Restaurante A Gina — Restaurant in Lisbon

Huge loud fun late-night overpriced destination "restaurant" perfect for big groups looking for passable meat and the feel of a nightclub.

Pluses: Wifi, friendly staff (especially Dolores), one of the few restaurants open until 2am in Lisbon, interesting location, fast service, loud fun late-night party atmosphere, tasty dessert.

Minuses: No charm or coziness and full of pitfalls for the unwary. First, you are presented with a seat and a small plate of tasty cheese and bread. I thought that was a nice amuse-bouche, as you find at restaurants around the world, but after reading some reviews, I asked if this cheese which I did not order was free. I was told it was 8 euros, which is a bit much for 1 euro worth of cheese that I didn't order. Anyway, my server apologized and took it off my bill and left me one free piece of cheese. That was nice.

Second, they do not serve wine by the glass, only the bottle. I wanted a glass of wine but was told I could bring the bottle home. Then I was led to a "cellar" and shown the wines, ranging from 48 euros to 120+ euros. I've participated in several Portuguese wine-tastings, and I know that that delicious mass produced wine is 5 euros and small batch masterpieces can be found for 20 euros. It would be nice if they included at least one wine around 30 euros (especially for those looking for a glass of red to go with their steak). Side note, I ordered the 48 euro wine but then when they brought it to the table they said that the price was incorrect and it was actually 59 euros. Weird stuff.

Finally, as you can see from the menu, the steak is not cheap. It's on par with the most expensive steak-houses in the city. My T-bone was tasty but the fries were limp and cold. I ordered medium, half the steak was well done and the other half was rare (no problem as I took as the rare half home and cooked it for lunch - it was huge).

Probably this place was just not for me. It's great for a big birthday party when someone else is paying the bill and everything is drinking beer and enjoying the music and kebabs. I'm sure the owners are doing well (it's generally packed), but if they want to earn a better rating, I suggest:

Do not place cheese in front of the guest upon sitting down only to later charge 8 euros. This creates indigestion and suspicion from the start.

Either offer a house wine by the glass or find a reasonably priced version for those who want to splurge on a steak with a great Portuguese red.

Make sure the fries are piping hot and fresh - no easier way to kill a meal than mealy fries.

When selling $80 steaks, offer fresh pepper, not ancient pulverized pepper in a plastic shaker that makes one feel they are in McDonalds.

Give the hostess and Dolores a raise, as they were smiling faces surrounded by disgruntled and harried managers (I sat in the only available spot, near the kitchen and brain-center), and all my "hellos" and "obrigados" were met with...

Very deceiving, we went because we wanted to have a dinner away from the touristic hustle and were advised this restaurant. It started what we thought was a good night out but then little by little we were starting to feel fooled. The host gave us a table for 4 (we were 2), we sat and had no issues but felt the waitress was not very happy with that. Before we had the menus, we got a plate of ham and cheese on the table, covered with plastic, and I joked that she was so busy that has not even taken the time to open it for us, and a basket of bread, which we ate as we were hungry to then discover it was not offered but charged 10€ to our bill. The waiter have not mentioned anything to us to avoid us paying in case we did not want it. Then we realised that the table next to us (we believe they are Portuguese) have not eaten theirs and the plate of cheese and ham was removed on the spot. We ordered 2 glasses of white wine to be told that half a bottle is better, we agreed. The waitress served us the wine glass (almost full) and asked us to taste it which was ridiculous and very annoying… white wine gets warm quickly… once we finished our bottle another waiter came back with a cooling box - a bit too late for that. We waited almost 20 minutes for our food while others (locals) were served in a very short timeframe. The steak was very hard to eat - lots of nerves. I left half of it in my plate. We ordered one additional glass of wine. When I asked for water I never got it… When we asked for the bill, the waitress brought it and we thought mentioned that the additional glass of wine was not accounted for. The bill included 1st 4 covers while we were 2. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. We paid in cash and were returned with the change minus the price of the additional glass of white wine which cost almost as much as the bottle. In these cases you expect another bill with your change.

So a good trap for tourists. Never coming back! It is just a question of principle as we felt we were...

Not happy. Not happy. Not happy. We’ve been in Portugal for a week and have had some glorious food. We went to this really lovely, lively restaurant which promised great things…. The server was quite matter-of-fact, which I don’t mind - and she asked if we wanted fish or meat - I said I would likely have fish as I love it. She recommended the fish of the day which was a share-for-two-board of SeaBass. We looked at the menu and decided to go with her recommendation - it wasn’t priced on the menu. I asked if the fish would be boned and she assured us that the chef would bone it. 50 minutes later (we were not in a hurry and they were really busy) the food arrived on a platter, including bones, head, etc. It also had a few bits of potato and broccoli and three pieces of carrot. So I had to bone it and we ate it. But I’m not a chef so it wasn’t possible to enjoy the fish because every bite had bones…. However, I don’t like to wrong anyone so want to clarify that it was delicious fish which we would really have enjoyed if it had been boned. Complained to the server when she came to clear…. No great joy but she said she wouldn’t charge us for a dessert which we shared. We got the bill and paid it - with the fish priced at almost €82!!!! I cannot believe it ! We paid it - our bill came to almost €120. I asked to speak to the manager - she explained that we got a kilo of ocean fish ! Then I realised that the fish not being boned was no accident! I insisted that we didn’t eat a kilo of fish… but they insisted. I asked why the Sea Bass on the menu was priced at €17 per person and how they justified charging almost two and a half times that price…. Wasting my time, my breath and my life….. This is an over priced restaurant with a great vibe. They are pushy with bread, water, starters, etc…. It’s a pity. ...