Alma

Simply amazing! One of the best meals I have had in my life. I had the ‘Costa a Costa’ tasting menu that focus on fish and seafood. Although the menu comprises 6 dishes, there’s like 5 or 6 dishes before the tasting starts. All the staff was great, very friendly and professional. The atmosphere is very nice. Relaxed, modern and not too pretentious. It was my wife’s birthday, we even got a small cake with candles! This is not a cheap restaurant, but you can’t buy the quality of the food served in this restaurant nor the two michelin stars it rightfully deserves. I wish I was rich, I would go there every week! You must go try it for yourself!

I asked for the vegetarian tasting experience, which is an option available upon request even if off-menu. I was not disappointed at all! everything worked out really well. The food is really interesting and intriguing, it's a restaurant worth the hype. One dowside to mention is the noise : there are many tables is a small space, the room is not soundproof. I recommend booking around 21:00 as people will start to leave and the restaurant will get more quiet. I appreciated the staff mentioning that tips are not mandatory , its the first time I have been to a high end restaurant that made sure to communicate this aspect to their customers, so at the end I was more than happy to pay for it anyways!

I had the tasting menu with wine pairing, and it was an exceptional experience. The wine pairings were spot on, perfectly complementing each dish. Duarte, the host, was absolutely brilliant—he explained everything with such care and detail, making my solo dining experience feel truly amazing. The standout dishes for me were the stuffed squid and the turbot, both beautifully prepared and flavorful.

Alma is an amazing culinary experience. We enjoyed the tasting menu without the wine pairing. Every course (I lost count how many there were) was beautifully presented and a sensory delight. If you are heading to Lisbon, I would strongly encourage you to book your reservation well in advance. For a couple, the total cost of our dining experience was $571 USD. For a special event or to top off a fabulous Portuguese vacation, it was well worth it. For foodies, definitely put Alma on your bucket list.

Alma was one of the reasons why we travelled to Lisbon and I have to say I was fairly disappointed with my experience. I made a reservation for a party of 6. We had 4 adults and 2 children in our party. Their online reservation system only allowed to make a reservation for a maximum of 4 people, hence I emailed the restaurant to make my reservation. Through our email conversation, I was told that they can only accommodate large parties at their chef’s table which required every guests to order their tasting menu. I agreed and successfully made the reservation. When we arrived, we were warmly greeted and directed to our table, which imo was not really a chef’s table but just a table in the main dining room where you can peek into the kitchen through an opening. There were no interactions with the chef throughout our meal nor did the chef came to greet or say bye at the end of our meal. There were 2 tasting menu options, and I personally ordered their costa menu. Before we started our first course, we were presented with 7 amuse bouche in which we were already half full before we even started on our first course. The little bites were solid, no wow factor but it was good. For the main tasting menu, I appreciate most of the dishes were well balanced texture wise, and none of them were left feeling too heavy. However, I feel the flavors were strong and too salty. Some of the ingredients listed in the description were also lacking and I couldn’t taste it in the dish. Now onto the red flags. When we went to the restroom, we noticed there’s another small room at the back which can definitely accommodate a table for 6. I did make the reservation months ahead which prompted us to question if the chef’s table is really the only table option for us or did they lied to us because they wanted to ensure everyone orders a tasting menu to maximize their profit for the night. I did noticed that most tables ordered a la carte and tbh, the tasting menu was too much for an adult let alone my kids who are 8 and 10. They were so full that they hardly touched the last 4 dishes. I would say our service started out great. Our server was attentive, knowledgeable and spoke very clearly. But then our server changed mid way through our meal. I generally like to have the same person to serve our table throughout our meal and the server who served us during our second half of the meal did the bare minimum. We could hardly understand him when he explained the dishes to us and I needed to read the menu description myself to know what I’m eating. Then came the harsh and bitter ending. When we were presenting with the bill, we were told of the “suggestive” 10% service charge. I normally would leave a tip even in countries where it’s not common practice but the way our server asked us sounded a little sketchy and was a little bit of a turn off. We’ve been to other high end restaurants in Europe and was never asked or would indicate as mandatory so there’s no surprises. Given all the red flags and the declined service, and mostly because our bill was similar to our experience at Azurmendi but with a much lower food and service quality, we decided to not give the service charges. And then everyone’s attitude made a 180 degree turn. We initially were told we can bring the petit fours home which no one touched because were too full and all of a sudden, there’s no boxes for us. In fact, the most ridiculous excuse I’ve heard was they don’t allow it because it will melt. I’ve been to many Michelin starred restaurants around the world and have never once been rejected in taking the petit fours home. This is also the first time I’ve been to a restaurant at this caliber and was not given a printed menu after we finished our meal. I think they should just explicitly state a 10% mandatory service charge in the menu if they are going to get upset about it. Overall, the food was underwhelming, lacks creativity, and the flavors were too strong and salty. Service was subpar and I expected more. I am beyond disappointed and unfortunately cannot recommend it.