Patuá Lisboa — Restaurant in Lisbon

Full disclosure: the owners are friends. But only because Patuá is a few streets from our home and we've eaten here so well, so often, over the course of a year or so, that friendship became inevitable. It really is the ideal of the small local restaurant, the championing of the "cook" over the "chef", knowing full-well that the best food (especially from Asia) so often comes from the family and the streets. The name of the restaurant relates to the language, the patois, of the Portuguese community in Macau. What we're getting on the table is a dialect, an accent, but also a dialogue with the generous, flavourful, surprising world of the Portuguese colonies. Chinese influences combine with African and Goan to deliver what we, as exiles from Goa ourselves, expected more of Portuguese cuisine to be. I think the photos speak for themselves. But to labour a point, if you want slow cooked goat curry, fragrant red-braised pork belly, crispy hot prawns, plenty of greens and vegetables, soft shell crab, wine, beer, sesame rice, the intense pleasure of salt, sweet, sour, bitter, savoury, umami and chilli, executed with heart and technique, this is the...

Restaurant offering food from the far-east, including macanese cuisine - a unique cuisine that came forth in the Portuguese colony of Macau, in south China, where the longing for portuguese dishes, southeast asian ingredients, Chinese tastes and influences from India, Malaysia, or the Philippines, all combined to generate particular flavours.

The restaurant is small, with two rooms linked by an arch, opening up to a quiet street. The decoration is thematic, but somehow delivering authentic hipster retro cha-chaan-teng vibes. The menu is written in mirrors on the walls, furniture is simple, here and there the mandatory chinese decorative piece. And of course, a Chinese birdcage.

The food is varied, not necessarily limited to macanese cuisine, with several daily dishes and appetizers. And there is some interpretation and creativity too. Portions are towards the bigger side. Do ask for the hot sauce, as spiciness was adapted to portuguese standards.

Service is helpful, honest and, but for the language, cha-chaan-teng authentic. Reservations are recommended, and parking is difficult in the...

A greasy spoon restaurant experience with different food. This local joint isn’t your regular Lisbon mom and pop place despite the unpolished exterior. What they lack in variety they make up for in flavour, just make sure you aren’t allergic to coconut because it’s in most dishes and desserts.

A bit expensive for what it is but the portions are good and the cocktails are tasty too. The owner was friendly but was arguing with the chef most of the night which I suppose is very original latino just made us a bit uncomfortable. Our waitress was nice and told us all about the dishes and let us know which wine would pair best with what we chose but we waited quite a while just for two glasses of wine.

They only had a free slot for us in the basement because we didn’t book so it’s better to think ahead if you want to come for dinner All in all not the best but also not the worst place and definitely...