Alvaros’ restaurant establish since 1977***** — Restaurant in England

Terrible food !!! Never had such a bad meal !!! Visited Alvaro's for the first time in October 2019 as I have heard good feedback about it, however it was an awful experience and I definitely do not recommend at all!

I booked a table for a Tuesday evening for 4 people and as I have checked the opening hours they are closed on a Monday. Therefore you would expect the food to be fresh...but not.

Arrived there and restaurant only had 2 or 3 tables so nearly empty ( which is okay as it was a week day ). Not big but neither small restaurant, clean and old fashioned restaurant but good atmosphere.

We ordered drinks and food, informed at first by the waitress that they did not have some of the starters and mains that were on the menu...which is fine...we order prawns ( cooked in a traditional Portuguese sauce), Cod (Portuguese bacalhau) and a fish dish similar to fish soup ( caldeirada/fragateira portuguesa) and a side dish of vegetables.... then waited nearly 1 hour for the food to arrive to the table ( when the restaurant was nearly empty)...then when finally food arrived, first impressions not smelling at all which is a bad sign, then all the meals seemed to have the same sauce. Started to try the food ... OMG I never ever had such a bad meal in my life ... food tasted like plastic which means first that not fresh at all, second it was defrosted and warmed up in a microwave probably in a plastic container, third the tomato sauce was from a can and all the meals had the same sauce. Prawns were very small and they were crumbling, the Cod did not tasted like Portuguese Cod at all and the fish taste was really bad. In general all the food did not smell at all, had all a tomato can sauce, taste was off and not fresh, tasted like plastic ....could not eat at all even trying hard...only thing we could eat were the vegetables as a side dish, just cooked in water and the bread.

During our meal the waitress and the waiter did not even come up to the table to ask how was the food, which is really bad...but truly inside they knew it was terrible or maybe it's because we were Portuguese and did not matter at all asking ??? First of all you should always treat costumers politely and in a courteous manner regardless.

Please do take this as a constructive feedback because myself and my family are Portuguese and I am sorry but the food had nothing Portuguese at all.

My husband is a Chef and has worked in many places in London and now Southend, my family also works in hospitality for over 20 years and I have worked as a waitress in different places and currently working in a restaurant in Southend.

However you don't even need any knowledge in this industry to understand that from the food to the service nothing was good. anyone could cook better at home!

Therefore I can honestly say that I do not like to write bad reviews but this time I had, so that costumers would know what to expect and second owner would think about it all.... food was terrible, service wasn't great.

Just to add we did not complained at the moment as we were not even asked how was the food and everything overall...and last but not least service charge for 4 people and not optional ???

I will not visit again because there is nothing worst than spending money in food/service which is more than bad ...is...

Yesterday me and my partner (both Portuguese) visited this restaurant for the first and Last time. They claim to be a Portuguese one so we had high hopes on the food. Unfortunately, nothing we ate had even a small taste of Portugal. For starters the lobster soup was very watery, without taste. For main, I had the cod filet and again no taste, it just looked like one of those freezed ones that anyone can buy and boil. My partner had the "bifinhos de porco a Alentejana" which he didnt like and even felt sick during night and today morning. For these dishes the sides that we could add were fried chips?! Or vegetables.. We chosen the vegetables and that was again very disappoiting, sweet potatoes, boiled carrot slices and cauliflower cheese?! In what Portuguese restaurant do we eat that?! In adition, we asked what expresso Coffee brand did they had, (because we both understood at this point that they are not a Portuguese restaurant so It would be normal not to have good expressos and we would not order it) the waitress was very nice and professional and went to ask a colleague, which told us they had Buondi expresso.. So we ordered it. However, what came to us was not an expresso made in the machine they had in display, and we know it because we didnt eared any noise making it, it took like 10/15min to do it, and when it arrived it was just like mixed powder with hot water, with loads of Coffee powder still to dissolve. The prices are not cheap thats for sure, and this is not a Portuguese restaurant. So if any Portuguese askes me if I would recommend it, I will...

For those that haven't been this is not a place you rush in, eat and rush out. This is a place to savour and enjoy not just the food but your company also. After being invited to the bar for drinks before placing our order for starters we were then sat at our table and ordered our mains. The service was just the best. I would even go so far to say the best in Southend. We were made to feel truly welcome. The food didn't disappoint either. Our squid (whole not ringlets) and scallops with bacon were both superb. Our mains were fantastic. My Tournedo Madeira was not only the best fillet I've eaten in years but it was huge. I felt truly spoilt eating such a fine piece of beef. It just melted in the mouth, absolutely divine. My wife had the Espetada and it was equally as good. The dessert trolley looked magnificent too, with a huge selection to choose from but we were so full we had no room to sample dessert. When we return I'll be skipping the starter to make room for a dessert. This is definitely a place to return to if you want an evening of special treats. Five stars...