Ponja Nikkei Chiado — Restaurant in Lisbon

Thus place has potential but it still has a long way to go before it will be a place I want to return.

Pluses: the pisto sour is done very well. Tangy & not too sweet.

The room has a nice feel & the seats are comfortable.

However I do not enjoy having to strain to hear my companion seated next to me because the damn music is so loud!

I do not go to a restaurant for the music. I go for the food & the ambiance. Playing loud rock music does nothing to contribute to the mood or atmosphere. In fact it greatly reduces the pleasure of eating there.

Especially when we are the ONLY diners & are still told the music cannot be adjusted.

ALSO: when a room is empty WHY would you sit the only other diners right next to us???

Makes no sense & now we had to contend with both loud music & loud conversation right next to us.

Now for the food: On a 1 - 10, I give it a 4.

None of the sauces made sense & they all overpowered the flavor of the fish.

The beef was tender & cooked well but the vegetables it came with were undercooked & nearly raw. The sauce was strange & did nothing to compliment the meat.

I don’t know where the chef trained but the flavor combinations do not work well together.

Very...

I usually do my reviews in Yelp but sadly, they don’t appear there so I had to leave them a review because it’s important for others to know how delicious this place was! We were there in December, stopped by for happy hour which they have it everyday and it’s 2x1 drinks so you get 2 drinks for 12 euros. We got some Pisco Sours and were good! We weren’t planning to eat but decided to just order one roll. Each roll is around 12-14 euros and it’s only 5 pieces so don’t get me wrong, it’s not a super cheap place. However, once we started with one, we couldn’t stop. We first ordered the Acebichado roll and wow! It took us back to Peru! It was fresh, acidic, and soft, it hit all the spots so we knew we had to try another one. We then ordered the Salmon Achorao since it has a Rocoto Paste and wow! Another delicious roll, the salmon was so fresh and tasty. The rice was perfectly cooked and assembled so it not fall apart. We had to leave but we tried one more, the Ninja roll. Which was a tempurized maki with shrimp and avocado, and crispy salmon skin. Everything was delicious, the service was great and restaurant...

Yesterday me and my boyfriend went for the first time to Ponja and even though we were expecting good food, we were not prepared for this. From the moment we enter, the space is beautiful, dark cosy rooms but not dark enough that you don't see everything because the interior design is to die for! The hostess, incredibly nice and got us a table immediately even though, we had no reservation. The waiters explained everything in the most gentle way, we tried the two types of oysters, tiradito with scallops, classic ceviche, shared the lobster and the cheesecake. Every single food had us making little dances from how tasty they were, absolutely phenomenal. We also got two sours, and they were creamy, I couldn't feel the alcohol and we had the bartender come over to show us their pisco and special strawberry syrup. Everyone was incredible, as soon as we left, we said to each other "I wish there would be more places like this restaurant, the food, the drinks, the crew, the design, everything was on point". Will definitely be back and recommend to others to visit such a...