choose from a "reduced menu": a menu with a smaller choice of meals, compared to the main one, but with slightly reduced prices. We, then, booked for a "reduced menu" lunch.

Upon arrival, we were delivered the "reduced menu" on paper to choose our lunch from, different from the one on the restaurant's website: this one has the same meals as the one online but with the same prices as the main menu. According to the waiter and the manager, the "reduced menu" on the website is outdated and the one delivered that day is the updated version.

Since the prices between the main menu and the "reduced" one are the same, and there is a larger choice of meals on the main menu, we requested the former to order our lunch instead, from which we were not allowed since we were a +12 person group. This means, contrary to what the restaurant website makes us believe, bringing a +12 person group will make us pay the same as the main menu but from a "reduced" choice of meals.

I do not understand this logic and I advise any future orderers of menus other than the main one (reduced or group menu) for clarifications on prices, conditions and if the available menus are updated...

They were able to seat us at the window as we had called for a last minute reservation.

Burger was tasty but completely the wrong bread it crumbled after two bites from the moisture of the burger. Chips were like packaged lays although more upscale. The Francesinha was not very tasty but that could be just that I am not a fan of this local sandwich covered in gravy. The chicken was over cooked and chewy. And the fries were not crunchy at all but maybe that is usually because they are smothered in gravy and I asked for the gravy on the side.

Pizza was again tasty but served on a ceramic plate which left ample time for it to get soggy by the third slice. They could learn a serving technique from Pizzerias in Brazil that use a covered plate with a multi layer to avoid pizza from steaming itself.

The BAO was the highlight of the meal - it saved the rating from a 1.

Very different experience to eating at Salpoente. Probably should not compare but they do want people to go to Clandestino because it is associated to Salpoente - so I thought of...

Boa pizza, mas nada espetacular. Acima da média disponível em Aveiro. O atendimento deixa a desejar. Feito somente por jovens, que trabalham como zombies, mal sabem falar. Estive na casa em um dia de semana, cheguei ao meio dia. Todas as mesas desocupadas, exceto uma mesa, que já tinha um casal. Pedi mesa para duas pessoas, a menina me olhou com cara de espanto e perguntou se fiz reserva. Eu respondi que não e ela franziu a testa como quem diz "não vai ter mesa", e me indicou uma mesa. Comemos e saímos de lá após muita conversa pelas 13h45 - se mais 3 ou 4 mesas foram ocupadas foi muito. Ou seja, completamente desnecessário o comportamento da menina, de perguntar sobre reserva, e ainda franzir a testa, estive lá até quase 14h e a casa não atingiu 50% de mesas ocupadas.

Paralelo a isso, os rapazes que atendem nas mesas, devem ganhar muito mal e trabalhar muito, porque não há bom dia, boa tarde, obrigado, nada. Trazem a pizza, não pedem licença, colocam o prato na mesa e viram as costas.

Casa vazia, um suplício conseguir chamar alguém e pedir outra bebida, somem todos, parece que escondem se, em algum canto.

Enfim, o ambiente é bom, a comida é boa - falta é atendimento. Mas a culpa não é dos atendentes, a culpa é de quem os colocou lá, sem a...