Restaurante São Rafael — Restaurant in Lisbon

This is the worst restaurant I have ever visited. Myself and my boyfriend visited here on our last night in Alfama. We were intrigued to see what it would be like as it looked idealic in the romantic side streets of Alfama. We sat down at a table after being rudely directed to it. We were not served or even greeted for at least 5 minutes by which time I had to ask the waiter for a menu to order. We sat again for five minutes and decided we would leave. But then were given two starters which we did not order. Some foul cod fritters which were cold and tasteless and slab of cheese. The waitress was unhappy looking and frankly rude when I asked her why we had been given this food if we had not ordered it. No doubt this is a ploy to get unsuspecting tourists to order even more food on top thinking that these additions were free. Realising what they were trying to do myself and my boyfriend ordered only mains. What came was at first appetising looking until we looked more carefully. I ordered fish stew which looked and tasted like it has been made from left overs of other people's meal. The prawns were so tough I couldn't chew them and the sauce tasted like packeted sauce. My boyfriends meal was even worse. The 'meat' platter was a array of various disgusting congealed sausages. The meat looked grey in colour. The fries were cold and undercooked and the salad looked like it had been taken off a display window all day and dumped on his plate. It was frankly festuring. I felt terrible for the beautiful Fado singers who looked tired and over worked. The guitar player was falling asleep playing! My best advice for them would to be get away from this vile place and find another restaurant. I am very disappointed but it hasnt altered my view of Lisbon. Don't go to this tourist trap....

Really poor restaurant experience. Food was not what you would expect. Much of it over cooked or not fresh. Fado was ok apart from frequent breaks.

The thing that makes this a 1* and not a 2* is the waiter. Reading the other reviews, I can tell we all had the same waiter! He’s in his 50s, maybe 60s and was completely unfriendly and unhelpful throughout. Actually he was plain RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL. We were not the only customers who had to physically get up and chase after him when he ignored our loud excuse me’s in multiple languages.

Plus he got our orders wrong. He brought a port at the start of the meal despite us not having ordered one. I let him know and he just looked at me like I was lying. So we agreed to keep the port and pay for it. He said absolutely nothing to acknowledge that I was doing him a favour. He forgot our chorizo and when I reminded him he turned up with it in seconds. Except that it was mostly very dry and over cooked (not looking like the picture at all) and I had the impression he had scooped up lots of bar snacks!

He continued to ignore us and to throw our cutlery about when eventually clearing up.

When the bill came, it had us down for €12 of covers despite us not touching the croquettas. He claimed this included a starter (why on earth would it be in covers then??) and the rest of the bill was indecipherable. For instance - money against soup, which none of us had. If I wasn’t with my gf’s parents I wouldn’t have paid and would have had a loud argument with the guy.

I’m gutted that we fell into this tourist trap given the other restaurants around. Please don’t make the same mistake we did and check google first!!!

Ps. either that waiter is the owner, or the owner can’t use...

To whom this may concern,

I cannot understate the importance of this review, so please read carefully.

My experience at this restaurant was nothing short of horrific.

First, we arrived at the restaurant to a series of "free" appetizers, which the waiter failed to mention were subject to charge. Next, we ordered "large" beers, which were 10 euros/person. Once again, the waiter intentionally misguided us regarding the price.

Second, to say that the food was horrendous would be a vast understatement. The fish was filled with bones, wreaked of garlic, and tasted like salt water from the Dead Sea. All 7 of us were beyond disgruntled with the quality and quantity of our food.

Third, the meal featured a musical performance which was distasteful at best. My friend was "shushed" numerous times for conversing and the man who performed looked/smelled like a poorly-groomed homeless man off the streets of New York City.

Finally, the price was egregious. Each of us spent upwards of 30 euros for what was, all in all, a terrible experience plagued with failures at every level.

Overall, I highly recommend that everyone steer clear of this hoax at all costs.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post.

With deep gratitude and...