Fabbrica di Pasta Fresca - Chiado — Restaurant in Lisbon

We came here with high hopes due to the good google reviews but honestly, we were beyond let down. I don’t know if all the 5stars people were eating the same food as we did but we sure didn’t get the 5stars experience.

First off service. We had a reservation made weeks ago via our hotel. We reconfirmed our booking with our hotel when we checked it, was assured all were good.

However we arrived here at the correct spot for dinner, the girl at the front said with stony expression no, they don’t have our name and told us to try the one across the road. Yes, they have their restaurant split on both sides. We walked over and another female staff told us again they don’t have our booking. I don’t think our hotel would screw up considering they had booked all our prior dinner for last consecutive 3 nights perfectly. Again the staff told us to head across the street and I told her but we were directed here. Ok no biggie, we went back and now another guy presumably the senior staff (who prob is the only competent and knowledgable one) was at the door and said they didn’t have our reservation but they could accommodate us.

Another traveller asked the difference between the 2 joints, I repeated what the staff across the street said, that it’s pasta on this side and risotto on the other. The guy staff immediately shook his head solemnly and said no doesn’t work this way. Dude, your staff who explained it THIS way to me. In fact I specifically asked your staff isnt pasta served in both places??? she specifically said NO. Only across the road. Don’t try to correct me, go train your staff instead. Unlike the first girl at the first spot, the second polite staff spoke relative good English to me so I don’t think there miscommunication.

Putting that behind, food time. The young female staff (with the air of I really don’t want to work here attitude) took our orders. Had thought the reservation mixed up and service staff were the only “down” part but no, the food was a bigger disappointment.

We had 3 pasta, bolognese for my child, prawn for my man and scallop lovers for myself. Serving is big I grant you that but that’s where the good part ends. The bolognese was ok. Not great, just ok. Mine was even a bigger joke. A whole big plate of pasta with one tiny scallop the size of a dime. I don’t know how special that scallop is, but ONE?! I don’t expect it to be drowning in scallops but ONE teeny weeny one???? I could taste the seafood flavour in the sauce but it’s soo thick, so heavily coated my pasta to a point that each strand was not a pleasure to eat. I couldn’t, I left the whole mountain of pasta uneaten. Maybe it’s a local style to only eat pasta here without the meat but where I came from and even in Italy, I had better meat ratio and less creamy pasta.

My husband prawn pasta didn’t fare any better, he said the seafood did not taste sweet and again miserly portion of prawn. I can’t comment on his since I didn’t taste it but he didn’t finish his either.

We went back to the hotel and the staff was shocked when we told her about the reservation “non existent” episode. She was shocked and said she even had the email to confirm the reservation from them. Since I wasn’t involved in the booking I can’t comment who dropped the ball but considering my hotel booked all our prior dinners and have been impeccable in service thru our week stay here to date, I’m inclined to believe my hotel staff.

If u r here for drinks and some cheese plate, I think it’s lovely to be here as the decor is nice. But that’s where I draw the line in recommendation. I won’t ever recommend anyone here for the pasta dishes. It would be a disservice. While paying, the guy staff did ask how it was, and my man told him it wasn’t great but bolognese was fine. That’s him being polite. Me? Utterly let down by service and food which do not match price...

This restaurant was one major disappointment. We went because of the good rating and proximity to our hotel but other than convenient location for us the whole experience was a bust. Service was terrible. We had a continuous turnover of staff waiting on us so we never knew with whom we should be placing orders or communicating with. There was a long delay in placing the initial order but the food then came out fairly fast upon which we ordered a second glass of wine which never came. Wine list: we were told to go the front of the restaurant where bottles of wine were displayed. Nothing on a menu and nothing with any description. We finally just told the waiter to bring a dry red. They bring a basket of crackers and a cheese spread to the table which is not optional. There was a $3,5 € “cover charge” automatically added to the bill. Food. It was, I believe, the worst food ever served to us in a restaurant of any caliber ever. That sounds extreme, but true. Like another reviewer, I ordered the “scallop lover” pasta which had one minuscule scallop perched on top. Worse, the accompanying “crab sauce” was the thickest, fishiest smelling and tasting thing imaginable. We could not tolerate the smell much less eat more than the initial bite. Awful. We told them the entree was not edible, and asked to order something else. After a very long wait, they brought our (new) order of the ravioli of the day, and although it was at least “edible”, it was not at all good. Listening to the large group of diners adjacent to us, we were not alone in the assessment of food quality. Atmosphere: it could be pleasant, but they had the tables literally jammed together. We had a wall on one side of the table and the other side directly butted up to the chair/customer at the adjacent table. Their whole side of the table had to stand up and move away just to let me out. It was easier to hear the conversation at the adjacent table than it was to communicate with my dining companion. The whole restaurant was packed like that. We got the bill and the inedible “scallop” pasta was included. After politely asking, they did remove it without argument.

Consider...

Good pasta, terrible service!

Where shall I start?

I arrived at 21:35 without a reservation. First, the waiter who seems to run things here said we don’t have any table available. When I showed him the empty table, he said it is reserved for 22:00. ( Guess It was a lie, or they never showed up :) ) Then he said another table asked for the check and I should wait for 10 mins. I said Yes! That was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. ( at least with an empty stomach)

I waited and waited then decided to show my face again after 15 mins. Suddenly he remembered and said he ll clean the table. Ok.

After around 20 mins I m finally at my table.

Then, I started to wait to order. Fortunately, I had checked it while I was waiting for my table. And to avoid a highly possible waiting time, I called the other waiter who is very sweet and friendly. He placed my order.

Here is the worst part! After 35 minutes from ordering my pasta, the lead waiter came and said ‘I’m sorry Sir, we’re out of the type of pasta you’ve ordered.’ Yeah after 35 Mins, they discovered they are out of it 😳🤯 He continued ‘Would you like to change it?’ I asked ‘Will it be long like that I waited so far?’ He answered ‘ No sir’ And I said ‘Yes’

Guess how long I waited for? :) 15 mins :)

Finally, I had the pleasure to taste my pasta around 22:50. This whole adventure lasted more than an hour. During this long waiting, I witnessed that the lead waiter rejected 3 groups by saying they are fully booked although there were two vacant tables each time.

There are also some positive things to say; very calming and cosy Interior, choice of music, very friendly junior waiter and the taste of handmade pasta.

Finally, I love Slow Food concept but this is way more than it. I hope my humble review makes an impact to the owner to...