Carmo — Restaurant in Lisbon

My girlfriend wanted to leave a review, but she has already reviewed this place years ago, as we have been visiting for over 10 years, so I’m leaving a review based upon our experience tonight. As her last review stated, we used to love this place and even over two years ago, every other restaurant/area of the square with tables was packed but this one empty.

We are literally the only patrons here tonight, and yet, even though this is our second visit of the trip, we were the only patrons our first visit as well, but still wanted to come back again for old times sake before we leave Lisbon, my girlfriend saved a bottle of wine from falling off the table as the server did not notice, so she literally caught it as it fell completely off the table with the server pouring wine not even noticing (ie the bottle was ONLY present for the server pouring a glass), then when we asked for the check several hours later, the random worker that had no tables and did not even serve us earlier, serve being literally pour a glass of wine times two, no water no actual service, I never saw him again, asked if we wanted to leave a tip.

We already had asked for the check several times and again, had no service at all, so we said no it’s funny as we actually joked about how we should be getting a tip from saving the entire bottle of wine from crashing to the ground, then he wanted to lecture us on how it’s been a very long day of work for everyone in Lisbon (an actual group did come sit down and choose to leave, they were also talking about how they were going to get drinks and food, then go back to their lodging and then go out for the night, so no, Lisbon is not that early of a night city, just this place is vacant) - he has no customers, and we said well funny enough, we are actually still working, as we work over 100 hour weeks on New York hours even though we live in London, so even though it is 10 pm here, it is still only 5pm for us in New York, so my girlfriend catching the bottle of wine falling off the table, at that point in time around 9 pm, shows that it’s a bit more effort on our end than the restaurants.

He said how no it’s very busy they work lots here. Well, as we said, there is no one else here, not a single other patron, the streets are empty, it’s pretty sleepy, even compared to London.

Regardless, saving an entire bottle of wine from the staff destroying it, staff asking if we want to tip and we have not seen them aside from when they nearly dropped the entire bottle of wine, only place in the entire square empty just as it was two years ago, with every other place in the square two years ago busy, pursuant to my girlfriend’s review, cannot recommend...

I was in Lisbon for a full week, and this was the only restaurant I hit more than once. The main reasons I did so were the variety, portions, and service. The menu had too many items that looked delicious for me to order in one visit, so once they delivered on taste in round 1, I was fairly confident I would return. I was right. Portions were very generous, perhaps the largest portions I had for petiscos (tapas) style serving while in Lisbon (and I had petiscos pretty much once a day). The service was prompt, friendly, welcoming. The wine is cheap, and the cocktails are huge.

Items I ate: Gambas Ajillo: huge portion. Biggest portion of shrimp I had in Lisbon, with absolutely delicious oil/sauce that was excellent for bread dipping. I ordered this on both trips.

Chicken Wings: very tasty. Not super spicy, but if you love wings you won't be disappointed.

-Sauteed mushrooms with sheep cheese: exactly as you'd imagine. Came out piping hot and melty.

Roasted chorizo with pineapple chutney: I am a chorizo fanatic, and I was unsure whether I would care about the chutney, but it was a great paring. The chorizo was rich so the chutney balanced it out. Also, enormous portion. See photo.

Clams: so tender and juicy. Maybe the best clams I've ever had. I also ordered these on both visits.

Mussels: get off my back, I love shellfish ok?! I remember these mussels being huge and good. I'm not sure what makes me feel this way, but I usually find larger mussels to be the tastiest.

Croquettes: awesome, hot, great texture. Tomato jam was a hit. And bonus, they came with a small salad, so hey! I ate a vegetable too. What a plot twist.

All of the dishes above are on the "typical tastes" portion of the menu. I didn't even make it to the conventional entree portion of the menu, which had several things that sounded...

Stay Clear - Can’t even cook a burger!!! The only reason I’d go back to this place would be to request the LIVRO DE RECLAMAÇÕES (Complaint Book)

• Octopus dish: Adequate but unremarkable, lacking in distinctive flavor or presentation.

• Beef burger: Extremely disappointing; had to be sent back twice due to being undercooked and of poor quality.

• The chef's handling of the situation was unsatisfactory, with no evident improvement in the second attempt. Sent the dish back out to a customer without presenting it as a new dish. Sloppy and careless

• Condiments: Served in a less than desirable manner, with half-opened packets in the dish, reflecting poor attention to detail and hygiene.

• Service attitude: Notable rudeness detected, particularly when addressing concerns regarding the quality of the meal.

• The staff's dismissive attitude towards customer feedback was disheartening and unprofessional.

• Billing policy: Despite the obvious dissatisfaction with the burger, the restaurant insisted on charging for it, displaying a lack of concern for customer experience and satisfaction.

As locals who value culinary experiences and attentive service, we were thoroughly disappointed with the subpar quality of food and the restaurant's apparent disregard for customer feedback and satisfaction. It seems that Carmo Restaurant relies on unsuspecting tourists, perhaps aiming to capitalize on passing trade without a genuine commitment to culinary excellence and customer retention.

We strongly advise potential patrons to steer clear of this establishment, emphasizing the lack of quality and their dubious customer...