JNcQUOI Asia — Restaurant in Lisbon

Before our visit to your restaurant we were really excited due to your online appearance and recommendation from friends. Unfortunately, our experience did not meet those expectations. Normally I rarely take the time to write negative reviews, but in this case I would like to see an improvement for your own success.

To be fair, the restaurant has an amazing interior: 10/10. What also stands out positively is the cuisine. There was literally no reason to not be satisfied by the various option on your menu and the quality of such.

What really spoiled our experience was the waiters service. There were just too many things that are, in our opinion, no-gos for a restaurant of your level or the level JNCQuoi Asia is trying to play in. We have been to numerous Michelin-Starred Restaurants, which we though JNCQuoi Asia might be comparable to, but it terms of service, it did not even come close. Just to name a few:

We got there at 7:05, our reservation was for 7PM. The Welcome was everything but warm, and some of the waiters at the reception did not even dignify us with a look, even after we greeted them.

When we got to our table, we did not get offered a physical menu, only a QR code. I visited with my parents, who are both above 60 y/o, and we at least expected to get asked which option we would prefer.

After ordering and finishing our starters, the dirty plates and cutlery where sitting on the table for quite a while. When the waiter finally took our plates, he did not even bother giving us fresh cutlery. Only after I politely reminded him, he would hand out fresh fork and knife, but apparently confused on what side the knife and fork goes. The same happened with wine glasses, since we had different wines during our meals and had to ask for clean wine glasses.

With my main course I ordered plain rice. What I got was fried rice. What I only realised after paying: It was not only the wrong rice, but the most expensive rice with lobster meat in it, for 42€. I certainly did not order this, and I still ask myself how you could possibly get this order wrong. If I would have realised earlier, I would have obviously complained.

Similar scenario with bread: When we were almost done with our main courses, we got asked if we wanted more bread. There were still two half full baskets on the table, but we agreed on another one. We ended up getting another two baskets that i had to take home at the end so as not to waste any food. The waiter kindly pointed out to us at the end that he did not charge for the paper bag - thank you very much for that!

After finishing our meals, the waiter was kind enough to pour my father a glass of port, half of which he poured over the table, and then charged him a hefty 15€ for the glass. That was then the final crowning of the evening.

The sum of these incidents made us seriously doubt the ability of the waiters. Have they ever trained their staff in the basics of gastronomy? If not, you should urgently make up for it.

I hope you understand our frustration. In a restaurant of this price range, you expect impeccable service. Of course, one could dismiss the mentioned things as small things, but unfortunately this has clearly clouded our overall experience and we will therefore refrain from a further visit or...

In one word, my experience here could be described as “overhyped”. In two words, “overhyped, salty”. You’d have a better experience just walking in and looking around for a few minutes.

The starters were the best savoury food we got. The gyozas and shrimp dim sum were nice but the samosa(which you are only served one of) was quite salty and had to be carried by the sweetness and tartness of the tamarind sauce.

I don’t know about the other main courses here but the group i was with got 3 curries: green, tandoori prawn and tikka masala as well as crab rice, which was the only dish that was more than below average for the price point. Everything else had exactly one flavour profile, being extremely salty. The biggest culprit of this was the green curry.

For dessert we got a lemon tart and the rhinoceros drool. The tart was by far the nicest thing we had but you could pay half the price for the same quality somewhere else. The drool was overpriced slop. It’s like they realised the dessert was bad and tried to make it sell more by giving it an unconventional name. It’s supposed to be a ‘sweetness bomb’ but the sweetness was very sickly and artificial. From a place like this you’d expect a pleasant sweetness but it mostly just tastes like artificially flavoured whipped cream from a can. So, so, so, so overhyped.

The decor and service are this places saving grace. The maximalist style is a lot of fun and the view directly into the kitchen is too. The food came quick and was warm and our server was nice.

If you want a nice photo then go here but it is really not worth the reservation and price of everything. From the hidden bathrooms to the tacky plastic-looking skeleton, it really all seems designed for people to take pictures of everything and not to eat good food and i personally think good food is a pretty important part of a restaurant. The menu is clunky and bloated with too many options, many of which are very similar to one another. I’d come back if they cut the menu down to a smaller size and really just focused on taking what they’re good at and making it...

@jncquoi.world has been on my restaurant list for sometime😍

I took my mum here for lunch and I was lost in this place❤️

The staff| From the moment we walked in, we were greeted with a smile and given such lovely service.

A lovely staff member showed us around each room and told us a little bit about the history behind them, before letting us pick where we wanted to be seated.

The place| Is super elegant and has a very fancy interior decoration, that makes you want to look at every single detail of the place😊

They have four different rooms, here is a little bit about each one|

Restaurante| The Asian restaurant stands at the very centre of the venue, combines striking shades of red, golden and green with materials such as velvet, wood and leather.

Sushi| The Sushi-bar is a space specially devoted to sampling sushi. The rectangle-shaped bar is perfect for showcooking and this layout allows guests to watch the sushiman prepare each piece and also to appreciate the freshest fish, on view in window displays under the counter.

Terrace| The outdoor area at JNcQUOI Asia aims to recreate the vibe of a stroll on the crowded streets of Tokyo, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Red Bar The Red Bar offers an intimate décor punctuated with Portuguese and oriental plates on the ceiling, and will present the best selection of wines and cocktails, as well as sakes and Japanese whiskeys.

The Food & Drinks| Delicious food and drinks. To eat we had Dal curry with basmati rice, chicken satay, chapati and garlic naan bread. To drink a refreshing Balalai mocktail made with passion fruit purée, home made cinnamon syrup and ginger beer 🥰🍹

Thank you @jncquoi.world @miguelguedesdesousa I will be making arrangements to come back again soon (maybe for dinner this time) 😍😘

Please check out my Instagram @queenzee93 for a full...