Mau Maria — Restaurant in Vila Real

Terrible service, average food, for locals mainly. Given quite positive reviews we selected this restaurant for our dinner while we were in Vila Real. Unfortunately we had a very bad experience there. Firstly we've been sitting for around 20mins at the table which we had to clean out ourselves and nobody came to us. An elderly gentleman started to speak to us in Portuguese which we couldn't understand and people at other tables started to laugh at us. We didn't know what was going on. After another 10mins somebody else from the staff told us that they don't hand out menus and that the menu is on the board outside. That was only for the mains, you can't see the menu for starters or drinks. You need to order at the counter as table service doesn't really exist there at least not for tourists. It took them other 40mims to get the food delivered which was very average. Mixed grill meats were ok but with no seasoning on it. One of the steaks was very dry. Also we never got the rice for the other dish. Just one thing to add, three tables beside us were empty but needed cleaning and nobody from the staff cared about it. When I went to pay the staff were just relaxing downstairs, it shows how bad the...

We arrived at the end of the lunch service to a very full restaurant. They happily seated us at a great table upstairs and told us what was still available (plenty!). Menu was small but varied and local. Service was fast and friendly - they even changed our waitress to someone who spoke perfect English which was appreciated. Food was absolutely delicious, we had vegetable soup and then the beef cheek (the best beef we've ever had). And a delicious dessert. Couldn't fault the experience, looking forward...

Amazing restaurant. I was very surprised by the quality of food served for such a low price. A lunch menu costs 7€ and includes soup, main dish(meat or fish), drink and coffee. Taking just the amount of food offered for that price it's already an awesome deal, but on top of that they've got a cosy, pretty interior, nice plates and the portions are generous. The dishes were assembled quite elegantly and all of the ingredients were deliciously prepared. Can't think of any downsides, definitely will...