Alma Lusa — Restaurant in Lagos

Ate here with my partner and his parents tonight. We picked this place because it was a Monday and options were limited.

I wanted to like this place… Unfortunately we had an experience that left a bad taste in our mouth. Initially, we felt it was a bit overpriced. We ordered the fish mousse and bread as starters. I had the rabbit, my partner had the steak, his mom had the sea bass and his dad got the octopus.

When we received the entrees, my partners dad said his octopus was overcooked. We each tried it and it was hard and chewy. We eat lots of seafood and are pretty confident that octopus is not supposed to take minutes to chew before swallowing when cooked properly. He debated whether to say anything but decided he would because he did not enjoy it. This is where we felt the dinner went south.

When we mentioned the issue to the waiter, he did not even look at the dish. He immediately dismissed it and said that this was the intended style… because they boil and braise the octopus and “sorry but that’s just how it is”. Then walked away.

Considering we’ve been eating octopus the whole time we’ve been here (3 weeks) this seemed strange. He basically said they like it tough and chewy here at this restaurant. Even if this were true (which I mean… really??) it costs him nothing to apologize for the fact that a customer is not enjoying their experience.

This left us all feeling they did not care for our business or experience. The rest of our dishes were just okay but all overpriced for the quality. Unfortunately, whatever these dishes had to offer was overshadowed. We couldn’t stop talking about how rude we felt his response was. Really killed our whole vibe tonight night. Having worked in service the least he could’ve done is apologize and offer a coffee or something.

So basically come here if you want to be told octopus is meant to be tough and chewy… oh and you want to be out...

Alma Lusa is a restaurant that has existed since 1992. However, in its current format (new owner, new menu, new decor) it has only been open for 2 months.

This is a place to go to if you'd like to experience quality Portuguese food at traditional Portuguese prices. This is the "hidden gem that the locals go to" that you've always been looking for.

The menu is well set up and easy to understand. There are 9 starters with an average price of 7-8€. For main dishes there are 7 fish options, 7 meat options and one vegetarian option with prices ranging from as little as 10€ to the most expensive option, the T-bone steak at a really low price of 18€. There are also dishes made for sharing like the Tomahawk steak, the Seafood Cataplana or the Octopus Rice.

We were a group of 5. We had starters, mains and dessert. The food was amazing. Everything came out with stunning presentation. Everything hot as it should be and on hot plates. Portion sizes were perfect.

If you're a wine drinker then this is probably the best possible place you could go to in Lagos as the wine list is divided by wine regions and covers almost all of the major wine regions Portugal has to offer with various options in each region. Wines also have a really low markup.

Service was attentive without being overbearing. Waiters and owner are friendly and quick to exchange a smile or a joke.

The bathrooms were squeaky clean and when you walk in towards them you can look into the kitchen to see the kitchen staff calmly going about their business.

We went on a Wednesday night which coincidentally happened to be Fado night so we were treated to some melancholic song and guitar for the better part of the night.

An absolute gem. We will definitely...

overrated, overpriced and a rude waiter

I have never been treated in a restaurant with such a condescending attitude, as if I’m stupid, and I need to be explained how food is made. The interaction with a waiter began when I asked for the wine by the glass, and I was reminded that the green wine is a region, just because I asked for the producer of the one the waiter suggested. The wine I received was nothing like the fruity I expressed a preference for, but I accepted what I was given. I then ordered a braised octopus and the one I received was as hard as a shoe sole. when the waiter asked for feedback, I politely said that it was good but I found the octopus to be a little bit hard. In response to my polite complaint, the waiter asked me to cut the octopus in front of him and told me that for him it looked perfect. I felt quite humiliated by this request, which he made to demonstrate me I was wrong. He then reminded me that to make that recipe one first boils the octopus, and then braises it. I told him to please not be as condescending with me, as if I never ate octopus before or didn’t know anything about cooking. He insisted he believed the food was perfect and my feedback was misplaced. I have never been treated this way: the food was quite dry, the chestnuts made it even dryer, combined with relatively dry potatoes and the hard octopus, it was almost unpleasant to eat. I paid almost 40 euros for a gazpacho and a main with a glass of wine and an awful service I’ve been offended by. Absolutely NOT...