Herdade da Malhadinha Nova - Relais & Châteaux

Such a promising looking restaurant but some executional and service details sadly lacking. We arrived well in advance and had a nice greeting by a young lady waitress. We started well with glasses of wine and amuse boy he outside and came inside after that as it was hot. We had made an advance selection of the menu tradicional and had confirmation back of this. When we asked the young woman what wines to try with our first course she was able to advise on the tomato soup but not on the pork starter- she simply shrugged her shoulders and said I don’t know as we don’t have this dish on the menu and she implied she did not know the traditional menu which at 60 euros each we would have expected some knowledge. She didn’t appear to be able to answer any questions about the wine which we found unusual in a winery restaurant. We had been in a local competitors two days before and the waiters knew the wines well. The man course we had selected was leg of lamb but the knives were too blunt to cut it. We served ourselves but needed decent carving knives- the third knife was the best but we only had one and it still wasn’t really up to the job. There was no choice on the dessert in the traditional menu so we had listed what was on the menu. We asked the young lady what it was and she again shrugged her shoulders and said it was S…. ( a Portuguese name which means nothing to us and the name on the menu ) and when we asked what it was she said it was S… and didn’t know as it was in the menu traditional . Given we had to order this menu at least 24 hours in advance you would have thought the staff had time to know what things were and what wines to match with our choices. The food was nice except for the tomato soup with egg which I selected- it was so salty it was inedible, I could just about eat the egg and I told the staff who said they would tell the chef. It tasted like someone had allowed a lot of salt to fall into the soup. The service of the your male waiters was very good but the service of this woman was lacking in many respects as she di not know te food or wines well enough for Thai standard of restaurant .

I feel fortunate to have stayed at Malhadinha on four different occasions, and each time it gets better and better. The generosity of spirit that permeates Malhadinha is remarkable. It truly deserves its Relais & Châteaux status, as it radiates charm, comfort, character, courtesy, calm, and fabulous cuisine, along with exceptional wines. Thank you for everything you do to make your guests leave feeling they've had a month's holiday in only 2 nights!

We have just had 3 nights at herdade da malhadinha nova. Our room was really comfortable and very good value. The air con and Wi-Fi are incredibly good. The breakfasts were delicious, and it is so peaceful. We enjoyed the pool and walking around the estate. We ate in every evening and the restaurant is fabulous. The bbq on Sunday night was both good value and excellent quality. Staff are friendly and helpful. We will definitely be back.