Used the entertainment voucher on a Saturday evening. Only one waiter (and two helpers who weren't taking orders, serving food or taking payments). The restaurant was almost full including the back room. Food was good but it took 1 1/2 hours to get it. Obviously very understaffed in the ktichen. Too long to be kept waiting.
Arrived early on a Wednesday night, waiter was helpful though as more diners arrived, the sole waiter couldn't cope. Food was plentiful and the seafood was good, exception being the crumbed calamari. Hearty and well priced food, though I wouldn't make a special trip.
My wife and I were here on Saturday, because we had an Entertainment Book coupon. We found a dead cockroach in the Portugese steak that I ordered! Never ever going back. The ambience is terrible, the meat dishes were soaked in oil, and it was a horrible experience. Don't spoil your day by coming here, there are definitely better restaurants in Sydney. This place definitely needs a "Chopping Block" makeover.
We had the garlic prawns in hot chilli and the traditional cabbage soup with chorizo for the entree. Big serves, we counted 19 prawns, heaps of garlic and ok heat, the soup was made with spinach rather than cabbage but was really tasty nevertheless. Plain rolls served with this free of charge. Give the entrees 7.5/10. Shared a paella for the main, which had enough saffron/tumeric rice to feed a family of four!
The seafood/chicken was overcooked, dry and bland, I think as a result of us asking not to be rushed, so, therefore, it was just robotically prepared anyway and left in its earthenware serving dish to dry out in an oven until we gave the nod. Main 5/10. Service was friendly and attentive with smiles, you actually got acknowledged when arriving, not like some of the other charcoal chicken places on the strip.
Judging by the other reviews, we fortunately got them on a good night. It was late, 9 pm, and the place was quiet, so, perhaps, that's why our meals were not overly delayed, but not prompt either! Anyhow, we ordered a Garlic Prawns to share as entree, then I had a steak and partner the Barramundi. The entree was a large serving which was a pleasant surprise. The mains where tasty and cooked well.
The wait staff were amatuers, but friendly enough, but scarce once mains were delivered. I asked for advice regarding their Portuguese wines, but no-one in the place knew anything. The young head waiter merely advised which was the one more often ordered. We took his advice and the wine was acceptable. In summary, a pleasant meal with large servings. I am likely to try the other Portuguese places in the area before going back.
I felt I should review this place for a couple of reasons. 1. I had a voucher for this place 2. It's stumbling distance from home 3. The reviews had been so poor thus far I wanted to see just how bad it could be. I was pleasantly suprised. A bit of a lack of ambience. Dead roses on the tables, very busy road outside, good music though.
The food was ok. I've had better and I've certainly had worse. We ordered baby octopus, chicken skewers and calamari. The octopus was nice, beautiful charcoal flavour. The skewer was weird. A massive chunk of butter was melting down the skewer which made it very oily. The calamari was chargrilled too. Not what I expected but still nice. The sides left a bit to be desired, very unoriginal and unflavoursome salad, nice chips.
The service was pretty good though. We had a young guy who was very attentive, cheerful and had the whole place under control by himself. The bill was reasonable, but then we had a voucher. I wouldn't rave about this place but given the previous poor reviews I'd say don't avoid it, just don't expect gourmet.
Been there once but for sure will come back. Loved the size of the portions and the taste of the food! Just the service is a bit slow for Australian standards but that's the way it's done in Portugal, so.. Looking forward to going back.
The worst dining experience I have had in Sydney. After the initial order no member of staff came near our table to see if we wanted to order any drinks while we waited the hour and a half it took for our meal to arrive, then only half of the order came. I had to ask several times for the rest of the order while food was delivered to tables around us who had ordered after us. When the rest of the order finally arrived, it was obvious that at least one of the dishes had been sitting under a hot lamp for quite some time. With the sauce congealing and the 'steak' tough and overcooked - should have been medium/rare.
Asked to speak to the manager, who blamed everything on the chef, and seemed to have no awareness or control over what was going on. The only almost apology was the offering of dessert on the house which we did not take as didn't fancy waiting another hour and a half for it to arrive. No reduction on the bill. We will definitely not be returning.
Rude wait staff that everything you ask for is a complete chore! entree took 35 minutes, mains an hour and a half. My bottle of wine was way finished by the time mains arrived so it didn't really matter that much that the food was average.
corkage $5.50 per bottle, sparkling water - $7 for an el cheapo bottle.
Twice I had to go to the counter to ask for service. Overall don't go there -there are far better deserving restaurants around.
Service was very slow and amateurish. Only the boss seemed to know what he was doing. Were the others still being trained by him on a busy Saturday night?