Inevitavel - Coimbra

We ate here as a group of four when staying at the Vila Gale hotel where the restaurant is situated. The food seems hit and miss. It was busy, with the hotel full of guests. There’s a large menu. Bread was doughy, processed hotel rolls. We waited 45 mins for the starter and 1’15 mins for the main courses. My duck breast with potatoes and mushrooms was acceptable. My wife, son and our guest went for pasta. My son’s ricotta ravioli was absolutely swimming in cream (bechemal) and was bland. The other pasta dishes seemed overcooked and under seasoned. Clearly, we didn’t try all the dishes on the extensive menu. But some of the ‘non Portuguese’ dishes on the long menu require a rethink. Most guests went for the buffet in the adjacent restaurant which overall seemed better. Always a problem with restaurants in nice hotels what do they want to be fine dining or a canteen?. For me, in the a la carte restaurant we are dealing with here, I would have had a much smaller menu. There were probably 40 mains to choose from. Too many. I’d rather the chef do a rotating 6 8 freshly prepared dishes each day. It’s easier for them and food would be better.

I went there to have dinner with my family and it was the best restaurant where we have been in the twelve days that we spent in Portugal on holidays. The soupa was excellent, and also the trouxa folhada, but the best part were the main dishes: salmão grelhado, barriga de porco and bife vazia grelhado, which were not only pleasing to the eye but seriously amazing to taste. The desserts were sublime, i really recommend this restaurant, and also the desserts. The service was perfect in time and kindness, the food was well plated on and really satisfying. We were positively surprised by the bill which was unbelievably cheap.