MöTAO Vilamoura — Restaurant in Loulé

We visited Mo Tao a few days ago, and it’s truly a ridiculous establishment trying way too hard to be classy. Upon arrival, you’re greeted by a group of hostesses at the parking lot, and then another inside the restaurant. The communication between is poor as radios are not working. We were initially told there were no tables available, only to have a poor hostess run after us when her colleague from another station finally discovered an available table.

Once inside, it’s clear this place aspires to be like Zuma but barely manages 15% of the effort. The decor is amateurish at best, the interior is dark and uninviting (outside is better).

The bartender outside is not allowed to make a margarita, according to some hilarious rule it’s only highballs outside, and everything else needs to asked in another bar inside. Then the average age of the crowd is significantly above the promised “nightlife in Vilamoura” standard, which adds to the unintended comedy.

And then it gets even funnier. Apparently, you cannot enter with sunglasses due to "security considerations"—what a farce?? Portugal is the 6th safest country in the world. Moreover, every other restaurant and nightclub in the area allows you to wear whatever you want. The audacity of this place is astounding. Go in only if you prefer be dictated how you should style yourself. Seriously,...

Can’t believe how rude and dismissive the front of house female staff were. They tried to turn us away TWICE for inappropriate shoes that apparently didn’t conform to their dress code despite telling us the first time that everyone’s shoes were fine apart from only one member of our group. We had to wait 15 minutes with no explanation after already making a trip home to change the first time and we were already an hour past our booking time. They made us wait after telling us we couldn’t go in and then went to find a different member of staff to make the decision after we pointed out that they had just told us 20 minutes before that the shoes were fine and we’d already been home and back to change and weren’t doing it again. The girls turned their noses up at us and acted so dismissively and rudely. They stood vaping and scrolling on their phones, ignoring us while we stood there clearly being messed around by staff with a weird superiority complex. An uncomfortable and hostile experience from the get go. The food was average and considering the price, not worth it. Our server was actually friendly which somewhat made up for the bad experience but I definitely won’t be returning. Would recommend to anyone wanting to deal with the least friendly and welcoming staff you’ll ever find working in the...

Great service and atmosphere! At midnight the party starts, the music gets louder and the lights dimmer and a new crowd starts coming to the dance floor.

You can’t bring in outside food like a birthday cake.

The entrees are good, the sauces are good. The main dishes are alright, the “costletas” were very soft so well cooked, just flavoring could be better and the rice side was good but lacked something. The “NasiGoreng” was good just some of the shrimps were bad so that needs to be checked in the kitchen. The desserts were very good, the only one that needs some work is the mango sticky rice, the rice needs to be worked upon. The crispy rice chocolate mousse was very good, but the best dessert was probably the salted caramel petit gateau. For anyone who likes coconut then the coconut dessert is for you, very well done and with beautiful presentation like all the dishes.

The service received was also good, with attentive staff) which was constantly around. The ambient and atmosphere is well done, the audience is still being found, currently it’s different groups of people with too much mixture but that’s usual in a new upcoming club restaurant.

DJ was also good. great music selection.

Thanks for the meal and experience. There is potential...