Boneca Bar — Restaurant in Lagoa

APPALLING CUSTOMER SERVICE

It's such a shame to have to write this review. We have been customers to this bar for the last 14 years, visiting regularly on our trips over to Carvoeiro.

Unfortunately something has changed this year. We have not seen Carla or Lars on the premises throughout the year we wonder if the business/ management has changed hands.

The customer service that used to be exceptional has now become inexcusably poor. During our most recent visit we observed the staff standing around laughing and joking with each other whilst tables required cleaning and customers waited for service. We personally waited over 20 mins to obtain the attention of a very rude unkempt scruffy looking male member of staff. He appeared annoyed that we had asked for his service and actually threw the menus down on the table and walked off before taking an order for drinks.

A short while later we witnessed a party of people who had obviously given up on obtaining service stand up and leave. As they did so, this same scruffy individual started to sarcastically shout 'bye'..... 'bye' at the top of his voice over and over again until a male member of the party eventually turned around from the stairs and shook his head at him in disbelief. The staff member continued with his sarcastic assault until the customer said he will be having words with the management about his rude behaviour. At this the staff member shouted 'good luck with that one' and walked off. It was incredibly rude and made for very uncomfortable viewing for the surrounding customers. Shortly after we left..... Appalled at what we had witnessed.

I hope the management of Boneca read this review. Certain members of your staff need some urgent training in customer service! I would go as far as to suggest that particular members of staff (Ricardo Fortuna) are not suited to the job.

I'd like to take this opportunity to inform the general public that by law businesses offering services or providing goods in Portugal not only have to have a Livro de Reclamações, (complaints book) where customers can make a formal written complaint, but also have to have a notice, clearly visible in their premises stating they have the book.

Should you wish to make a complaint about the service or goods then you must ask the establishment for their Livro de Reclamações. The forms inside are in triplicate and it is important you provide information about yourself (name, address and identity card/residençia card or passport number), the reason for your complaint with the date and time of occurrence.

Once you have completed the form a representative of the company will have to counter-sign they have witnessed the complaint. Then you will receive a copy of this form. The company owner is duty bound to then forward a copy to the relevant regulatory body within five days of the complaint being registered within the book.

The regulatory body will then, within 10 days, decide upon reviewing all the evidence, what action needs to be taken. The regulatory body will inform all parties of the decision and the action taken.

Companies failing to have a Livro de Reclamações or failing to display clearly they have one can be fined between 250€ and 30,000€. Withholding the book from someone wishing to make a complaint can also result in a fine of up to 30,000€. If an establishment does refuse access to the Livro de Reclamações you can contact the police to intervene. At which point the severity of the fine which will be imposed on the company becomes no less...

We had a terrible experience and luckily this review is useful for someone to save their time and money since you dont need to eat at the restaurant at all to visit the area, which is the only thing worth the visit. We went there last Saturday, July 30th. I had booked a table at 14h30 the previous day but on Saturday we were not gonna be able to make it on time so I called to change the reservation for 15h30 (I called in the morning with more than two hours anticipation) and they told me everything was ok. When we arrived there all the staff seemed angry at us because they thought we had arrived late. What happened is the waiter that told me that he had changed our reservation time with no problem never actually did it nor told his colleagues. Despite the fact that it wasn't our mistake the staff in general was unpleasant and unkind to us. They kept us waiting to sit for 20 minutes and wanted us to sit on the sun when there were plenty of free tables in the shade. Since we were 4 people, we kept on suggesting to put together some free tables that were next to each other so we could finally sit but the waitress that would later be incredibly disrespectful to us said they couldn't move tables because of the system they had for the orders. As soon as we got our table, we could see her and other waiters move tables around to accommodate new guests. It took them another 20 minutes to just bring us the menu and took before the order of a table that had arrived later than us. We couldn't understand the reason they were treating us like that, all we did was changing the reservation time (to what they confirmed they were ok with) and respect everything they told us, but the worst part was when we asked for the bill. Apparently, one of my companions had asked for it to the waitress that told us they couldn't move tables and wanted to keep us in the sun without me realizing so when I saw her I asked for the bill, she answered and I misunderstood her (I was making the effort to try and speak Portuguese even though is not my first language), I thought she said she had already brought it so I looked around and said we didnt have it to what she then SCREAMT really loud and rude "I said I would bring it when I have time". I want to make very clear that we had been respectful the whole time and she basically yelled at me very disgustingly in front of the whole restaurant making me and my companions feel really embarrassed because all the rest of the guests were looking at us. I understand that it was the weekend, it was summer and I figure they had been very busy, but we didnt deserve they way we were treated since we arrived, and this lady totally ruined our meal. The food was acceptable but nothing especial and only two of the waiters (a boy who was finishing his shift when we arrived and another one that came after him) were nice to us. Had we known, we would have only go there for the sightseeing. The restaurant is totally skippable and your money will be better spent at some other place with better food and...

I rarely give 5 stars, but Boneca Bar & Restaurant deserve it. We visited in September, 2018. We stopped by during the afternoon on our first day to check out the establishment and view and to have a beer. We already had dinner reservations for both our nights and I knew I was going to have to change one to eat here.

First of all, even if you are familiar with the views of the cliffs and sea in Carvoeiro and the Algarve, this place is special. It's very romantic. They do accept reservations and we suggest making them (in person or over the phone) as they probably seat around 35-50 tops.

On both visits all of our servers and staff members we encountered were extremely polite and friendly. I want to give a shout out to Mara, Eunice, "Orlando" (his name sounds similar - I couldn't quite understand) and Marcos, who was behind the grill. "Orlando" was our server for dinner on our second visit. We let him know how pleased we were to see that they served Tagus beer on draught as we had had our fill of Sagres and Super Bock in Portugal. He let us know he was a wine fan, not a beer guy. So I asked if he liked vinho verde, a Portuguese wine that we adore. His eyes lit up and he recommended a bottle of Ameal Loureiro vinho verde that was €17. It was splendid and we ended up taking a bottle home to the USA.

The menu is in Portuguese and English and they have a blackboard version outlining the fish available for the day. For dinner we shared a) Sopa de Peixa (spicy fish soup) €4.50; b) Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato (clams in wine, garlic & cliantro) €14; c) Ostras Algarvias (local oysters) €3 each; and, d) Espadarte (grilled swordfish) €17.

Everything we had was simply divine. I went over to speak to Marcos, the man behind the grill, to let him know that in America, we would refer to him as a "grill master." He understood perfectly what I was saying.

We highly recommend A Boneca! Not only was it the best meal we've had in Carvoeiro over two trips, it was the best meal we had period in Portugal over this trip. It's one of those rare finds. The next time we are in town, I intend upon eating there...