Brasas & Sabores — Restaurant in Cascais

A fantastic barbecue restaurant, which would be completely missed as such, unless — like it happened in my case! — n acquaintance hadn't told us where it is! It is actually easy to find and even easier to park in the area; it's behind the CUF Clinic of S. Domingos de Rana and/or the drive-in pharmacy. You can tell immediately where it is by the number of people queueing at the entrance :-) When you walk in, you're in the self-service/take-out service area: good if you just want to pick your order and leave. To the right, a glass door opens towards a relatively small but overcrowded place inside; be prepared, it's rather loud (bad acoustics) and a bit too hot. On a nice day I much rather recommend having a seat at the esplanade. It's not as if it's big — there are just four or five tables — but at least it's far less noisy! Whatever place you pick, as you arrive, if there is a queue (which should be the case), ask for the book to write your name in there. That's the best way to make sure they know you're in the list, and whose turn it is, as soon as it's vacated. The restaurant serves mostly grilled meat, fish, and even octopus, Portuguese-style — but everybody in there seems to be Brazilian, which means they get access to the most amazingly tender and savoury beef steak! (Obviously, they will not reveal their sources) It is simply fantastic, one centimetre thick, pink inside, and grilled to perfection; it feels like butter, that's how tender it is. You have a small choice of entrées, mostly of the amouse-bouche style which is common on typical Portuguese restaurants: both the bread and the olives are extraordinarily good. Be prepared, since all these are paid extra — they are not included in the menu. I've just tried the "bitoque" (beef steak, Lisbon style). It's huge and probably meant for two people, but it's so delicious and tender that you might well it it all yourself. It comes served with French fries — double-fried, so that the interior is soft but the exterior crispy — white rice and an egg. However, it lacks some salad as a side-dish, as is customary; you can order it as an extra. I believe that, these days, so many people avoid vegetables that they don't bother with them, focusing instead on a bigger steak and more fries. There is little choice of beer, and nothing from the tap; it's all bottled; as for wine, their selection might not be extraordinary, but they will also serve it by the glass, or from a small cute glass bottle. We didn't try out the desserts, since they looked rather industrial-made and not that appealing; however, one of the cooks told us that this is not the case, they have their own specialities (perhaps just not very visible on the displays). The service is acceptable and not extraordinarily slow as we feared from such a busy place. A few of the waiters are the sweetest persons in the world and really make you feel comfortable; but some are not that nice. This is why some reviewers here weren't impressed: sometimes, it's just a question of luck in whom you get. And, of course, everybody has their bad days. The prices are acceptable for the quality that is served, taking also in account that this is a restaurant in the most expensive municipality in Portugal — everything just costs more. You can save a lot by having one dish for two people, or two for three if someone is really hungry; you'll have more than enough. Personally, even taking into account that the food is so good that it's impossible to complain about it, I would expect from the prices a somewhat better service and a more relaxing atmosphere. But this is a relatively new place, in a untypical neighbourhood, in a residential zone, where tons of good restaurants exist, as well as much cheaper ones, with similar ambience. But will they have the same food quality? Well,...

honestly most terrible steak i ate, nothing like the photos? No chargrill like what you see in the pictures, meat was tough and dry. Disappointing because i was looking forward to it based on the good reviews and this was not worth $11.90 at all

also i didn’t ask for water but got...

It's a greatly Small space for having a very good meal. It's open since 12 Hours till 23 or 23,30. We may choise a variated and very good Wine drink. To finish we may choose fruits or 5 or 6 different sweets. And for finishing a very...