Jangada — Restaurant in Mafra

Do not trust the menu!

As someone with celiac disease, it’s a huge relief to find a restaurant that has the allergens listed on each menu item. It means that I don’t have to do the usual 30 min interrogation with the waiter on which dish has gluten and if it’s in the sauces or spices and if things are fried in the same oil as etc etc.

So last night I went to Jangada with my husband, comfortable with the idea that it would be easy for me to select a dish without gluten. There are a few to choose from which is always really nice and I chose the Sea Tango. This dish very clearly DOES NOT have gluten listed as an allergen.

The dish arrived and it was very delicious but I noticed something that wasn’t listed on the menu as part of the dish. It was topped with crispy onions. Had that been listen on the menu I would have definitely asked further questions as that is not normally gluten free. After a few bites my stomach started to turn and I said to my husband “something isn’t right, I think these onions are coated in flour”.

My husband went to ask our waitress who then asked the chef if there was gluten in the dish. The chef didn’t even know and had to check the premade package the onions came in.

Guess what? Yup. Gluten.

What is the point of listing allergens on a menu of the chef is just going to sprinkle some extra allergens on the dish? Surely chefs are trained in allergens and understand the consequences.

Celiac disease is not an allergy, intolerance or preference. It’s an autoimmune disease where ingesting gluten quite literally attacks and destroys the gut. Perhaps the whole thing is my fault for not doing my usual song and dance interrogation, letting the whole restaurant know I have a disease but I assumed that a restaurant that listed allergens would have gone to the effort of ensuring that information is correct.

Our waitress was very sweet and extremely apologetic. The whole thing was not her fault at all so we appreciated that. No apology from the chef who didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

We did not have to pay for the contaminated meal which was a nice gesture I was also offered an alternative meal but at this point I was starting to feel ill and to be honest didn’t trust the kitchen anymore.

Unfortunately not paying for the meal doesn’t make up for the damage to my gut and the inability to absorb proper nutrients while it heals which is especially important to me right now as I’m 4 months pregnant. This means this gluten mishap not only affects my health but the health of my baby too.

I’m really disappointed in this experience as Jangada is otherwise a really nice restaurant with a great atmosphere. It’s very unfortunate that the chefs do not take the allergen information seriously. I do not feel it’s a safe place for me to go...

I am a very regular customer who yesterday had the good idea to go and show one of my best friends visiting this place. Rainy and cold day accompanied by my dog, I was told directly in a very unpleasant way that the dog is not allowed inside the restaurant, which I completely understand and they offered me to eat outside! Under the rain ??? My car parked in front I decided to put my dog in the car. Back at the restaurant this same unpleasant and arrogant person who could be the age of my little niece seats me at my table and gives me the menu without offering me the menu of the day. I ask for it and I am directly reminded that I only have 5 minutes to make my choice before it is too late to benefit from it. I obviously showed my displeasure but it didn't seem to bother that much ! I am very disappointed and I plan to make a complaint in the complaints book and on other social networks. This is unacceptable to be treated in this way in addition to being a good customer and in the business myself, I pay great attention and care to be treated well and to treat my clients...

Made a reservation and ended up having our table given to another party, causing our party to wait 10-15 minutes before we could sit down. The restaurant did remediate the situation and offered a discount on our meals.

Went for buffet brunch. The food itself was very mediocre, the bacon and eggs were undercooked despite sending them back to the kitchen and the pancakes were ice cold. The buffet layout had too many bottle necks for the capacity of the restaurant causing significant waits to use the toaster or grab any of the cereal items. A couple food items that were actually quite good included the croissants and apple cake.

Overall, we were quite disappointed despite the positive reviews. A few minor tweaks with some more attention to detail could greatly improve...