Black Trumpet — Restaurant in Lisbon

After having been to this beautiful and cozy restaurant several times with various friends, this time I also booked a table online, a table for three. On the day of the reservation I called the restaurant to ask if we could arrive a bit earlier, which was not a problem. At the hour we arrived, 7.30pm, my invited girlfriend was the only one in the restaurant, enjoying her glass of bubbles at the bar. Being welcomed by Bruno, who directed us to the back part of the restaurant, a part I have never been before. (Let's say the corridor from the bar towards the kitchen) where you unfortunately can't enjoy the live music as much as you can at the front part, besides that the ambient is not being as cosy and warm. I asked Bruno friendly if we could please sit at the front part, since the restaurant was still empty and the atmosphere is so much nicer. Answer; ´unfortunately that will be impossible, your table is at the back´. I explained that for me that does not make sense, especially as the restaurant was still completely empty. The next explanation made it even more confusing to me and my friends; `Since you made a reservation relatively late, closer to the date, you can not have a table at the front´. These tables were all reserved for the people still to come´... Understanding that a regular client, I guess they can see that by checking my online reservation details, comes back to introduce their restaurant to new people, and still getting a less nice table on the back is for me showing a lack of professionalism, empathy and hospitality. In the meanwhile a group of ladies were seated next to us, however for a really small amount of the time, since they were being re-directed to the front part of the restaurant. What was to our opinion even towards rude is that when we were all finished our dinner (which was clear after us having had our desserts and our wine glasses being empty), Bruno said; ´do you guys want to go the front part of the restaurant, there is now an table available´...As a matter of fact, during this WHOLE evening, there was ALWAYS a table available for us to sit. Leaving us speechless and wanting to leave asap. The beautiful atmosphere , the lovely live music and delicious food, it all deserves a 5 start rating, however this last experience makes that for now I will not return soon. A real shame, since it was one of my favourite restaurants in my neighbourhood.

UPDATE: (After response from the restaurant here on Google)

To my humble opinion, you're not really carefully reading and/or understanding my observations, which is a real shame. "Bruno’s suggestion to move to the front room later in the evening was offered as an additional courtesy." You don´t offer this, when you can clearly see that there is no desserts left on the table and the wine glasses are being empty. Moving table after 3 hours, with NOTHING to move, besides ourselves??

"For guests who wish to guarantee a seat in the main room, we kindly recommend arriving before 8 pm, as this can help increase the chances of securing a table in that space". We ARRIVED at 7.30pm! My invited girlfriend was THE ONLY ONE in the restaurant, enjoying her glass of...

This is a nice but not fancy restaurant cosplaying as a very fancy restaurant. The wait staff seems to need a lot more training to justify the cost of the dishes. The plating is for the most part good. Most of the dishes themselves are good but the portions seem really small for the price. The octopus tentacle is good but at nearly €30 t you’re expecting a little more meat and more potatoes. The tartar sauce is a tartar sauce which I don’t think pairs with octopus. The smashed potatoes could use some workshopping. The steak is great. The “wood fired chocolate cake” is a thin, mediocre at best brownie warmed up in a wood-fired oven to give it a slight smoky flavor. Do not recommend. At €10 it’s a ripoff. The sourdough bread with butter is fine. Could be a lot better. They charge you €2 for tap water that they never offer to refill. Finally, they were entirely out of beer. How can you be out of beer? Again, it’s a nice restaurant pretending it’s fancy without knowing the work it needs to do to be fancy. Overall, the prices charged are too high for lackluster service, as we watched people wander in for a seat as 3 staff members cavalierly ignored them until they were halfway into the dining room and a fourth person caught them and managed...

While the ambiance and service were nice, there are some notable issues with the menu. Firstly, the fried breaded enoki with homemade potato fries disappointed, as the fries appeared to be industrial and frozen, lacking the quality expected for the price of 18€ and closer to a street Kebab level. Additionally, the charcoal-grilled entrecôte with toasted garlic, priced at 28€, was served WITHOUT ANY accompanying sides, (what kind of restaurant serves a peace of meet with nothing to go with? Not even a sauce. The waitress suggested to take the previously mentioned entrances as a side, so 46€ which felt unreasonable.)

The veal cheek was satisfactory, except for the meager and undercooked "couscous," which seemed more like a decoration than a substantial part of the dish. Naming it to semolina would be more appropriate and less insulting for the actual couscous dish originated from North Africa. Furthermore, the purée was way too dry.

On a positive note, the gnocchi received high praise for their quality,...