Cafe Portugal — Restaurant in Lisbon

If you want to have a lovely dining experience, you should definitely pay this place a visit.

This restaurants best attribute is their incredibly friendly and attentive staff. An example of this incredible service is very well illustrated in the way they handled my indecisiveness in selecting wine. The waiter gladly offered me a taste of the two wines I was indecisive about. This way, I could be sure of which wine I wanted to order. Even though the waiter did not speak English very well, she did her absolute best to understand us and give us a clear answer to any question we may have had.

The excellent staff was complimented in the restaurant’s décor. The venue was lovely in its design which in turn also encouraged a quiet and relaxed atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the high expectations set by the staff and décor could not by fully met by the food that was served. I ordered a medium Beef Steak with Crispy Smoked Ham and French Fries. While the presentation was on point, the dish was just a bit off. Regrettably, the steak was closer to being well-done than to being medium. My girlfriend ordered the medium-rare variant of the steak. However, her dish was just as well-done as mine was. It is not to say that the food was bad, the steak was actually one of the better well-done steaks I have had. On a better note, the desserts we ordered were delicious and redeemed the restaurant.

In short, this restaurant should be your go-to place in Lisbon when you highly value service and presentation, but be cautious as the food may not be able to live up to the grand...

We were practically dragged from the street by a waiter with a menu with really stunning food pictures. Food: The paella for two is actually for 1 person only. We were not sure if you would get anything at all if you ordered one. Plus, the salmon was so overcooked that I was even wondering if it was salmon at all, the driest ever! Never had uch a thing to eat in my whole life. The octopus salad for 15 eur was carrots, octopus, and oil, nothing like the full and colourful plate you see in the menu. The amount barely for to spoons! For 15eur, you expect at least a full plate, like in the picture. Kids ordered pizza, at least that looked good. However, the dough was raw on the inside, plus, we got it hal an hour after all the other food the waitress coming and apologizing 5 times. We were joking they were waiting for Glovo or Wolt to deliver i to them from a pizzeria. At this point, I could probably even believe it to be true. The waitress at least was nice. After complaining the food does not look as what we ordered from the menu, she sarcastically replied that she will tell the cook to make it look as in the picture for next time. What you get: you get an expensively bad experience in the centre of Lisbon, where you get to sit practically on a bus stop on a really busy street. You get a menu of nice food pictures that you don't get to see in reality. You get a bill of 100eur for food (if you can call it that) to barely feed 2 people. The beer was good, same as we buy in the...

TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE

If you enjoy being scammed in broad daylight while smiling waiters pretend everything is normal, then Café Portugal is your dream spot — otherwise, stay far away. Even with a 10%-15% tip, my bill should’ve been around €55–60 — but they charged me €80 with zero explanation, no clear itemized receipt, and a smug attitude when I questioned the price. This place thrives on targeting tourists, banking on the fact that most won’t argue or even realize they’ve been robbed until they’ve left. The staff seem trained in smiling while overcharging, and the whole setup is a well-practiced scam hidden behind a historic square and polite fake charm. I’ve since read reviews and I’m not alone — it’s the same pattern of inflated bills, sneaky charges, and vague excuses. Café Portugal isn’t a restaurant — it’s a tourist trap with a menu. If you want real food, honest service, and to avoid the sour aftertaste of being conned, do yourself a favor and go literally anywhere else. And if you’re the owner reading this: you should be ashamed of the disgraceful way you treat your customers! Also, be ware all the restaurants lined up next to it are owned by the same...