Restaurante Casa de Tereza — Restaurant in Região Geográfica Imediata de Salvador

I rarely leave reviews, but after wasting money on a R$200 plate, I had to write this so that others do not make the same mistake. This restaurant is a tourist trap. I went with 2 friends a few days ago, and only 1 of the 3 dishes we ordered was decent. I ordered sinfonia do mar (symphony of the sea), which was R$209. (The price has clearly gone up since these menu photos were posted.) It is a plate with various types of seafood, which I was excited about because I LOVE seafood, especially octopus. I was SO upset when I took my first bite of octopus tentacle, only to find that this intelligent creature had died for my pleasure and ended up bringing me none whatsoever. The octopus was freezer-burned so badly that the texture didn’t resemble octopus AT ALL. And they didn’t season it well. The white fish (which may have been red snapper) was overcooked, dry, salty, and the flavor profile made NO SENSE. It honestly tasted like they didn’t know how to cook fish, so they put it in a pan with lime juice and garlic salt. A little butter might have helped it, but it was so dry already that I didn’t even feel like I could send the filet back and coach them on the simple art of pan-searing fish 😭. The shrimp were edible and properly cooked. The crab cake had clearly been frozen as it was SO watery. The flavor was ok, but there was also crab shell in it, and it had been burned a bit on the bottom. The coconut rice was SO bland. You’d have no idea there was coconut involved in the flavor at all if you tasted it while blindfolded.

My one friend ordered shrimp risotto and it was SO SWEET that it wasn’t salvageable. Again, it made NO sense. It was like someone had picked up the sugar instead of the salt. and had not tasted the dish before serving it. SWEET SHRIMP RISOTTO??! It was also overcooked—the rice was way past al dente. My other friend ordered the moqueca. This was the ONLY decent dish!! I tasted a little bit, and it was a life raft in a shipwreck of a meal. The flavor was great, and though the texture was a little gummy, I think it was because I tried it at the end of the meal and it was cold by then. Still, I’ll give them credit for this one dish. The appetizers we got were boring, and the one with bread and crackers and some sort of spread came with A TON of bread and the TINIEST amount of spread possible. It was only enough for 1 piece of bread, so then we had dry toasted bread and nothing to go with it. (Yes, we could have asked for more spread. Yes, they would have charged us for it.)

The ambience of the restaurant is great, which is why I think the reviews stay high—that and the fact that many tourists don’t know better and maybe think food is supposed to taste like that? I don’t know…The drinks are heavily overpriced. The service is good—kind and patient waitstaff—and there are these cute little touches like the little wooden block they lay down to put your silverware on top of and the cloth napkins. But none of this could make up for spending that much money (it is RARE to encounter a single dish at that price point in Salvador) or being in a situation where you really can’t just send the food back (culturally, this is just not done in Central and South America. I live in this region and have traveled extensively).

Once I put a bite of the shrimp risotto in my mouth and it more closely resembled rice pudding than risotto, I knew it wasn’t just a fluke. So if you go to this restaurant, stick to the moqueca ONLY. And maybe a beer. I rated it so low because, for me, the food needs to be the main attraction at a restaurant. No amount of ambience or service is going to make up for the fact that the chef seemed to have no knowledge of flavor profiles or proportions. I’m honestly hoping that the actual chef wasn’t there that night for some reason, because, if they were, we have wildly different ideas of what good food is, and I would NEVER have served that to anyone and asked them to...

The restaurant is good. The atmosphere is cool, the decoration is dense, and the service is notably good. Ícaro was the best! Food wise, it delivers. Tereza Paim, the chef, holds it tight on the notoriety she deserves. We ordered the mixed starters, a tasting menu of her creations. They were very authentic and hell... they do know how to fry! For the main course we ordered moqueca, the infamous most typical Bahian main course, which was flavourful and well balanced, its octopus was impeccable! For the desert... well... maybe it's not her best. We ordered the Cacau com Dengo that comprises a handmade tapioca icecream that was a little too sweet for my taste and a cocoa cake that was maybe a poor version of another Bahian delight Torta Bulgara. The dessert definitely does not deliver the higher standards Tereza Paim built throughout the dinner. We spent R$442 for a 3 course meal (we shared one desert for the 3 of us because we were really full already). It was worth it but I'd definitely try other...

Beware, this restaurant is a veneer of baiano cuisine. We ordered the octopus appetizer, the lamb, and the fish of the day. we also ordered some tea and multiple drinks.

The octopus sauce was weak and underwhelming.

We were all surprised when the fish came out and it was just a dry, bland, over salted, pale filet. at that price point we all were under the impression that it was going to be a whole fish, as there were three of us eating.

The lamb was so sweet it was almost inedible. they drowned it in a mysterious sweet bbq sauce that completely overshadowed the glory of land meat. even the kassava they served the lamb with didn’t taste right. we couldn’t even eat it.

Completely overpriced. you can buy this same food with better taste at another restaurant for 1/4 of the price. the ambiance of the place is not worth it. don’t be fooled!

the drinks were good! the ambiance was nice but i will not ever...