A Rocha - Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Lagos

This was without doubt the worst prawn dish I’ve ever had in my life. The service was already disappointing: the staff spoke very little English, were slow, inattentive, and lacked basic manners. But leaving the service aside, what really shocked me was the quality of the food.

The pâté served with the couvert was weird: two small pâtés served in the same little dish. One was a pinkish tuna pâté, which was somewhat acceptable, but the other was clearly from a cheap supermarket package. They had just scooped it out, smashed it into the plate, and tried to pass it off as homemade. The presentation was sloppy.

Then came the garlic prawns I ordered which turned out to be INEDIBLE. The texture was awful - when I tried to peel them, they fell apart into a mushy mess, almost as if they were spoiled. There was no garlic flavor at all, only the unmistakable taste of rotten fish. I had to spit them out.

In the end, I was left with nothing but bread. I told the staff about the problem, and their solution was to remake the same dish. I refused, because the issue wasn’t in the preparation but in the quality itself, and I wasn’t about to risk my health again. At the very least, they should have offered a discount or removed the dish from the bill, since I couldn’t eat it. Instead, I was charged the full amount.

Unprofessional, disappointing, and frankly disgusting. A horrible dining experience I would...

I normally don’t write reviews, even after a poor experience, but this one I couldn’t ignore.

We were seated and it took forever to even get service. We were brought bread, which was supposed to come with pâté and a few extras, but those never arrived until we asked. We then received appies before drinks, and when we politely requested for water at least, we were told to wait but in a rude tone. it was surprising, you never serve food before drinks.

When drinks finally came, they couldn’t make the cocktail I ordered (fine, things happen). We decided to try the garlic prawns, but they smelled and tasted absolutely awful. My friend and I each had one bite, immediately spit it out, and stopped eating, genuinely worried about food safety. At that point, we stuck to just the bread.

To make things worse, while I was still chewing with food on my plate, a waiter came over asking if we were finished and tried to clear the plates. Later, when we finally mentioned the prawns, the server barely listened and dismissed us with “oh well, it’s always like this.”

By the end, we had to flag someone down just to pay, but no one came, so we went up to the counter. There, the staff made us calculate our total on our phone, 21.90 each then tried to charge me 29. No adjustment or discount for the inedible prawns, either.

We left hungry, unsatisfied, and disappointed. I would strongly recommend staying away...

We came to A Rocha for breakfast and were really delighted at the quality of food and service. We ordered an espresso, smoothie (Costa Dourada), granola bowl and a Full Rocha breakfast.

Service: The waitress was really friendly and checked on us multiple times. Food: Everything was absolutely delicious! I'd argue that this was a better English breakfast than I've had in the UK. Fruit in the granola bowl and smoothie were fresh and very tasty. Atmosphere: There was minor construction going on outside, but the interior was well designed and comfortable. I really enjoyed the playlist too! Price: The prices were very reasonable. I can definitely see restaurants at Praia de Luz charging more because of "tourists", but our breakfast was affordable!

Some notes: They accept credit cards, unlike many other restaurants in this strip. They have indoor and outdoor seating. They have restrooms for customers. They speak some English, if that's a concern. Parking is fairly easy to find in the area.

Wins: Full Rocha Breakfast and Costa...