Montes de Argila — Restaurant in Ponte de Sor

We visited this restaurant twice — once on a Friday evening and again the next day. On our first visit, we were the very first guests, and on the second day we arrived later, around 9:20 PM.

The interior is nicely designed, which is definitely a plus. On the first day, the restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived, so we were served relatively quickly — though we still waited about 20 minutes for our food. The second day, however, we came in much later and were among the last to arrive. That time, we waited nearly 50 minutes for our meals, even though the restaurant wasn’t even fully booked.

Unfortunately, the food didn’t live up to the expectations set by the restaurant’s image or pricing. Overall, it was very average in taste. On the second visit, the meat we received seemed like the leftover pieces — a lot of bones and not pleasant to eat.

The service also left a lot to be desired. Only one of us spoke Portuguese, and once the staff realized that, they directed all communication to that person and seemed to forget about the rest of us. Orders were mixed up or forgotten more than once. The team didn’t appear to be well-trained or organized.

All in all, the experience didn’t match the price point or the reputation the restaurant seems to aim for. We wouldn’t recommend it — the food, service, and overall experience were...

Service: For a Portuguese restaurant the service is not up to standard. 15 min. wait time to get the drinks served, food took forever around 45-60 to arrive mins and the restaurant was only half full. No waiter ever stops by asking for drinks while waiting on the food to finally arrive.

Menu: A number of items on the e menu are not available so it leaves with little choice. For a Portuguese restaurant it is expensive.

Food: The polvo was super salty. No taste of the polvo besides salt. Not a fan of the sweet potato side, mash and fried combined. The entrecôte is not entrecôte and covered with a sauce so intense, that one can’t taste the meat. The french fries were also very salty.

After telling the waiter about this, no apology or anything. Based on today’s experience I would not...

Mostly show, not much substance.

Absolutely phenomenal location overlooking Montargil's dam, 11/10 chocolate mousse and that's pretty much it for upsides.

Everything is on the expensive side. Broken eggs were to the point where each new bite brought a new, unpleasant note, with an overarching saltiness throughout. Pork cheeks were actually pretty tender but the rest of the dish didn't keep up with it.

Everything seemed needlessly complicated with many clashing ingredients that don't mesh well together, inserted in a region where comfort honest...