The Layers — Restaurant in Lisbon

AMAZING to support this local Ukrainian business. Please everyone, check it out!

The interior design is beautiful, chic, really well put together and the staff always welcomes you with a smile. I will keep visiting this lovely place (but please fix your payment terminal!)

My critique is the kitchen. It's newly opened so hopefully you just need time to figure some of it out. I go to maybe 3 different brunch places in Lisbon every week, I've tried most of the brunch places in Kyiv, and as you know the competition here in Sao Sebastiao is tough! You have 4-5 good competitors nearby.

Bad: I have had a cinnamon bun which was dry (this is a problem with the "snail" shape - it's better to go for knots). I've had a chocolate cookie that was surprise flavored with TONS of chili - not great - better to keep it simple? Nothing wrong with just chocolate. I've had avo toast twice, and it was super salty. Worse the second time. I think again it's better to keep it a bit simple and tone down the spices. The salt is also okay if you have a juicier/sweet bread like Danish rye. You served on rye the first time (better) but sourdough-ish bread the second time (worse).

Good: I have also had the scramble egg toast which was very tasty but more like an omelette toast, and the basque cheesecake which...

I had high hopes given the vibe and the menu, but unfortunately the experience really missed the mark.

The coffee was disappointing – over-extracted, bitter, and not what you’d expect from a café presenting itself as a third-wave spot. Brunch toast was good, so the kitchen clearly has potential.

The real issue, though, is service. Drinks and food are just dropped on the counter for you to collect, even when it’s quiet and staff aren’t stretched. At one point we watched an iced drink sit there for 10 minutes, melting, while the person it belonged to (sitting outside) didn’t hear it was ready. Staff eventually carried it out once the food was ready and it lay there unclaimed for a few minutes, but by then both were past their best.

What made this worse is that there were four people working – plus the owner sitting nearby on a laptop – yet most of them were standing around chatting while orders languished. At a third-wave café, you expect care, attention, and a sense that the product quality actually matters. Here it felt like convenience for the staff outweighed the experience for the customer.

Good food, but unless the service and coffee step up, it’s hard...

Food was great, as well as the coffee. Could have more vegan options (although it was great, a beyond burger sandwich is not really what I wanted to at 10am😅). I saw later on their IG page that they had a vegan almond cake as well, unfortunately I didn’t know otherwise I would’ve tried it. The other menu options looked really nice, so I think offering similar vegan options would be great (the fig jam toast could be made with an almond based cream and without the presunto per example?). A lot of vegetarian options though!

Staff was nice and friendly. The only thing I didn’t get was having to order and pay at the cashier, since the establishment is so small I don’t really think it makes sense not to serve people on their table. Oh and the drinks menu is a little bit hidden on the wall. Overall a...