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| - DO NOT EAT HERE IF YOU ARE HUNGRY!!!
I will explain.
I had read many reviews about this place. All of the reviews said the food was good, even great. They did not lie. Some of the reviews briefly mentioned the lack of service. They also did not lie.
Yes, we went to this restaurant on a Saturday and the place was packed. Yes, the weather was great so we got to sit outside. That is where our good fortune ended.
We were seated after awkwardly being greeted and "assisted" by two separate servers. Once seated, our water glasses remained empty for quite some time. A wine list was given to us. Eventually, a small basket of bread and a small bowl of olives arrived. We were finally asked if we would like tap or sparkling water.
Then after about another ten minutes, someone finally shows up to take our wine order. We were going to order the rest of our meal since everything was taking eons, but the server ran off quickly before we could even get a chance.
Another five to ten minutes goes by, our wine finally arrives. It's good wine. The menu said it was a 2007, but the label said 2008. Whatever. I'm not that much of a wine snob but if I was, minus one point to the restaurant.
We are filling our second glass of wine when the waitress shows up, a little out of breath, saying "I am with you now." Again, awkward but maybe just lost in translation. She actually asked if "everything was better since the wine showed up". I'll chalk it up to a bad attempt at humor but it's not funny, not anymore...not after being there 30 minutes with only bread and olives. By the way, the water hasn't arrived yet either.
We order our food. Two appetizers and two mains. Once the food finally appears at the table, it is really, really good. The fried calamari was super fresh and the dipping sauce was delectable. The seared tuna was also very fresh and tasty. We devour the food since we were about to gnaw our own hands off.
Quick side note...all of the tables around us got olive oil to dip their bread into. We did not. Nor did we ask because Lord knows we'd still be there waiting for it.
We ordered the Portuguese style steak as our mains. It was a very nicely cooked filet served on top of a bed of matchstick fries, all topped with a sunny side up egg. As I said, the food was delicious, but it wasn't delicious enough to garner such a long wait.
No surprise that it took a long while for our plates to be cleared once we finished eating. A dessert menu shows up. Nothing jumped out but I had read reviews of the desserts being "amazing" so we opted for the pear poached in port. Again, it took a long time to get there, as if they were waiting for pear season to come and go. I've had better poached pears in my life so I strongly disagree with the desserts being "amazing".
My fiance loves port, like wants to marry it loves it, so he asked what kind of port selection they had. The ditzy waitress rattled some names off, clearly not knowing much of what she was saying. She tells us she is going to check to see what port bottles they have open this evening, and hurries off...to where I do not know but it was not to the wine cellar to check on the port. She never did return with the port selections.
And then there's the long wait for the check. At least another 30 minutes just to flag someone down. Check finally arrives, then it's the waiting game to see when someone, ANYONE, will show up with the credit card swipey machine.
I swear on my life, we arrived at the restaurant around 8:30pm. We didn't leave until just before midnight.
SWEET JESUS!
I'm all about al fresco dining and not having servers interrupt me mid chew asking me if everything is okay. But jesus criminy! 3.5 hours to eat dinner!?! I jokingly told my fiance that we had waited so long for the check that I was almost hungry again.
All in all, the food was delicious...once it finally got to the table. There are so many more Portuguese restaurants in Montreal that have WAY better service and WAY better food. I think I will keep sticking to Ferreira's and Jano's Grill.
Life is too short to be ignored by a crappy wait staff.
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