Cantinho — Restaurant in Faro

Wow, how disappointing! Nice location, very inviting. Food ordered, everything cool. I ordered tuna steak, which came with tomato sauce. Which was bland, with overpowering fresh coriander. I'm not a complainer. I got it from my mother. And I didn't wish to make my companion uncomfortable, so I persevered. The fish was not good, thin and ropey, cooked I don't know how - certainly not grilled. The first mouthfuls yielded a few bones. Okay, pick the bones out and get on with it. Meanwhile fish tough and really not interesting. Then a few more bites and a mouthful that was pretty much just bones and tomato. At which point, 'waiter, I can't eat this, it is just not good' "Why?" "Bones - too many bones." "Well, what do you expect, it's a fish." Bad comment. You don't serve bony fish in a tomato sauce in a dark restaurant. You should know better. "And really, it's tough and the taste is poor." "Well, you ordered it rare." So if you order it rare it will taste like tough old socks? Warning please. To cut it short, various restaurant staff, manager, etc were called. Upshot: "Because you've eaten half of it [more like a third] we can only deduct half of the cost". My partner's meal was okay (not better than okay), but because of the attitude of the staff, I conclude that this is a restaurant to avoid. Any problems of theirs will be assigned to you. Chef can't cook, staff are rude and...

So I have been quite conflicted whether I should leave a review here, here I am. The service and atmosphere was absolutely fabulous. I made a booking but for some reason it didn’t go through the system. However the waiter had kindly accommodated me, which I really appreciated it. I ordered the octopus, and as what you see from my photos, I really love it until I found a curly hair in my food. Immediately, I asked what is it and ask if they can check with the chef. (I forgot to take a photo of the hair, which is really my bad). The waiter came back and said it came with the sweet potato. I had cooked sweet potato many times, but it really looked like a curly human hair, which unfortunately I forgot to take a photo. We found a sweet potato but couldn’t find anywhere in the surface that looked like the hair I found. (It didn’t look like the root hair) Both I and the waiter didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t want to make the waiters life harder. I also heard in the kitchen that they are talking about this, which made me feel uncomfortable as well. I really didn’t want to waste food but I couldn’t continue consume it. immediately paid the bill and left. I think i was disappointed because how the chef reacted to this and responded to...

A Disappointing Experience with Poor Service

Unfortunately, it was an experience I'd rather forget. From the moment the prawns arrived at our table, things went downhill. The prawns tasted both fishy and watery, a clear indication they were undercooked. We informed the waitress, hoping for a resolution, but even after they were recooked, the prawns still tasted awful.

To make matters worse, the waitress became argumentative, insisting that all other restaurants we had previously visited were subpar compared to theirs. She claimed their prawns were the best and freshest, which was hard to believe given our experience. Instead of addressing our concerns or offering a solution, she was dismissive and rude.

Adding to the disappointment, the bread served with our meal was incredibly dry, as if it had been sitting out for days. Despite the poor quality of food and service, we were still charged full price for the meal.

Overall, the combination of undercooked and unpleasant prawns, stale bread, and unprofessional service made for a highly unsatisfactory dining experience. I would not recommend this to anyone looking for a pleasant meal or...