Costa do Malabar - Authentic Kerala Dishes — Restaurant in Lisbon

Expectations for the restaurant were high as this place had been recommended by a digital nomad from Bombay who suggested it was the best Indian food in town, although we both admitted the bar was set pretty low. So on a Sunday lunch off I trotted with an English mate who had been missing a good curry to check it out - for those that aren't aware chicken tikka masala is officially the most popular dish in England, fish and chips is history, get with the program.

Initial signs looked promising due to the fact even in this sleepy neighbourhood the restaurant was fairly busy. Decor was average - not that you usually go to a curry house for interior design inspiration, the place looked spick and span and the waiters were well attired.

A meat samosa and onion bhaji's were ordered for a starter and also as a good indication of a restaurant's merits as they are so ubiquitous and allow for easy comparison. The bhajis were crisp, moist, well formed and came with some tasty, but not spicy side dips. The samosa was a bit dry but extremely tasty so our hopes were raised for the main courses.

After quite a wait, not that we were in a rush, but long enough that the waiter came over to apologise and assure us the food was coming, out came the mains and slight disappointment raised it's ugly head. My red spinach and lentil curry was distinctly average, looking fairly attractive but tasting quite bland - it wasn't the lack of chilli but just a general lack of any distinct flavour qualities - sort of curry light. My dining parter's chicken tikka masala was also just average and rated by my curry savvy partner as a 6/10, I didn't disagree - maybe a 6.5. Basmati rice was shared and good and the traditional flat, fried bread was great and perfect for mopping up the juices. A Cobra beer and a couple of Sagres' washed down the food and brought the bill to €30 for two.

Were we dissatisfied? No. Were we over the moon and scheduling our next visit? No. Would I pop in if I was in the neighbourhood and was...

Was at this place for Dinner today. Nightmare tastes of foods. The behaviour of staffs are like the customers should be grateful to them as they are providing the food without charging any money. In a nutshell a place to avoid at any cost unless you would die of hunger 🙃.Sorry no option of zero star so I had to give them one star.. As I can't write direct response to your reply,therefore, I am editing the review and adding response to your reply. It seems you the Costa do Malabar team love to fight with customers. I couldn't remember I talked to you more than once and you are saying some stories may be which you saw in dreams last night. We go to restaurant to eat and spend money and not to fight. If you like to fight then you must close restaurant and go to boxing ring or do some street fight. We are customers and will give review as per our experience. Try to take feedback in a right manner. You can't stop us from giving reviews. We visited 10 restaurants in 5 days in Lisbon and you were the worst by kilometers. And that's the reason in peak hours around 21:00 we found other restaurants were full and we had to wait outside but in your place we were the only customer. Don't think you are running a restaurant,actually it's not that. I think getting bad reviews and replying them is your main job, running the restaurant comes in priority 2. I also saw some other comments and always your response is something to do with fight. Are you mentally okay? ? Don't you know the difference between dry and fry?My loss is limited that is what I paid to you and some stomach problem next day. But you will lose more customers when we give such reviews and believe me the effect is much more and long term. I would be happy to edit my review once again if I find something objectionable in your...

I ordered on Uber eats, and I have to say that I have no idea where the good reviews come from. But either they are bought, or they are from friends, or there was a change in the management / kitchen staff.

Anyways, I travel to India every year and lived in different regions of the country for moths each time, and here is my honest opinion.

The currys were litterally SOAKED in cheap oil, and the pieces of meat were rare (luckily) and full of nerves / tendons (cheap pieces). The quantity was very low, we wouldn’t have want more of this anyway, but still its worth noting), but more importantly we tried both meals (unfortunately for us) and were BOTH SICK all night, and the day after, even though we didn’t finish.

There is much better, authentic Indian food in Lisboa, this is a tourist trap, with absolutely no ethic on the freshness of their products, or pride on what they do.

I wish I thought of taking pictures to show it to you all.

Just don’t WASTE your time and money there.

EDIT to answer the owner :

Oh, there is absolutely NO mistake. I have no Uber eats account so we ordered with my friend account. The dish I mention which was particularly soaking in oil was a Chicken tikka Masala. I guarantee you that a third of it, at least, was oil, which was litterally floating on top of the dish. I understand there is fat inside this dish, I cook it myself often too, but NOT in these extreme (unhealthy) proportions. As a result of consuming your food, we felt sick for 24 hours. I dont care for how long you've been here, I don't care if you have good reviews, I dont care where they come from either. This here is an honest, unbiased review, from someone who actually know, love and respect...