A Nova Estrela — Restaurant in Cascais

Great food and great service by the waiter. Cudos to her. But I’ve had a very very obnoxious and unpleasant experience from the owner which made me wish I never even entered this place. My family and I experienced racism and prejudice n it’s deeply humiliating. I could see the owner lady coming and speaking to everyone on the other tables and even taking pictures of them and with them. She was enquiring about the food and having small talk. That all added to the vibe and it was fantastic. We sat for more than an hour and ordered starters, main course and drinks. It was all great till my daughter pointed that she didn’t come to us, speak to us or even greet us. She was walking past us and speaking to others and not us. This was solely because of the colour of my skin. It was a small place of 6-7 tables, so no excuses or reasons can be made. After my meal and while paying the bill, I had expressed this to my waiter and she acknowledged it and even made her best effort to cheer us up by getting some wine. But I was too distraught to continue being seated at the place. The waitress was really genuine and nice. I would generally ignore it and not let it disturb me since it’s beneath me and not worth my time. I wouldn’t have definitely taken time to write this. But this subtle racism and prejudice is what has to change and it’s affected me deeply. This incident on my penultimate day of travel in Portugal has just ruined the idea and the wonderful experience I’ve had elsewhere in Portugal where people are extremely warm and welcoming...

A very special little restaurant. My wife and I went on a Friday night without a reservation, but we opted to wait and were able to get a table rather quickly, which was lucky since the place was full. From the start, it was a good experience. The waiter was friendly and, in addition to his native Portuguese, was able to speak both Spanish and English with us (my wife's a native Spanish speaker, I'm a native English speaker). We got started with some delicious, well-seasoned vegetable soup, and drank some wine. We knew that in Cascais, the best bet would be fish, so we both ordered Dorado, one of the daily specials. It came in an unpretentious presentation, but it was extremely fresh and flavorful. There were a lot of little nice touches that made this place so much better than just any run-of-the-mill fish place you might find here. After the meal, the owner offered us some dessert wines from Portugal to taste at no additional cost (she just left the bottles on the table - we could've gone crazy, but we're not big drinkers). Then, when they presented the check, they included a great little polaroid the owner had snapped of us when we first got our drinks. The food was enough to warrant a 5-star review, but these little touches really make it extra worth seeking out. It's not located on one of the principal stretches of restaurants in Cascais, but it's easily worth the little bit of extra walking. It's also worth mentioning that the prices are more than fair. Everything we got felt like a good value. Highly...

Bit of a turn and burn kind of place. The lady owner was not having a great day. I was waiting for a table alone and then another couple came after me. She said who is next and I said me and she said no, only one person and she told the couple to sit. The couple even reemphasized I was next. I don’t mind, it made sense to give the table to them and try and wait for a 2—top for me. She could have just asked me wait longer and I would have been happy to. But she didn’t so left. Again, I assumed she was having a bad day so I came back at night to try. She was pushy trying to upsell all the expensive items on the list. I’m happy to spend but I do t find octopus and potatoes to be a great preparation for my personal taste(basic). When I said I don’t like octopus as she recommended she just scoffed and said fine and walked away. The bean soup was delicious and homey. The shrimp omelette was great and hit the spot, I’ve been wanting a more like dinner. Salty and fried heavy so nice caramelized aromas(think Thai style omelette). House wine was mediocre, def a box but a basic table wine. Other staff were friendly and nice. One of the places with the most Asian tourists I come around, so I guess the owner expects people to order all the most expensive items. The food is good homestyle offerings but I would say there are restaurants, literally next door, and around town that can offer better value...