A Primavera do Jerónimo — Restaurant in Lisbon

Unfortunately the place where my girlfriend and I wanted to go was crowded so we decided to give this restaurant a try. Before you order anything the waiter will offer you bread, cheese and olives as a starter. This will be billed later, so don’t be fooled. The bread and the cheese is edible but the olives are a shame. Next we ordered three dishes: grilled gambas, pork with clumbs and the squid filled with chorizo and rice. When they served the gambas and I took the first bite it was quite salty but instead of sending it back we decided to keep eating. Turns out despite being super salty the gambas were better than our two main dishes together. Which brings me to the second dish (pork and clumbs), the pork was dry and the (four) clumbs smelled fishy (fresh seafood does not smell fishy) - two of the clumbs were not even opened. Lastly the squid arrived but instead of being filled with rice like the menu suggested, it was filled with something indescribable which after we asked the waiter turned out to be smashed squid with ground meat and the rice came as a side dish.

After eating half of everything we gave up and requested the bill. The waiter even asked us if everything was alright but when my girlfriend started to explain the problem in Spanish, he somehow could only speak Portuguese and seemed to not understand anything she told him.

All in all a bad experience. Not...

I visited this restaurant earlier week and was largely underwhelmed. First, they brought out appetizers that we did not order and did not touch that they tried to charge us for. But that can be excused I suppose, I mean I was tourist and I know it's easy money. I ordered the sea bass and it was the most bland fish I've ever eaten in my life, which could also be excused except for what happened next: VIOLENT FOOD POISONING. I began to get projectile vomit less than 3 hours later. How do I know it was this restaurant? I was traveling with a friend and this was the only meal I didn't share, and I was the only one who got sick. I have never been so sick in my life from food poisoning, I didn't sleep for two nights. To make matters worse, I had to FLY HOME while I was sick. Portugal has a number of great restaurants and fantastic food. Just skip this unsanitary, mediocre excuse for...

Living in Lisbon for over 12 years I have religiously avoided Bairro Alto for the last couple years - not really being a big fan of 1 Euro shots, drunk tourists and the likes. But finally there is a good reason to venture back - namely "A Primavera do Jerónimo" which is a bit of the beaten path. A Tasca that exudes history in all its beauty - yes indeed it's been operating since 1929 and there is a picture of Josephine Baker on its wall to prove it. The cuisine avoids the now usual "sharing plate" approach of Lisbon's restaurant scene i.e. you are well & wonderfully fed once you leave the premises. The manager is not only charming but a studied oenologist, therefore each dish can be perfectly paired with the right grape. Without going into much further detail - it's definitely a destination that should be on your radar - whether you are a local...