Cantarinha do Guadiana — Restaurant in Vila Real de Santo António

When we showed up, we were apparently early and should wait until they open which was like at 12:30pm. The surly waiter asked if we have reservations and we said no. Some other couples were also waiting outside. However, at 12:30 people started to arrive and they were all ushered in the restaurant.

Maybe, they were all known to the waiters, they went straight indoors. It was just us waiting outside. We did get a table afterwards outside. Service is definitely beyond poor and the waiters are all sooo unfriendly. It seems that they only serve people that they know and not visitors like us even though we spoke some Portuguese.

In addition, the prices of their food are quite high, you would think that you are eating in a restaurant in Brussels, Amsterdam, or Paris. If I thought that the cost of dining in VRSA is cheap, I soon changed my mind when I paid for lunch - over 70 euros for 4 people with just a dish each. The only redeeming factor is that the food is tasty although I think I got an allergy from eating their shrimps. So scratch that. I am not coming back nor am I...

I messaged the restaurant via what's app to book a table and they came straight back to me to confirm the booking. We received a warm welcome from various waiters and had great service, especially by the new young waiter. He was first class. This was the cheapest place we ate at by far in VRSA, but I am giving it 5 stars as we really loved it. The other places we ate at were 5 star hotels and on another level, but the service and food here was great. We had a small salad to start, then pork cheeks which were probably the best we've ever had, and we've had plenty in Spain. Also, "steak a casa", which was served with ham and egg and covered in a peppercorn sauce, which was really nice. We had 3 glasses of red wine, which were lovely, a dessert, a glass of lbv port, a bottle of water, and the bill was 75 euros, which was incredible. Highly recommend...

Nobody approached our table for 20 minutes, when called the waiter answered: “there’s no point in taking your order because we can’t serve you for a while”.

We insisted on ordering drinks at least but the waitress messed up the order and said “not my fault, my colleague didn’t write it down”.

As we waited 90 minutes (!) for the main courses we ended up overhearing several unhappy guests in the nearby tables.

An example behind us: guest: “excuse me, I ordered a beer such a long time ago” waiter: “we don’t have a bar service, you’re lucky that I got you the beer myself”.

It’s just sad when a restaurant takes its customers for granted, believing that serving great food justifies a superior atitude and a...