FOGO Restaurant Duquesa — Restaurant in Manilva

Food is bland and not worth it. The restaurant is located a few minutes walk from the harbor on and aside from tables inside, has tables on two sides outdoors near a square with a fountain. In the square misc performers played music, danced flamenco etc. It had a good atmosphere and was inviting. We were a group of 10. Orders for drinks were taken reasonably quickly, but it took about 15 min for the drinks to be served. A mix of starters were selected, including goat cheese salad and calamari. Starters were served after abut 15 minutes. The calamares were fresh, but undercooked and soggy and served with only a slice of lemon. The goat cheese salad was not inspirering but ok. After the starters had been cleared, almost 30 minutes passed before a waiter you showed up and asked if we wanted desert. It was evident, that they had forgotten us and we explained, that the we were still waiting for the main courses. Main courses came after approx 20 min more. Portuguese chicken, pepper and chorizo skewers, contained plenty of chicken and a bit of chorizo and only two small pieces of peppers. The chicken was overcooked and dry with hardly any taste. This came with two side dishes, where I had selected coleslaw - which looked grey and hardly had any taste. The garlic bread one could hardly taste the garlic, and butter / herb mix it had been fried in hardly had any taste. Ribeye steaks were void of taste and the meat was tough. Grilled dorades - Was fresh but it was doubtfull if the it has been grilled on fried on a pan, a health dose of butter with herbes added taste to it. Consensus of the group was, that the food was bland, not worth eating and definitely not worth the price. The price of 35 euros a person included one beer or a soft drink, no wine. This is by far the most boring culinary experience during our stay, and considering the many reastaurants in the area, there is no...

In the end they just gave us the bill and told us they were closing, not really customer friendly.

The service started friendly and fast, almost too fast, dinner was (suspiciously fast) served within 5min, felt like it came from the microwave… And after the main course, they took away the plates and gave us the bill straight away and said, we’re closing the cashier!! That was about 21.50h and apparently they close at 22.00h. But no warning or message beforehand, just ‘go away’, it felt like!

We were thinking of trying out the pastel de nata, which we know and love from Lisbon. But we didn’t get the chance 😢

I’ve worked in restaurants for over 20yrs and they clearly don’t get what hospitality should look like…

The piri piri chicken was nice, not special enough, sauces were ok. Chorizo presentation nice, but very firm chorizo, not what we know from Portugal. The albondigas were ok, nothing special. The bacalao was very fishy, so maybe from smoked cod? The sweet potatoes were not crispy at all, very soft and no sauce with them, so i asked and got some mayo for them. The sautéed veggies, didn’t taste sautéed, more cooked, but still crunchy.

Soooo, with the food not being special enough we weren’t motivated to come back anyway, but the service made that decision even more definite!

Oh and they pretend to be a Portuguese restaurant, and we love Portugal and it’s food, but pizza and burgers is not...

My parents celebrated their 60th Diamond Wedding Anniversary at the FOGO with a group of 30 family & guests 💎🎊🎊

The owner Nina was professional from start to finish, communicating promptly to any queries via WhatsApp. She posted the menu which I shared with the group so their choices could be taken in advance, enabling the service to run smoothly on the day. She also made time for a meet & greet at the restaurant to discuss a few things, including a seating layout she'd designed to accommodate the group. On arrival I found the restaurant to be very clean with simple, warm, elegant, tasteful decor & lighting. The staff were smartly dressed, friendly, attentive and even helped me with the decorations! 🤗

The food and drinks menu is well balanced in choice, flavour and pricing. Highly recommend the Pasteis de Bacalhau (salted cod fritters) or the Fried Calamari starter. Pink Spanish Cava to accompany the Bife à Portuguesa (fillet steak, cured ham & Fried potatoes) or Sea Bream main. Food flavoursome & delicious, freshly cooked and served in a timely manner.

The post-meal group feedback was very good & even the four kids present gave it a thumbs up!👍🏽👍🏽

So Nina, sending you, your waiting staff & chefs a BIG THANK-YOU for a thoroughly enjoyable experience!...