Casa da Índia — Restaurant in Lisbon

If you're looking for the portuguese "tasca" experience, you can't miss this place. It's as real as it can get, and it's very reasonably priced too. It's almost hard do believe that such a place still exists and thrives in this location, one of the most busy streets in the historic center, in which almost every all establishments have changed to become fancy and attractive places for tourists (and into something not very portuguese).

It's not, by all means, a fancy place, nor it wants to be. It still maintains that humble neighborhood spirit and atmosphere, that makes you feel welcome. And you can't call it kitsch or tacky either, its simply authentic and barely touched over the years.

Its a curious establishment indeed, its always packed with foreigners tasting portuguese delicacies, side by side with the regulars of many years. I must say, as a local, that I find this stupendous. I really like to see people from around the world experiencing the right things, in the right places.

They serve typical portuguese dishes, and have a daily menu featuring an assortment of fresh fish, seafood, meats cooked in various ways, and regional comfort food. And for the more daring, they usually have dishes with unusual animal parts. It's truly a gem.

The service doesn't stop between lunch and dinner, so if you're like me and have weird lunch hours, you'll be thanking the gods for such a place, where you can get a decent meal at any hour in the afternoon.

The staff is exactly what to be expected in a "tasca", really efficient, no frills, cracking jokes at any given opportunity, and very friendly, even it may not always transpire, because sometimes they can get really busy, so don't expect much coddling.

The tables are all put together so it can feel a bit tight. This means you'll have to share your table with strangers, so if this is not your thing, you'll have a hard time here. Also, you don't get to sit were you want, the staff will point out a table for you.

There's no way to miss this place, when you're near, just follow the grilled chicken smell. And don't be too late, otherwise, you'll have to wait in the...

We planned our trip to Lisbon primarily on the basis that we would not leave without trying the renowned piri piri chicken. this restaurant not only gave us beautiful piri piri but also showed us the heart and soul of the Portuguese people. Having somehow got a small cold from the flight out the waiter instantly knew and gave me some Portuguese elixir which can only be described as strong alcohol like a cough syrup he even got me soup. the next day as we were passing to go to Parc (bar on top of a car park - highly recommended in its own right) we saw the waiter outside and stopped over to say thank you. having then had a reservation for a meal the following day at a posh 18th century restaurant we were sat down perusing the menu and decided we had to return immediately to Casa de India simply because of the warmth of the people there, the people therein, the spirit of the place and knowing the food would never leave us disappointed. Once again the same waiter pulled it out of the bag (doing so effortlessly as if it just came naturally to him - such an amazing heart he had indeed) - he gave us some moscato to start a range of starters in addition to their famous piri piri chicken. we had an amazing laugh with him too and it was genuinely a heartwarming spiritual experience that i would say really made our time in Lisbon. Whoever this waiter is we should all aspire to be more like him.. Casa de India generally really made our experience and i would highly recommend it as a vital part on any...

Having visited casa da india before i was really looking forward to go back there, and it was not for the service as they are pretty rude and dislikeable. The waiting time was more than 25 mins, nothing new here as the place is small, full of tables and people. The fish was good as always. The salad & potatoes that come as a side are pretty awful but its not so relevant. The problem i had came with the "cooked" pork "portugese style". It is probably the WORST meat/food i have ever eaten, not only was the meat cold (after waiting at leats 25 minutes for it to come) but it didnt have flavor at all and it was hard and chewy. Having tried spanish pork in segovia before, this is an utter disgrace "portugues style" or not....i dont understand how they can serve something so awful and clearly made days before... I left very pissed as it was imposible to tell them anything as they are running around all the time, they really couldnt care less about the state of anything (the local "tasca" is dirty) and they are all rude and intimidating. There is better options for the same price and food in places like das flores, ze da moureria...etc...