Quay Lagos Restaurante — Restaurant in Lagos

Great Service, 100% British Cooking! We would eat here again - though will be more careful with what we order, next time!

We had Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve dinners at Quay during the COVID pandemic times. We had to make reservations and make partial pre-payments for both and pre-select our meals. We requested outside seating and were accommodated. Both times, we were the only people sitting outside (for the most part). All good.

Christmas Eve: We got there around 3PM (15:00) to beat the crowds. We had pre-ordered the lamb. It arrived over-cooked. Parts of it were as hard as shoe leather and inedible. I am told that this is typical of British cooking. The parts that we could eat were delicious, if dry. We now understand the reason for so much sauce, as it would have been almost impossible to eat without it. I learned not to ever order anything at a restaurant that is not on their regular menu. Another couple decided to sit right next to us (instead of elsewhere, outside) even tho we put on our masks when they appeared. It makes me sad to see how inconsiderate some people can be - especially wealthy people.

New Year's Eve: We arrived at 5:30PM (17:30) and noticed that All of the restaurants on the waterfront, including Quay, were packed, with all patrons unmasked for the duration (5+ hours). A single infected person in any of these places would have infected everyone in any of these restaurants. Upon arrival, they kindly offered of the last indoor table, as there was a threat of rain. We thanked them and refused due to safety.

We got the Beef Wellington and, as expected, it was over-cooked (to our taste) to medium, and served with gravy. Again, it reinforced the notion that British cooking is over-cooking (to our taste) and verified my (British) Mother-in-Law's prior warnings 😉. It was delicious, though. All side dishes were great, with some being over-cooked and mushy - British style! Deserts were also delicious: My wife liked the ginger cake served with heavy cream on the side, but it was too sweet for me. The cheese plate was only a few slices of blue cheese, which I should have expected (might have even been noted on the menu).

Wine: We ordered their Vinho Verde for ~€20. We both preferred the €2 ones we buy on sale at Pingo!

We were visited repeatedly by two elderly Swedish couples, who kept stepping out to smoke, and insisted on sitting in our area instead of away from us (instead of in the front), even though we would immediately stop eating and put-on our masks - it wasn't raining at the time. The funny thing was that they noted that the reason that one of the couples had finally moved to the neighboring town was because "Sweden was a Disaster". Even though they were ~1m from us, they refused to wear masks and, even though we never complained to them about their behavior, they criticized us for our mask wearing saying they made people sick, that covid was no worse than the flu & even spouted conspiracy theories about Bil Gates & the vaccine, all unprompted by us. Wow! Rudeness. Sadness. Not sure why they cared that we chose to wear masks around them. I guess people like that are the reason the restaurant will have to close for the next lockdown.

Back to the restaurant: In all cases, the food presentation was superb. The service (even though we were the only people outside) was also great and almost what we'd have expected in the US (which Europeans would find overbearing and obnoxious 😉), without being too much for the Europeans (I think). There was never a time when we wanted service and needed to wait an unreasonable amount of time.

Summary: Come here for Great Service and to get your fill of British cooking (says the American!). Expect nothing less. We would visit again (and order only from the regular...

Order the chowder! It is absolutely delicious. Hot, buttery, creamy, tasty, with perfect fish and potatoes. I also recommend getting a coffee or tea if just for the shortbread biscuit on the side. Honestly, these biscuits rival my granny/mother's family recipe for the best I have ever had. 🥰

I was craving proper fish and chips like the English do so we chose this place. The fish is okay, but one piece was so thin it was just basically eating a slice of batter. The chips were not good. I wanted real hand-cut, greasy chipshop sort of chips. These tasted like frozen, and looked like them too. (Other people's photos show very different chips to what we got.) So that was too bad. But it was lovely to finally have vinegar on the table for chips! Wouldn't mind fresh minty sweet peas instead of tinned mushy peas, but I know how it goes. The majority like those mush. ;)

The madras curry was very... English (aka not spicy/hot at all. Like less than mild. For a madras, this is just wrong). Rice and garlic naan was well done and the curry was tasty enough, just don't expect madras or Indian heat and spices. Pakoras were bland and very starchy and dry. Brits and Irish will enjoy it, but Americans and Canadians (and Asians of all kinds) likely will not find it similar to curries at home.

Pavlova was wonderful! Perfect textures and flavours, and not too sweet! Beautifully made dessert.

What really stood out also was the service. The gentleman who served us was amazing. Friendly, helpful, prompt, personable and everything we could ask for in a server. He made the experience unique as compared to many restaurants we've been to, especially tourist-oriented ones and especially in that marina strip. The decor is also fresh, careful, and clean. Everything from the chairs to the atmosphere was comfortable. It is also a bonus being at the far end of the strip, so there's less traffic and it's a bit quieter which is nice.

It is definitely a spot I will return to for my British Isles fix.

EDIT Jan '23: Unfortunately, have to lower rating after being here multiple times since the first time in November. While the staff is still friendly, there are serious front of house/management issues that make it impossible to enjoy this place -- unless you have exceptional patience, don't care about cold food/coffee, and 3+ hours to waste.

It gets worse every time, to the last time we had to literally walk out after waiting 30 min to even place a drink order! As I too work in food service, I get having off days, getting slammed, or having staffing issues, but this seems to happen every time now but gets worse each visit, not better. Nothing being done to address it. I would recommend limiting capacity if you don't have staff capable of handling a 3/4 full restaurant in the low season.

Only once did a server come by to drop off the menu (after we had been sitting for 10 minutes). Never returned, nor did she visit any other table I could see in the 20 min we sat waiting to give her even a coffee order. That was a red flag after the previous time when I got a tepid deflated cappuccino, and had to wait 20 min and bother multiple people just to pay my bill after eating. No point in risking waiting that long for cold coffee and lukewarm food this time. Maybe in high season, things will improve, but the wait times here are too much for unremarkable food, especially when all down the marina there are many other places to choose from. Sorry. I know it's a gentler pace here, but not everybody is an old retired person on holiday with nothing in the world but...

The restaurant that should be called Liliana's. If you find yourselves driving from the airport Faro to the sunshine of the west, the chances are you'll come past Lagos. If you enter Lagos and drive along the main road you'll see running parallel to the road, a beautiful blue marina. Yachts large and small line up in front of a selection of restaurants and bars catching the strong Portuguese sunshine in cool glasses of amber coloured beer. Parking will cost you €2.25 for three hours and then you cross a pedestrian bridge to reach the restaurants. Be careful, this is a functional bridge, opening when the tall sail ships ingress and egress the waters beyond the harbour. You then come to many restaurants but the Quay is worth a visit. The outside may have put you off had you not read this review, yet it belies the relaxing interior and happy friendly staff. The food is great. Pork belly served with a good portion of crackling can be hard to find in England let alone Portugal. The tea is decent in quantity (outside the UK cups of tea are so tiny aren't they?), decent in quality and decent in company. Liliana's section is well served, guests are not left wanting for long as she keeps an eye out for you. We were very impressed with her level of service and how she made you feel welcome. After a long hot walk or seeking shelter from the rain, Liliana's restaurant is a wonderful oasis of good tastes, good company and good vibes. p.s. the Banoffee pie is exceptionally salted...