Marcelino Pão & Vinho — Restaurant in Lisbon

Like some other reviewers, I chose this place as it was a Lonely Planet recommendation from a 2020 guidebook. Maybe they were different owners then. When we said what we wanted to order, the waiter kept trying to suggest other dishes and upsell us to more expensive menu items. When I asked him what the difference was between the chorizo I selected and the more expensive one he recommended, he shrugged and said he didn’t know. The whole time while we sat at our table, the waitstaff was pandering to passerbys, holding up the menu and trying to get them to dine there (always a red flag to not dine somewhere, in my experience).

We ordered an Iberico platter of ham, olives, toast, tomatoes and olive oil for about €10. Everything on that dish tasted a bit stale and old. We ordered a seafood rice special dish, which was good but overpriced at €17. I ordered a fruit ”milkshake” (i.e. smoothie) for €5 which was drinkable but overly sweetened with honey. Everything we ordered was pretty expensive considering the mediocre quality.

Worst of all, We ordered a chorizo for €10 - they brought a sad looking dried up sausage table side, lit it up with a flame, and then the waiter dropped it on the sidewalk. He said he’d get us a new one, and emerged 2-3 minutes later with the exact same chorizo. No way did they cook a new one in that time. I didn’t want to argue and didn’t feel like questioning it so I didn’t say anything, I just didn’t touch it. My husband unfortunately did, had a few bites and said it was dry and very salty. 8-14 hours later he is now suffering from gastrointestinal issues and chills from that chorizo, as that is the only food item he ate which I did not.

Save your stomach and wallet and avoid this place. And Lonely Planet needs to update their Pocket...

My partner and I had a very strange experience here. We arrived at 9.30pm and were given a table indoors. There was a group of tourists celebrating a birthday, and after we'd ordered they began singing loudly and randomly screaming. The waiters apologised yet joined in the party, dancing to the songs and then decided to move us to another table, noting that we weren't looking thrilled. The group then turned up the restaurant music so it was louder than a club. We weren't able to speak or hear each other across the small table and had to resort to silence. The group then jumped up on the chairs and started dancing on the chairs whilst scream-singing. It was both comical and frustrating as we'd just gone out to have a meal, assuming this was a regular restaurant.. I suppose if you're up for a club night whilst eating this might be your vibe. We felt a bit cheated by the staff, who were involved in the party and happy to welcome us in knowing things were going to get rowdy. The loud singing dancing troop literally emptied the restaurant of inside and outside tables within 15 minutes. Food was ok....

My husband and I stopped here yesterday to have a drink on the way to the castle. He was forced into choosing the large size of the beer, instead of the medium one that my husband pointed to on the menu, by the waiter. I also wanted to sit down and just have water, and no alcohol, so the waiter started questioning us by saying only one drink for two people? Next, I wanted to use the washroom, while my husband has a drink, the waiter said you have to order fast first and then use the toilet. Overall, we got so irritated within the first 2 mins, that we didn’t order any drinks got up and left. The service is very forcible and Bad. Since we didn’t have any food or drink, I cannot comment on that, but from the menu, it looks like the most greasy...