What is the couvert in Portugal? (And do you have to pay for it?)
You sit down at a restaurant in Portugal and, before you've even opened the menu, the waiter puts a basket of bread on the table. Then a little dish of olives. Butter, maybe a tuna or sardine paste, sometimes a few slices of cheese.
What a welcome! Then the bill arrives, and there's a line you don't remember ordering: couvert.
Don't worry, it isn't a scam. It's one of the most normal things about eating out in Portugal, and once you know how it works you can say yes or no with confidence.
What is the couvert?
The couvert (you'll also see entradas) is the small selection of starters a restaurant brings to your table before the meal: bread, butter, olives, pâté, cheese. Each item has its own price on the menu, so it isn't free, but it isn't a hidden charge either.
Plenty of Portuguese people love it and wouldn't skip the bread and olives for anything. You're just as free to send it back.
Do you have to pay for it?
Only if you eat it. Under Portuguese consumer rules, a restaurant can't charge you for anything you didn't ask for, couvert included. But once you eat it, or touch it so it can't be served to someone else, it counts as ordered and goes on the bill.
A few things that help:
- It's item by item. You can keep the bread and send back the cheese.
- Prices must be on the menu. If you can't find them, ask.
- Decide when it arrives. It's much easier to say no straight away than to argue about one olive at the end.
- Check the bill. If something you didn't touch is on it, ask for it to be taken off. Politely is enough.
How to say no (or ask the price)
Não queremos o couvert / as entradas, obrigado.
Say it nowng k'REH-moosh oo koo-VEHR / uhsh eng-TRAH-dush, oh-bree-GAH-doo
We don't want the couvert / the starters, thanks.
The ending follows the speaker: obrigado or obrigada (oh-bree-GAH-duh).
Pode levar isto, se faz favor?
Say it POD' l'VAR EESH-too, s' fahsh fuh-VOR
Could you take this away, please?
Quanto custa o pão?
Say it KWAHN-too KOOSH-tuh oo powng
How much is the bread?
And at the end, if the bill isn't right:
Isto não foi pedido.
Say it EESH-too nowng foy p'DEE-doo
We didn't order this.
What about water?
Restaurants must give tap water, in a proper glass, to customers who are eating there, and they can't charge for it. Bottled water, filtered water, ice or a slice of lemon are different: they can only be charged if the price is on the menu.
Pode trazer um copo de água, se faz favor?
Say it POD' truh-ZEHR oong KOP' DAH-gwuh, s' fahsh fuh-VOR
Could you bring a glass of water, please?
In short
- The couvert is the bread, olives and other starters brought before your meal.
- You only pay for what you eat. Each item has its own price.
- Say Não queremos o couvert, obrigado when it arrives if you don't want it.
- Tap water for customers eating in is free.
Want more phrases for cafés, menus and the supermarket, all with pronunciation? The Café, Menu & Supermarket Decoder has them in one printable guide.