El-Rei Dom Frango — Restaurant in Lisbon

This restaurant was the favorite for many people on the Portugal trip. A friend had been here before and raved about the octopus, so we had high expectations (that were met).

Our group of 8 swung by around 7pm on a Wednesday evening. The restaurant is too small to seat 8, so we split into two groups of 4. The first group was able to be seated immediately; the second group needed to wait about 10 minutes.

Mixed salad, 5 Euros. Nice big bowl of mixed greens, shredded carrots, tomato wedges, and sliced onions. They give you bottles of olive oil and vinegar. Grilled sardines, 16 Euros. Comes with 4 sardines and vegetables. I didn't eat the sardines (I think small fish are too much work), but the vegetables were so tasty. Octopus with garlic & olive oil, 21 Euros. SENSATIONAL. This lived up to the hype. Most octopus I've had is tough, but this full octopus is tender from mid-body all the way to the tentacles. Fish of the day, 19 Euros. Our fish was the sea bass. Tender and flaky. Grilled salmon, 16.50 Euros. Juicy, with delectably seared skin. Bolo bolacha (biscuit cake), 5 Euros. This was advertised to us as a Portugese tiramisu. The coffee flavor is not as strong, the cake is not as soaked, and there's less whipped cream, all of which I liked! Red fruits cheesecake, 5 Euros. The filling is whipped and creamy, not dense like a NY style cheesecake. Delicious.

Ask for their piri piri sauce. It burns immediately, and it's delightful.

Our server was delightful. Card accepted. Get the octopus, fish, and...

I enjoyed a pleasant'ish lunch here today. Service was friendly but unfortunately, our waiter got the order wrong which meant one of us had to start eating lest our food get cold.

We asked for bread and olive oil to start but were not given side plates. Despite our best efforts, we had oil dripping everywhere and bizarrely, had to ask for them. Every part of both our meals was salty - veg, fish, chicken. The only respite were the fries with no salt! What a relief! The food presentation was basic & rather sloppy. No excitement on that plate!

The bill was €22 and €30 was given. They said "thank you" and proceeded to take the money. They said "everything ok yes?!" To which I replied yes. Then I stood there and they held tightly to the money. I ruffled some items around in my bag to kill time but there was never a polite mention of "here is your change" for me to decide if I wanted to leave an €8 tip for sub par food!

Overall OK...a rather generous OK. Suffice to say I definitely won't be eating...

Chanced upon this small, cozy restaurant in Lisbon. Ordered the house special steaks, grilled sardines and of course, the popular octopus.

Steaks doneness were just nice and it came with fries that were double fried as well as some rice. Rice was a little underwhelming and didn't seem to go well with the steak probably because I'm Asian, maybe could have just served it with the fries. Steaks were very tasty, juicy and well seasoned.

Octopus was delightful. Flavorful, fresh and of a relatively large portion size, just that it was served with a bit more olive oil than expected.

Server was very good with the orders, very responsive and helpful as well!

On a side note, was introduced to Sagres Bohemia Original. Had it with the steak, the octopus as well as the sardines, and it went so well with...