Andaluz — Restaurant in Figueira da Foz

The food we were served was OK, but the whole experience was surreal. There are two possibilities: either the owners/waiters are not very hospitable or they don't have any common sense.

I know that many restaurants in Portugal close quite early, so we arrived an hour before the closing time. The place was full and we were asked to wait for a table. Very soon a lot of people finished their meals and left the restaurant. So 5-10 minutes after our arrival, there were at least 5 free tables. There were only two other couples waiting ahead of us, so we thought it would be quick. But the waiters took their time to clean the tables. After some 15 extra minutes, they showed the first and the second couple to their tables and took their orders. We had to wait 5-10 more minutes to be give a table. We waited for a table for over 25 minutes even though there were free tables 5 minutes after our arrival.

Once we sat down, the things suddenly sped up. A waiter appear at our table with baskets of bread and wanted to take our order without giving us any time to read the menu. It turned out that we could choose between 1 meat dish and 1 fish dish. They didn't have the dish of the day. I asked about a different fish dish from the menu, but they didn't have it (or didn't want to serve it). We never got a chance to order soup or a different starter. We were free to choose between the two dishes they wanted to serve. At this point, it was too late to look for an alternative place, so we order the dishes they had. The food arrived quite quickly and the quality was OK.

We felt that we needed to eat rather quickly, as the waiters were busy cleaning the restaurant and preparing the table for the evening service. We finished 10 minutes before the closing time and we were offered desserts.

The prices in the menu are reasonable if you can choose what you want to eat.

For two main dishes, two desserts (that required zero preparation time during the service, as they were ready-made and stored in the fridge), a Coca-Cola and a tiny bottle of sparkling water, we paid over 30 EUR. It's much too expensive when you have to eat what the waiter chooses for you.

(By the way, the 4-star hotel around the corner offers a daily menu consisting of a soup or a starter, 2 main dishes to choose from and a dessert...

I am sorry to have to write a poor review of this Portuguese restaurant, but write it I must. It was a Sunday lunchtime and the restaurant was busy with locals, so we were hoping for a good experience. The couvert arrived, which seemed ok, although we turned away the cheese. However things began to go wrong when we noticed people seated nearby who had arrived after us received their meals a long time before us. After waiting one hour the waiter ( who we assumed was the proprietor) informed us that the meals would take a further 10 minutes! Meanwhile, another waiter came to our table and began to clear it. I informed him we had not yet received our meals. He went away and continued serving other tables. My husband eventually went to the bar and complained that our food was taking too long to arrive, but was told by the proprietor that it was the steak we had ordered that was taking a long time to cook! By the time we received our food we were thoroughly irritated, so much so that we no longer felt like eating, did not enjoy the meal and just wanted to get out of there! I notice there are a number of good reviews for this place and all I can say is they are the lucky ones; it was a most unpleasant experience for us, and we will...

Ich habe die Empfehlung von meinem Hotel bekommen. Ein Ort, wo ausschließlich Portugiesen essen gehen. Der Patron ist super unfreundlich, wenn man nicht seine Sprache spricht. Sein Englisch ist nicht so gut, dies kompensiert er mit Unfreundlichkeit. Haben mich überhaupt nicht willkommen gefühlt. Das Gericht, was ich gewählt habe, gab es nicht. Fisch Bacalhau. Bei dem anderen Fisch kannte ich das Wort nicht, muss das erst mal googeln. Hab mich dann dafür entschieden und wollte den Reis gegen Fritten austauschen. Was nicht möglich war, was er mir sehr unfreundlich zu verstehen gab. Hab ich nicht verstanden, da der Nachbartisch auch Fritten hatte. Andere Portugiesen, die besser englisch sprachen, haben mir dann erklärt, dass das Gericht mit dem Reis zusammen gekocht wird. Da kann man natürlich keinen Reis gegen Fritten tauschen. Das hätte er mir auch freundlich erklären können. Habe das Gericht dann gewählt, damit war ich auch sehr zufrieden. Was das Essen betrifft, kann man gerne hingehen. Die Freundlichkeit lässt echt zu wünschen übrig. Sehr traurig, da ich bisher immer sehr nett von allen Portugiesen...