Tasca da Lota — Restaurant in Lagos

Worst customer experience in Portugal – disrespectful, unprofessional behavior

We had one of the most disrespectful dining experiences of our entire trip to Portugal — not because of the food, but because of how the staff treated us after their own mistake.

We ordered sardines, mussels, and squid. A short while later, two grilled fish we didn’t order were placed on our table. We immediately told the staff, “We didn’t order this,” but they confidently replied:

“Yes, it’s included. You can eat it.”

Trusting their word, we started eating one of them.

Shortly after, our actual dishes — including the squid and salad — arrived. Then another staff member came over and said, “That fish wasn’t for you.” They took away the untouched one without any apology and told us we could finish the other one — which we didn’t, because we felt uncomfortable and confused.

About a minute later, the same fish was brought to the neighboring table, confirming it had originally been their order, not ours. We had actually ordered around the same time, but they received the rest of their food much later than us, likely due to the mistake.

When we went to pay, instead of acknowledging the confusion, a staff member angrily lectured us, pointing his finger and saying:

“If food comes and it’s not yours, don’t eat it!”

We calmly explained that we had asked, and the staff told us it was included — that’s the only reason we touched it. But there was no apology, no accountability — just blame. We were treated as if we were trying to get free food, when in fact it was their clear miscommunication.

This wasn’t just poor service — it was a complete lack of respect. Their mishandling of the situation affected both us and the other table, who also had to wait longer because of the staff’s error.

⚠️ If you choose to eat here, be extremely cautious. If anything unexpected comes, don’t touch it — even if they say it’s included. Because if it turns out to be a mistake, you’ll be blamed for it — not them.

We will...

Really rude staff, bland food, it was an unpleasant experience.

The prawns and fish were very fresh and high quality, but the sauce lacked a little flavour.

Octopus salad was overpowered by the vinagarette so you couldn't taste it.

The squid was absolutely revolting, served with the transparent spine inside and not properly cleaned, granted that's how they serve it, so no complaints I respect the culture and proceeded to remove the insides. The problem was it was badly overcooked and thus rubbery with a burnt flavour. I retuned it after speaking with the waiter who claims that's how squid is served. It's not, I live in Portugal, prepare squid regularly, gut it myself, separate the ink glands, remove the mouth etc, cook it correctly so it's soft and tender. They brought a new one which was then not cooked enough, it was raw and transparent.

The staff were so annoyed that they wouldn't serve us dessert, every time I asked for the bill, they said yes and then proceeded to do nothing about it. I cannot understand why because after I didn't eat the squid a second time, I said to the waiter, no problem, I'll pay for it as he was questioning me why I didn't like it and then storms off.

I then asked another waiter saying I'm waiting for the bill for 25 mins, he looked shocked and immediately went to the till, where the lady said f**k them in Portuguese.

It's truly shocking behaviour to treat tourists like this. I don't normally write reviews, but this place was shocking, why the reviews are so good I don't know, go try it for yourself, just don't order the squid, and if you do, DONT RETURN IT AND THEN OFFER...

Avoid this place! This place was recommended by our hotel but I wish I never had stepped foot into this restaurant! -Poor atmosphere -Limited menu -Asked for a rare seared tuna, received an over cooked piece of something that was unidentifiable. The service was even worse. This place is cash only and the only way you would find this out is the fine print at the very bottom of the menu. We only had credit cards, so in trying to pay the receptionist, she eventually called the owner. The owner came out and instantly was very rude, we showed him our hotel card, ID and credit cards. I proposed that he could hold my ID and credit card while my wife and i returned with cash since the hotel was down the street. At this point he became even more rude, accusing us of not wanting to pay our check. He told me this was not acceptable and that my wife had to stay in the restaurant while i returned with the cash. Obviously i did not accept this option so I told him i would return with the cash. The next thing we know, a waiter is following us to the hotel so we spoke the entire way back, nice guy, the situation was not his fault, so I invited him to follow us up to the room where I gave him the cash and this was the end of this nightmare. This was the only bad experience...