El Clandestino — Restaurant in Cascais

This is a Peruvian/Asian restaurant just outside of the historic centre on a little, hidden square which you can enter from different ways. Parking area is closeby but you can also park at Cascais trainstation or the parking garage in the historic centre. When entering the restaurant, the first thing you see is the open kitchen, the friendly owners and a couple of big, calm, cute looking and well trained twin dogs. Which by the way, you do not smell at all in the restaurant. The owner told us they had only started one month ago! The cook is Asian who had a restaurant in Peru, hence the mix here. We started with the lovely and rich flavoured ham croquetes. 5 pcs. for 7 euros, handmade and delicious. And the fresh springrolls in rice paper, a cold starter with veggies, fruit and shrimps in them, very tasty, 5 pcs. for 9 euros. Very special! Then we had the tenderloin out of the wok with onions and tomatoes, rice and fries. I had the tenderloin with portsauce and asperagus, delicious! As there is no side dish with this meat included I ordered extra fries. For desert we had the fresh limepie. The english version of the menu is to be found on The Fork site and will be printed soon. The service is quick, friendly and good. There are 2 spaces to sit on each side of the kitchen. We ate for around 70 euros for the 2 of us, maybe a bit expensive but it is worth the flavours and experience!! Good luck to the owners with this...

The food at El Clandestino was a delightful fusion of flavours, showcasing the rich and diverse Peruvian cuisine.

The “Croquetes de Presunto Maturado” were a delightful start to the meal, featuring crispy and savoury bites of cured ham croquettes that left us wanting more.

The “Ceviche” was fresh and tangy, while the causa offered a creamy and satisfying texture.

The “Bao de Osso Buco” was a standout dish, with tender braised beef shank encased in fluffy bao buns, creating a delightful combination of textures and flavours.

As for the service, the staff was attentive and friendly, making the dining experience enjoyable.

Overall, El Clandestino provided an excellent taste of Peruvian delights in the heart of Cascais.

But I must admit, the prices were indeed on the higher side, and I couldn't help but wonder if the quantity of food would justify the cost.

But once the dishes started arriving, all my worries vanished. While the portions might not have been as large as I initially hoped, the quality of the food more than made up for it.

Each dish was a masterpiece in itself, and the flavours were so rich and satisfying that I found myself savouring every...

Food great, service not so great. We didn’t get one of the starters we ordered - when we asked for it they brought it along but it wasn’t right, had to ask again and point out on the menu what we actually wanted. We were then charged for both of those starters despite only having one of them.

We also ordered a rum at €6 (reasonable) and they charged an extra €2.50 for the mixer (completely unreasonable and not specified on the menu).

There may have been a language barrier, we don’t speak Portuguese, so I totally understand that there may be some confusion sometimes. However there were at least two staff who spoke English well, yet we were mostly served by a waiter who was clearly struggling to understand us. Confusing.

The food itself though was great. Superb quesadillas, great ceviches. Worth a trip if you’re willing to take the risk in terms of service - just watch out for sneaky additions...