Moma — Restaurant in Lisbon

Basically, stay away to avoid a scam. Very surprised with the reviews quoting the service / food is good or reasonable. Once we got hooked by a young individual on the street (who actually followed us), after reviewing some restaurants on the same side street. Anyway, ended up sitting down in this establishment, ordered our food and "Yes", the home made cheese, ham, some salad arrived first. Bread and 1 Paella was the order with 2 zero beers only. During our dinner we used the toilets. Disgusting state for a public member to use. Finished up quickly and the bill arrived on a phone (broker screen glass, so a little hard to read) from a small oldest man. He explained the bill, which included the cheese, ham and salad and a 10% service charge. Took a few minutes to get card machine to pay on Revolt and asked him again to see bill. Bill supplied on his phone and the final cost was at €40.50 without the service charge. I challenged him on the bill re food not part of the order and his response, "Once you eat it you get charged". Service Charge Cost was an additional 10%, so again I challenged him and explained, 10% of €40.50 is €44.55 not €50 as the final bill. A service charge would normally apply to a group booking. Suddenly his response became "I don't understand" and my wife was getting a little uncomfortable with his behaviour. Didn't have the energy to argue. Paid the bill at €50, instead of €30.50 without the starter we didn't order and the service charge. The interesting part of this experience, when we left and walked to our right side direction, we spoke with an individual two doors up and his asked me if we had a bad experience with the bill, which i replied "Yes". Just had a sick feeling after that chat. However, wasn't going to let this experience on our first day be ruined for the next 5 days in Lisbon. All the other restaurants we used for the remainder of our trip was excellent with food and service. Each bill paid with a tip. Just flagging...

AVOID AT ALL COST. I really do not understand how this place have rating of 4.3 at the moment. From the moment we sat there I had the wrong feeling about this place. The owner (or some kind of manager) was talking to the other guest and he was extremely pushy in a way I don't really appreciate. He was also really harsh to his staff, the girl who were serving us was shaking so much she almost spilled our drinks. We ordered grilled cod and squids and left more than half of it. Both of the dishes were under-cooked. The manager is also trying his best to make you order things that are not explicitly on the menu, so he can overcharge you. The only thing we ordered without looking at the menu were drinks (because we never got the drink list!) and we decided to play safe so we ordered one coke and one beer. He charged us €4.50 for the coke and €6.50 for the beer! In some dodgy looking street in Lisbon! And the receipt is a photo of computer screen! (see attached). And of course, there is some problem with card machine (similar to reviews from months ago), so you must pay with the cash. Read the reviews of the restaurants in the same street, it seems they are all managed by the same group (there was one guy who seemed as manager doing the circles around 3 restaurants on the street) doing business the same way! I don't know how these place are not closed by...

We've posted hundreds of reviews and really stuggle with this review. The food and service was excellent until you got the bill.

I had the Cod Risotto which was very creamy but very delicious. My partner had the steak and his meal was cooked to perfection. We also had a pitcher of Sangria that was excellent.

Now for the reality check. We were approached by someone on the street asking us to check out their menu. We were hungry and the items on the menu looked good.

First Red Flag: Jambon, chesse and bread was placed on our table without us being asked. They stated "here is jambon, chesse and bread for you." We already knew most restaurants charge for these items.

Second Red Flag: What's your recommendation. He recommended the most expensive items on the menu.

Third Red Flag: Overhearing the customer at the table beside us disputing the price of his bill.

Overall, when eating out it goes to transparency and trust. Their lack of transparency, adding items to the bill, (which btw is only presented in tiny form on a cell phone) and payment process of only accepting cash due to poor signal when other restaurants within 10 ft of them having no issues sums up to our poor review for Moma's restaurant.

There are many various options in the area that are up front and appear...