Restaurante O Trovador — Restaurant in Coimbra

We booked this place for my birthday meal. We didn't realise it was up approximately 700 steps which we carried a buggy up. When we arrived the manager (?)/ Man in charge was pretty unwelcoming, we had a sleeping baby with us and he was dragging chairs and tables around next to her which woke her up 👍🏼

We asked for a wine menu but we're told they didn't have one as it was always evolving. Ordered a bottle of house red, couldn't be told how much it cost. It was €16 which is pretty expensive for house red in Portugal.

We ordered the chanfana which is a Portuguese peasant dish of stewed goat, boiled potatoes and cabbage. It was €18 each, again expensive for what it is. It came with ONE potato each. We ordered more potatoes which came, barely boiled with the skin left on. When we got the bill we had been charged €8 for an extra potato each. Vergonha!

We had such a negative feeling from head honcho man we didn't stay for dessert or coffee.

The two other waiters were friendly but very timid, head guy kept pacing around micro managing everyone. Very uncomfortable, over priced...

Location: Beautiful area, very pleasant to walk around. Atmosphere: The restaurant itself is charming and well-decorated. Food:

We ordered the bacalhau à brás (codfish dish).

Unfortunately, it was quite heavy and not very tasty.

Service:

This was the biggest issue.

We waited a very long time to be served, even though there were several waiters around.

It seemed disorganized, and the staff couldn’t manage the flow of customers.

Possible Reason:

There was a medieval fair happening in the area, so maybe the restaurant wasn't prepared for such a high volume of people.

Overall: Nice location and setting, but poor service and underwhelming food. Hopefully just a bad day due to the...

I really liked this restaurant. It had a great vibe and outstanding food. It had a perfect location situated right outside from a church. I would definitely recommend this place to adventurous adults/kids. But, if you are not really an adventurous person and would rather stick to chicken fingers, this in not the place. With limited menu options ( Around 12 main courses) and no kids menu, those people might not enjoy this restaurant. Luckily, I am adventurous, and I really enjoyed all the options and would definitely go again. In sum, great place for people who are comfortable going outside of their limited food comfort zone. However, not such a great place for the people with...