Restaurante Paixa — Restaurant in Loulé

No idea why this place is highly rated. Other than one young girl the service was cold and unsatisfactory. All the staff look and act like they didn't want to be there. We ordered the bread which arrived as fairy toast and a strange assortment of small rolls. Some of the rolls were very sweet, like something you would have in the morning with fruit. Not to my taste. It arrived with shot glasses filled with tapenade, which was nice, a cheese, which was also nice, a very sweet jam that I believe was suppose to be eaten with the cheese and a glass full of salt?? No butter. We ordered mackerel which we both liked. Next was pig's ear which was ok. Then we had stuffed squid. The squid was far too big for a tapas dish. The squid was cooked well but the sauce was horribly bitter, we scraped most of the sauce off. Next, we had a croquette which was very bland especially after having eaten the simple but super tasty croquettes from Timeout market in Lisbon. The last dish we had was black pudding with cumin, all we could taste was cumin. Completely overpowered the taste of the pudding so we left more than half of it. The only positive was the wine list....

Very beautiful place and delicious food. Still, I would not return. The reason is that the service is arrogant and ignorant. The digestives and pre-dinner drinks are served from bottles that have been opened since years. The Pernod and the Cognac were not drinkable anymore (we were 3 persons on the table to agree on that) and when we very politely informed the service about it, they did not take us serious and just ignored our comments. They did not even care to taste the spirits themselves and simply removed the charge from our bill. That was not our aim and even after insisting to get their personal opinion about the quality of the drinks, they refused to taste it. I am happy to pay for whatever I consume, but I don't want to be left stupid and not being taken serious. For the quality of the restaurant and the prices they charge, I would expect a more professional and...

Are here yesterday and honestly not impressed. Sardines were preserved not fresh which they confirmed when asked, best of the meal was the olive tapenade to eat with three bread. We ordered sausage with egg, one bite and couldn't eat more 1/10... disgusting is a good name for it, oxtail coquetteas, 4/10, chorizo with egg my husband said her liked 6/10, broad beans 7/10 cod cake 5/10, cod salad mostly Chick peas 4/10 overall 3/10 would definitely not return. Please go to cooking school to the owner... Cannot understand how this was worth 80 euros for such bland food and rated well in this area... Beyond me???????? Go to villa vita hotel restaurants and...