Estrada do Guincho, Cascais 2750-642, Portugal
This was a treat for my wife’s (big) birthday. The building is imposing and the reception area impressive, but the restaurant area is rather cold, impersonal and too brightly lit. Some background music would have helped with atmosphere. The view is lovely to be sure. Rather shocked at the scruffiness of so many people, wearing jeans and t-shirts in a 5-star hotel, Disrespectful to other diners IMHO.
We opted for the 11-course tasting menu. Service for this and the wine was excellent. Nice, friendly wait staff and helpfully explained each dish in English.
The appearance of each dish was inventive, attractive and the artistry in the kitchen is undoubted. However…. The food didn’t taste as good as it looked. The two fish dishes were excellent but most of the others were underwhelming in truth, and definitely not Michelin star quality.
The Champagne (Ruinart) was very good and the wines by the glass were pleasant but not €150 worth! I had notified the restaurant that it was a special occasion, so they kindly made my wife a cake, about 5/6 cm across. A glass of delicious dessert wine (Villa Oeiras Superior) was then offered at the same time, so I assumed it FOC, but it was €16 each…. That’s OK but a heads-up would have been nice.
Overall, I can’t recommend it as I feel it’s overpriced and lacking any atmosphere. Clever cooking but I’d prefer something simpler and better-tasting and more reasonably priced.
Service: 10/10
Food: 7/10
Wines: 4/10 – decent but overpriced
Atmosphere: 4/10
Overall 6/10