I stand by my litmus test for determining whether a "tapas" restaurant is worth visiting: its patatas bravas. Similar to another bad experience I had (in Barcelona no less), the patatas bravas we had at Estrela Bar tonight was a sad excuse for a potato dish. It's basically overcooked, very dry potatoes with a few drops of spicy sauce.

We also ordered octopus which was rubbery and it came with, surprise surprise, more potatoes. In fact, the dish had more potatoes than octopus.

We also had mussels with tomato sauce. They're fine. Nothing to complain about or shout about.

What took the cake for me was the chorizo assado, which was supposedly "flame grilled" but what was brought out to us seemed, and tasted like, leftovers from a butcher's shop. The chorizo was rubbery and way too salty, in fact, so salty that I couldn't even finish it, and I hate wasting food. It's not even worth taking it away. That's how bad it was.

Also if the staff can't explain to you the difference between one mussel dish and another, RUN! Clueless staff = not properly trained = not worth visiting.

All in all, I doubt the sincerity of the 1000+ "good" reviews that don't say much apart from giving the place a numerical rating.

Dear chefs of Estrela, please do all of us a favour and find yourself a new vocation. Thanks.