Baía dos Anjos — Restaurant in Ponta Delgada

Let me begin with my stating that we really wanted to like this place, and gave it two tries before I reviewed it, because I hoped our first experience was a fluke.

What I like about Baia dos Anjos-- the food is very tasty, well presented, with just-right portions and prices that are a bit higher than the average Azorean cafe but appropriate for the location. The location is the other wonderful aspect of Baia-- the patio on the harbor is a great place to lounge for an afternoon of people watching and relaxing by the boats. The use of the old instruments for decoration, and the wall art is quite charming, and being musicians we will emulate this art in our own home.

Now to explain the 3 star rating, which is due to the quality of the service on both of our visits. I don't enjoy giving a poor rating, and so please forgive the lengthy description of our experiences. I can only state what we experienced, which perhaps is an anomaly, and you can decide for yourself.

Our first visit was for lunch. My partner and I arrived at 1:30, a bit early for a 2pm business lunch. Our third person was delayed, and so at 2:10pm we informed staff it would be lunch for 2, not 3 as we had originally stated. I should also state we speak limited Portuguese, and perhaps we didn't communicate well, or our language issues caused some inadvertent misunderstanding. Staff had seemed polite and attentive when we first arrived and ordered coffee and water while we waited, but changed to cool, dismissive, and even a bit resentful by the time we were ready to order lunch.

We sat on the patio, which had about 1/4 of the tables occupied, and found that while staff would make eye-contact and acknowledge us when we tried to call them over to our table to order, in most instances, the staff would nod, then walk away or go inside and would not actually come over to the table. To place our lunch order, or for any further requests including getting our bill, one of us had to get up and physically chase down the staff to get them to listen to us and come over to the table. Perhaps this is a culture difference, but since wait staff at other Azorean restaurants have responded to eye contact, smiles and a wave, I am doubtful our intent was misunderstood.

I ordered to burger and my partner ordered to dinner salad with tuna. The English version of the menu has the burger listed with side of fries and salad. I prefer burgers on lettuce without bread, but as the salad was included, I didn't make this a special request. When our meals were delivered, the salad wasn't included, but as the waiter quickly disappeared without talking to us, and his hands had been full, we assumed he was returning to the kitchen to get it. After 10 minutes, we had to go find a staff person to request the salad. Our waiter then came over, asked us what we wanted, we explained about the salad, he said ok, and left. No salad. Then the host or manager came over and told os that the burger only came with fries, not a salad. We apologized for the misunderstanding, told him the food was quite good and I didn't need the salad, said thank you and he left.

As we were finishing our meal, a small bowl of lettuce with dressing was brought to us. After that staff would not come to our table, nor acknowledge us. When we got up to go request our bill, we saw a charge for an extra side salad. We were frustrated, but decided it easier to pay than try to discuss it, and I took a photo of the English menu board on our way out, just to prove to myself I was losing my mind. I've included the photo. I am out of words for this review, so I will need to review our second...

I ordered a beef steak, which smelled and tasted like anything but not beef. It had bad texture and tasted like kidney. I asked the waiter if they had given me a kidney by mistake, and he took it back to the kitchen. Turned out that they have not cleaned the grill after they have prepared fish on it. I hate fish, therefore the unpleasant smell. The service was extremely slow. We asked for dessert, and the waiter kept saying, "Yes, yes, give me one second." After 15 minutes, the desserts we wanted had finished. The only good thing I have to say about the service is the fact that I was cold and they gave me a blanket. The octopus also wasn't as delicious as we have eaten on other restaurants here...

The atmosphere is great right beside a yacht club by the ocean. Went here 2 nights back to back hoping the next day would be better but every server was cranky and didnt want to be there at all both days. Very unprofessional servers. We tried not asking to many questions about the menu because it was clear no one working here was happy. I was excited to come to this restaurant/bar for some time because of the views and many people recommended it to me but after the service I received I definitely wont be returning or recommending...