João Gordo — Restaurant in Leiria

I typically don’t write these sorts of reviews, but I felt so bad after this experience that I have to share it.

The quality of the food, service and attention is entirely inadequate for the price that is charged. The focus doesn’t seem to be on providing a good and repeatable experience as should be for a restaurant that charges close to 50eur per head (without desert or any extravagance and only two bottles of average wine for more than 10 people) - instead the focus is on trying to maximise billable items.

We were charged 15 Eur per head for the starters that were already on the table - the only above average food there was the pata negra ham - all the rest was entirely below average. I also had one of the worst fish (garoupa) that I have had for years - extremely dry and with no real flavour.

The restaurant was completely understaffed and whilst the waiter was helpful, the service was slow and inadequate - we still had plates from the starters on our table when we were eating the main.

If you are looking for a good culinary experience chose another option. This is an average restaurant that created a business model to be able to charge more without having the experience and interest in generating an equivalent experience to the customer. It is not a restaurant that charges premium pricing (for a city like Leiria) for quality food - it is a...

This restaurant is way too overrated, price for the quality is very high. My experience was way too poor for such a fancy restaurant. The appetizers: The fried "alheira" was the best! Congratulations for it. The muscles, the squid and the octopus were ok. The barnacles were small, and the shrimps were horrible! It seems they were cooked along with the barnacles, the taste was awful and the texture was not ok.

Main dish: I had a piece of barrosã meat. It was good, the size could have been better but I will not pick on that. The fried potatos were COLD and SOFT! This is not acceptable. If it was MacDonalds I would let it go. But it is not! it seemed that they gave us potatoes that were there for half an hour. They could even re-fry or something it would be better.

staff: Not much to point out other than the delays.

I would not recommend this restaurant. There are way better restaurants in Leiria for this...

Not the cheapest place to eat but probably the most perfect with the finest service, ambience and food. It is my favourite of all time. On arrival the standard of hygiene is 100%. You table hosts an array of starters that could easily make a meal. Choose what you like from Para Negra to Barnicles. Fresh beer ice cold, gin and tonic or a fabulous wine list. Next in line was a giant crab. I was not sure if I should ride not or eat it and that was the smaller one. Next came a rib of Red Galecian Blonde dry aged and sliced rare so each could finish to preference on a hot stone. Beautiful home made desserts including one with a secret ingredient. I will not divulge! Coffees, liqueurs and you realise you are the last people there. I will go back next week its heaven. I forgot to add the staff have a rascal sense...