KOB by Olivier — Restaurant in Lisbon

I came there to eat a wagyu skirt steak (54€), after searching for it in Germany for a long time. The waitress brought us the steaks and named them. After she called my “wagyu skirt steak” VAZIA (29€) which is a basic sirloin steak and looks, tastes and has a completely different texture and quality than the steak I ordered. I believe that they didn’t expect that I’m a steak connoisseur and just wanted to get more money for less quality. Of course I saw the difference immediately, so I asked again after I don’t understood what she called the steak to get sure that there isn’t a mistake. So I asked her if my steak is the skirt steak and she answered me with a clear YES. I tried it and of course my suspicion turned out right, so I asked another waitress if she could tell me what steak this is and she told me that it is a sirloin steak. I told her that I ordered a wagyu skirt steak. She apologized for that and said that she will bring me the right one. Because my friend and I wanted to eat together, she asked for get a new steak as well so we can eat together. I expect that it should be clear that it just make sense to eat together and get the food at the same time when you’re going out for eating. But unfortunately two waitresses wanted to tell us that we should just share the steak of my friend (rib eye) until we are waiting for my skirt steak and after that we could share my skirt steak too. As a waitress in a restaurant which is called “knowledge of beef” I expect the waitresses have a bit of knowledge about beef and can tell and see the difference of a sirloin and a skirt steak. My skirt steak wasn’t medium like I ordered it just was medium well/ well done. And full of tendons. After all they just charged me 38€ instead of 54€ for the skirt steak, but unfortunately I couldn’t enjoy my...

KOB is a beautiful restaurant, with a lovely ambience. i have been here 5-6 times and the steak is always phenomenal tasting, but it is almost always considerably less cooked than asked.

i went again last week with 3 people who were visiting lisboa. the sides and sauces were perfect. ordered 4 steaks - 1 well done, and 3 medium well. (as mentioned, it’s always undercooked, so i order medium well here for it to be just medium rare/medium). 1 steak was the incorrect cut, while still undercooked. the ‘well done’ steak was medium rare. one was cooked a small bit under, and the other cooked very rare, all as confirmed by the waiter/manager at the time.

the steak comes pre-sliced, so when the wrong order was cooked further on the coals while sliced, it ended up with a distasteful and overwhelming charcoal flavour.

nobody apologised for the totally wrong cut nor the incorrectly cooked steaks. nobody checked to make sure it was ok after. we paid full price for all the food, with a hefty service charge applied on the bill afterwards, without it being mentioned. we each had a half glass from a 1L water bottle, with zero follow-on top ups from the staff, so i did it myself. when paying the bill, a different waiter very firmly insisted we actually had 2 1L bottles and for us to pay for both :)

of course, these are first world problems to say the least, but quite disappointing for a €50/pp meal! not sure if we got the tourist treatment (despite me living here and visiting regularly), or whatever. but the lack of desire to even try to remedy or reconcile the situation is really disappointing, so i’m not so sure if...

I’m going to be honest — all of the reviews that note this place as exceptional, have never had exceptional steak.

the food was not good by any means, more importantly the steak. The Ribeye (Portuguese cut) lacked flavor, lacked seasoning, it had no love in it. The truffle mashed potatoes were gooey, sticky; the spinach wasn’t too bad. The food is just lacking technique and attentiveness.

There are certain qualities restaurants do to go the extra mile, especially when it pertains to food and this place just doesn’t. Some examples:

a) complimentary bread and butter for the table, maybe the bread could be warmed or baked fresh, considering you’re still taking dinner reservations at 10 pm, time shouldn’t be a factor in quality food.

b) cold water for the table

c) fresh clean glasses, ensuring they don’t have a smell from dish water, etc.

d) having the best cuts of meat on display. the meat on display near the front isn’t exactly 4 or 5 star cuts of meat!

It has all of the aesthetic appeal but no appeal food wise. It’s almost there, it just needs a revamp. more love an attention to the meat and authentic side dishes (not side dishes that may be appealing to the public) that the kitchen is well versed in and I think the food will be back on the right track.

However, the staff was pleasant! even comped us...