Segredos de Goa — Restaurant in Lisbon

I really wanted to like this place, because it’s in my neighborhood. However, I won’t be going back. I had an appetizer, two small dishes, and a beer. The meal was over €30.

I think, for a modest charge, almost every Asian restaurant should offer steamed rice or some sort of bread to go along with a curry. But this restaurant said they had no chapati/naan available (at opening time on a Saturday night) and the only rice that could be ordered was a full-on biryani-type main dish. No simple basmati rice on the side.

So their lack of having either chapati or basmati rice forced me to order two “main” dishes. I chose shrimp as my protein for both. The first dish, the camarões segredos de goa, had I think 6 almost-cold shrimp in a thick coconut-milk curried gravy with onions and flavors of ginger. It was tasty, but it was the size of an appetizer…and the barely room-temperature shrimp was off-putting. None of the shrimp was “deveined”, so you got to see the intestinal tracts in all their jet-black glory. Also, the shrimp were definitely pre-cooked solo and kept in the fridge, with the tepid curry gravy poured over it. Opportunities for flavor were lost.

The second “main” was a biryani. This one had eight shrimp atop cool rice fried with what tasted and looked and tasted like barely-thawed frozen vegetables, sesame seeds, some pieces of chilis, and spices like cinnamon. Again, the shrimp were lukewarm-to-cool, cooked (at some point, long before I walked into the restaurant) separate from the biryani, with their intestinal tracts on full display. This was my least favorite of any rice dish I’ve ever eaten in my life.

The meal was just really sad; no love on this plate. When I think of the flavorsome feast I could have had elsewhere for over €30, it makes me feel even more disappointed. 😖

I was right across from the famous Mercado de Campo de Ourique, with all its food stalls; I should have dined there instead.

There were too many things wrong with this experience for me to believe it was just an off-night. I hereby affirm that I will never return to Segredos under any...

Indian in Lisbon! Located in an unprepossessing commercial centre on Avenida Duque de Loulé, this restaurant offers excellent food at reasonable prices. Unlike the many tourist traps in central Lisbon, the menu appeared in Portuguese only, but do not be dissuaded: chamuça (samosa), vindalho (vindaloo), thali.... are among the words you may find familiar. As for the vindaloo, it was slightly sour, slightly sweet, and hot with ginger. If I sound too generous in my praise, consider that I have been cooking Indian food with the help of Madhur Jaffrey's books since 1998. The desserts are also first-rate. I tried both bebinca and bom bom indiano. Whether you are a vegetarian who despaired of interesting options, or a Briton hungry for a curry while abroad, this...

I think the recent reviewer was referring to a different location (the address / description in her review does not match the address/location of this location in campo de ourique).

The food here is rather bland (Maybe to appeal to local palates, but not authentic at all), and as another reviewer noted, some of the dishes are cool / cold in the middle. The only way that’s possible is if the food was pre-prepared in the preceding day(s) and refrigerated overnight…then partially reheated before serving. Gross, especially with shrimp and chicken.

Save your euros and walk over to the best Indian restaurant, Natraj, closer to Rato metro. Your money will stretch farther, and the food is orders of...