Boi-Cavalo — Restaurant in Lisbon

I wanted to like this much more than I did. I'd give it 3.5 stars if Google would let me.

The service was great. Our waitress handled us being late due to travel difficulties, and she recommended two great wines as well as guiding us through each course while managing the rest of the table. She deserves five stars.

The dishes however mostly missed. The chef shows tremendous promise but simply doesn't yet have the skill to wing it each night based on ingredients he finds at the market.

There were many ideas expressed but little overall thought given to making the ingredients in each dish work with each other. I don't feel it is worth paying for the chef's practice.

The first course of egg and purslane with brown rice jus was very good.

The tuna was swimming in the bean purée and calf's blood butter that accompanied it. Far too overpowering for such a good cut of meat.

The blackberry marinated veal with mushroom dust and rice cracker was ok.

The oyster and arugula caesar side salad were delicious accompaniments to a lackluster fried quarter chicken. The chicken was dry (no buttermilk marinade) and there were multiple chunks of unfried batter hiding in the chicken's nooks and crannies. On the positive side, the fry was light and crispy even if it lacked seasoning or much flavor.

The cheeses served were nice, but pickled radishes would be better served as an appetizer/palate cleanser, not as a segue into dessert. Also, the bread was dry, unsalted, and not worthy of the cheese meant to be spread on it. In fairness, this has been my universal experience over the past five days in Portugal.

Finally, the dessert of caramelized white chocolate with watermelon sorbet, some sort of green, and another slice of what looked like soggy watermelon fruit leather fell flat. The green offered no complement to the other parts, and the watermelon treatment was weird both in flavor and texture without any apparent purpose.

I wish the chef well, though. Honestly! There are glimmers of future greatness, but he needs to focus and hone his craft rather than conducting further experimentation at the expense of his...

We have moved to Lisbon from NYC in September. We love trying new cuisines. Having travelled extensively around the world for many years, we embrace new flavours with enthusiasm. Every week we try different restaurants to get an idea of what the city has to offer: last night it was Boi Cavalo.

I guess the place used to be a butcher shop: the interior is cute, but due to the greenish overhead lights, does not convey a warm, welcoming feeling.

We arrived at 8 pm. Thirtyfive mins later, finally, one piece of warm bread with a side of some vaguely tangy cheesy mousse was put on the table. I would venture to say it was probably a whipped burrata based mousse, but I cannot be sure because nobody bothered to explain. The bread was ok, the rest not.

At 8:55, when we were starting to get annoyed by the lack of food and some very loud diners seating not far from us (too much wine and no food), the waiter brought us the first course. Instead of explaining what we were about to eat, he handed us the printed list of dishes for the evening and suggested we read it.

One bite to the cold, greasy fried square of bread, supposedly a french toast, topped with a green gloop devoid of any flavour and containing what I hope were sesame seed, and we decided we had had enough and decided to leave. The chef, called by the waiter, mumbled to my husband that his food was not for everyone. DAMN RIGHT! Whatever it was that they served us was unfit for human consumption. What made the experience even more absurd was, they had the boldness to charge us for the glass of wine my husband had consumed, as part of the wine pairing.

This restaurant has 4.5 stars in the reviews and, at least on paper, it was the perfect profile for us. How did things go so wrong? Was this a subnormal night? The memory of the many other diners' unhappy faces, lead me to believe so. Every restaurant can experience a disastrous evening. Unfortunately, the experience was bad enough that we will...

This place is a complete experience. If you're a food lover, this gem is here for you. But hey, we'll come to that later.

"We prepare small degustation plates, if you like it, please, come in," a young man told me and my wife Vanda, as we entered the restaurant and asked for a table.

A simple interior, distinct music, a short menu, and a wine list with just a few small Portuguese natural wine producers.

No fado, no guy standing in front of the restaurant luring people in, no pictures of food on the menu, no common tourist restaurant artifacts.

This place is just what it is. And when you taste it, you'll find out that these people are putting their hearts and extraordinary skills into what they share with this world. And God, every plate is a piece of art.

Their menu is often changing, so there is no sense in describing the fantastic ibérico tartar, heavenly fish gyozas or fried fish with mint sauce and orange dressing on salad leaves. You have to taste it yourself. The simpler-looking the dish, the more surprising the taste trip it takes you on. Our gratitude and curiosity were growing after each bite and sip of wine.

No, I'm not getting crazy here. Just check their website for the reviews they get from Lonely Planet and other food magazines.

This place is not for an ordinary Joe or Karen; the experience would blow their minds. Nor is this place for snobbish pretenders; they will not get anything posh there.

This place is honest and real.

So, if you love food and wine and the people who are true to themselves and their craft, go there and dive deep into the story.

It's rare to find something like this in...