Incomum — Restaurant in Sintra

Showed up to a 90% empty restaurant at 1645 Despite that, all the tables had a "reserved " sign on them. We were crumbed on a 2 top table in the corner, even though there were 3 of us. I asked if there was a possibility to be put on a bigger table, and was answered almost with a "take it or leave" it vibe of, "unfortunately, all our other tables are reserved" After we ordered and our starters came, which of course did not fit our table, i asked again, this time if it would be possible to add another table to ours so we have a bit more space. Again, the same answer, "Im really sorry, everything is booked out for the night." Instead, they added a little service table to our table, which locked me in the corner, and i could not get out.

Soon after our starters came, another walk-in arrived, and they put them RIGHT NEXT TO US. This table was 2 adults and 2 crying babies. Such a bad move, in my opinion. When you have an empty restaurant, what's the point of squeezing everyone in such a small space.

I asked the table next to us if they had a reservation, and of course, they were a walk-in, same as us.

On to the food now.

Vegan vegetable soup of the day, tasty. It was enjoyed.

Meat and cheese charcuterie, quite nice flavours. Good size to share for 2 people. I imagine everything is store bought.

Green salad with fresh chevre and pistachio, i never found the pistachio, instead some random goji berries. But anyway, the leaves were fresh, and it was nicely seasoned. We liked it.

The main courses on the other side were a disaster.

Starting with the vegan pasta, with coconut cream, avocado, and lemon balm. No comment. This was terrible, especially for 15(!!) Euro. Was eaten but not enjoyed

Cream ravioli was a bloody mess, overcooked pasta inside a cream SOUP. With a tiny hint of truffle oil. Garnished with big chunks of mint, apparently. This was also not good. Was eaten but not enjoyed

Beef Steak (recommended by our waiter, requested Medium-rare.) Garnished with vegetable overcooked scraps and a NICE potato gratin Arrived on the table steaming hot, cooked more towards medium well. The quality of the meat was quite bad as well, and i had no other choice but to send it back. This is only the second time in my life I've done this, and as a fellow chef, it doesn't feel nice to do so, but for 22 euro, it also didn't feel right to keep quiet.

The second steak arrived cooked rare, but off course, at this point, i couldn't be bothered to send it back again. I was already starving. The funny thing is that the garnish on the steak was different the second time around. (Eggplant at first, zucchini the second plate, both times i got Only end bits of cooked tomatoes (lol) )

Overall, maybe our worst restaurant experience in Portugal after a week here and 3 meals out a day.

Sad to read all these nice reviews. The expectations and our experience were extremely lacking.

Respectfully.

The 3 chefs from Copenhagen who...

strong 4.5 stars. Based on a group of reviews across multiple platforms we decided this would be our lunch stop during our visit to Sintra. We were delighted with this restaurant choice. A bit more casual at lunch with sidewalk dining, but be prepared if you’ve been comfortably touring town that you may feel underdressed in the white table-cloth dining room. Multiple well-dressed business people enjoying lunch. We were given one of the tables on the sidewalk (away from the business folks). Our server seemed a bit grumpy on our visit as he provided menus and asked about drinks. Planning to eat light, we chose some appetizers/small plates for our meal. The Iberian ham plate was as delicious as we expected-so smooth as to almost be sweet. They know how to do this so well in Portugal & Spain. Unfortunately, the bread served with this was underwhelming. Quite dry. My DW chose the crab and lobster soup. It smelled delicious, heady with that aroma of the sea. Asking her how she liked it, I was offered a taste. To both of us it tasted a little “fishy”. Not unpleasant but that flavor of seafood not 100% fresh. Maybe just our personal tastes. We also felt it was lacking in quantity of lobster/crab meat. Given all that, not a drop was left.

The local cod ceviche sounded interesting as the menu calls it “unusual”. I order ceviche nearly every time I can so chose that. And a dish that would turn out to be quite possibly the most delicious thing I ate during 17 days in Portugal-Seared Scallops with Passionfruit Risotto. The ceviche was prepared with pieces of mango and bits of red onion and was redolent of really bright lemon flavor. With the number of lemon trees we saw in our travels, not surprising. Very fresh tasting-not fishy. I am always a bit leery ordering scallops-which I love-in a restaurant because I prefer them a little more on the done side rather than the light sear you find in many establishments. But I could tell immediately the three beauties served atop my passionfruit risotto were perfect. And they were. I had never chosen a risotto made with any type of fruit before. But this was a revelation. The flavor really exploded when eaten. Bright, citrusy, and deep. Like it had been simmered for hours to establish so much flavor (though it probably wasn’t). And this complemented the scallops sooo exceptionally. The two together was amazing. My wife said I was “glowing” while enjoying every bite. I could have ordered a second portion easily but I chose not to. Truly a dish I will remember for a long, long time. An added note, they serve the food here on some really attractive and unique plates. All the high ratings we had seen in other reviews were spot on. It’s a wonderful choice for enjoying a meal during a visit to Sintra. Highly...

We were staying in the hotel directly across the street and were feeling a bit hungry a little bit later in the night after a long day of exploring Sintra. After arriving just after 10:00PM (approximately five to ten minutes after) we were a bit confused as to when the kitchen actually closed for food service. We had read the Google reviews and saw that the kitchen closed for food service at 11:00 PM, but after arriving and requesting a table the waiter had stated they actually stopped serving food at 10:30PM which was a bit odd and completely contradicted the time posted on Google. After some back and forth with the waiter we were obliged to come in and dine with them for a late night dinner, and we are very thankful!

Our goal was to order a few dishes and be on our way. We did not want to keep the staff around waiting on us to finish our meals. The service was excellent as we did not feel rushed for coming in a little later in the evening. We ordered the shrimp green curry with exotic (coconut) risotto, lamb chops with yogurt sauce and couscous, and for dessert the 70% cocoa chocolate fondut (aka lava cake) with raspberries and ice cream. The food was hands down the best we have had in Portugal thus far. The chef and his kitchen staff know how to source amazing ingredients and properly execute on their dishes. We plan on coming back tomorrow to enjoy another meal as it will be our last day in Sintra. We are so thankful to find this place and really enjoyed the atmosphere and overall vibe. Also, if you come here order wine as you would be silly not to. You can tell they put a lot of thought and time into their wine selection and it was very impressive.

Thank you to the staff for allowing us to dine a little later as we really enjoyed everything and felt obliged to write a review to support what you guys are doing. Sintra is very lucky to have this place.

PS: Please update your Google page as to when you guys actually stop serving food, its a bit confusing for customers visiting you restaurant...