Service: 13/20
Front of house team is competent, informal (a little bit too much) and polite. However, the service was understaffed, which slowed down the experience and waiters do not have the capacity to pay adequate attention to each of the diners.
Restaurant décor and ambience: 11/20
The entrance straight to the second floor was untidy and the improvised cloakroom clumsy and disorganized. The dining room is cosy and well illuminated and in the back we could hear the low music over a relatively quiet noise of the crowded restaurant. The décor and ambience overall is simple, but pretentiously solemn and in certain aspects careless.
Food: 11/20
The couvert with a reasonable selection of bread and grissini to be dipped in olive oil arrived at our table with a 15m delay. Fortunately, a plate with a gentle portion of an intense and full of flavour gran padano showed up immediately after. The amuse bouche, two small crème bowls carrying strange combinations of aubergine with grilled cottage cheese and cowpeas with bits of black pudding.
The monkfish risotto with peppers was a complete disgrace, the rice was overcooked, the monkfish practically nonexistent, no taste of parmesano and the perfum flavour of white wine and stock could not be sensed. A pinch of salt (or a bit more of parmesano) would not have harmed the dish.
As mains we had a generous and well grilled steak of tuna (pink as it should be), which arrived cold at the table. The "vegetable spaghetti" guarnish was nicely presented and cooked (vegetable had a fantastic crunchy texture).
The lobster pasta, a complete disaster and by the way where was the lobster?
A "cremoso" as dessert, a non stunning chocolate mousse with an orange chantilly and caramel, was the best possible way (yet too expensive) to end a mediocre dining experience.
Wine list: 15/20
Expensive, but diversified with some fine Portuguese wines and a good selection of international ones. There are a lot of wine tasting/pairing menus with different price ranges and a helpful sommelier. One final question: why does not Gemelli include some of the best traditional Italian dessert wines in its wine list?
Genre: Italian
Price: €60/person
Michelin: N/A
Date of visit: Summer 2011
Overall: 12/20
Pros: the wine list, the polite front of house team.
Cons: the food, the lack of front of house staff, the décor, the price.
Gemelli
Rua Nova da Piedade, 99
Rua Nova da Piedade, 99
1200-822 Lisbon
Tel: (+351) 21 395 25 52
Mobile: (+351) 93 495 25 52
Fax: (+351) 21 920 42 01
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