Surprisingly recommended and well rated, Solar Dos Bicos in Lisbon has everything of the tourist trap: not exceptional dishes, a slow service and not very attentive to the customer. Here they do volume and that’s it.

For this meal I was looking for something simple and typically Portuguese. After much research and cross-checking of information I chose Solar Dos Bicos. This shows that even if you are careful, you can make mistakes.

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Restaurant concept

Nothing could be simpler: Solar Dos Bicos is a restaurant of Portuguese specialties as you will find hundreds in Lisbon.

The menu

It is simple and affordable, with all the great classics of popular dishes and local specialties.

Starters, salads and snacks.

The main courses.

The service and the dinner

I arrive right on time for my reservation.

At first sight it is quite engaging.

I go in and they greet me. While no one else is waiting I am told to sit temporarily at a nearby table and that I will be taken care of later.

A couple arrives and they are seated right away. I feel like the management of arrivals is a bit cacophonous: everyone is doing a bit of it without anyone really managing.

In the meantime I look around. It is simple, warm, it is rather appealing.

I was eventually picked up and escorted to my table in a corner at the back of the room.

The room is full, mainly groups of varying sizes, as far as I can tell. Very noisy. The waiter apologizes by telling me ” we are full and I don’t have any other table for the moment “. Fortunately I had made a reservation, I wonder what’s the point of it all when the couple who passed me by obviously didn’t have one.

It’s off to a bad start and I’m afraid I’m not reassured about what’s coming next.

I am given the menu, have a few dishes explained to me and place my order which I will accompany with sparkling water and a beer.

After almost 40 minutes, they bring me my starter: cod croquettes. They are served in pairs so I ordered a double portion.

It’s good, a little greasy but it’s good. On the other hand, I won’t be satisfied with this: 40 minutes of waiting for a dish eaten in two minutes and 4 bites. Good thing I asked for a double ration!

I look around: the staff gives priority to the groups to serve fast and renew the tables quickly and neglects the tables of one or two people.

Then to “cod à Brás“. It is a traditional dish made with crumbled and boneless cod, onions, all incorporated in beaten eggs, and decorated with black olives.

The wait this time was “only” 20 minutes.

It’s not bad, it tastes good but I sincerely wonder how much cod there is in the dish. Much less than the other ingredients I think.

Now I’m craving a dessert. The staff runs from table to table but as before they don’t stop at mine, focusing on two large tables right next to it.

The two big tables are leaving, so I hope they can finally take care of me. Well, no! The priority is to set the table quickly because other customers are coming in.

Time passes….

I end up intercepting with my eyes a waiter at the back of the room but at the last moment instead of calling him to order a dessert I show him my credit card so that he understands that I want the bill. I’ve had enough and I just want to go back to my hotel.

He will come quickly with the payment terminal and without me saying anything to him will apologize for the quality of the service.

The service

Reception not great but staff rather sympathetic in the end, provided that one manages to speak to them. I think they are also victims of the system: the objective is to make as many people as possible and to do this quickly reniew the big tables and only then they take care of the other customers.

Surely an excellent approach in terms of turnover but in the end the impression that remains is that of a tourist trap.

The atmosphere

Noisy, very noisy.

Bottom line

A ridiculously small starter, a decent dish without more, an interminable wait. Nearly 2 hours to eat two dishes for a total of 27 euros is not theft, it is just contempt.

Articles about this trip to Portugal

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