Soul kitchen & bar — Restaurant in Lisbon

Mistakes were made! Owner/chef Fernando presented himself as a nice guy when we appeared on his doorstep, hungry and tired after a long week. We had called before this visit asking if dogs were allowed and he graciously stated “no.” This time, he said “why not, it’s a slow night and we could use the business!” We happily accepted the invitation and arrived with our fur babies in tow. Two big dogs and two small dogs. All four quickly took their seats and sat under and around the table. It was lovely until Fernando approached us and reminded us that he was doing us a big favor by letting us inside. He went on to declare that if the dogs acted up, we would have to go! We were terrified that we would not keep our pups under control and would be forced out before our main course was served. We really were hungry…Until, mistakes were made. I guess that Fernando forgot that his table of 10 obnoxious buddies were on their way to “save the day!” One week late from the quiet celebration of the Sporting win, these guys made our fine dining experience, suck! They were loud, obnoxious but beloved guests of the owner. Even after we commented that they were ruining our evening and that we felt slighted because we were sent to second class status for schlepping our well behaved dogs to the table. All that we hoped for was a simple, “sorry.” Nope! I guess mistakes were made and we should have just stayed at our favorite spots where our fur babies are accepted and ALL DINERS ARE TREATED WITH RESPECT. All of our meals were good. Very good in fact. The service was also good and justified the 30 € per person cost of our meal. What was not ok was that the owner made some of his guests feel uncomfortable. That is unforgivable and the Soul reason why we won’t...

On our first trip to Lisbon and this place came recommended so I made a reservation via Google. We were a group of 6 women from the US. We were greeted warmly upon arrival and seated immediately. We instantly remarked on the warmth and attractiveness of the space, with unique artwork and agreeable lighting. At that time the restaurant wasn't crowded just a couple other tables of diners. This is notable because we recognized a gentleman who appeared to be the owner, as he visited the other tables in the restaurant. Our servers were gracious and polite and quickly took our orders. We appreciated how quickly they had the bruschetta dish changed because one of the guests has a seafood allergy. The food was amazing! Among the dishes we ordered were: the cod momos, curry grouper, lamb, cod loin, duck puff pastry, grilled octopus, and pork shank. Everyone absolutely enjoyed the meal: the preparation and the presentation. We then delighted in the panna cotta, salted caramel cheesecake, and creme brulee for dessert before we were treated to a shot of Portuguese wine as a digestif. However, much to our dismay, we'd been there a couple hours and in all that time, the owner had not made his way to extend his greetings. We had all noticed how he had stopped to visit with the other diners, but did not make the time or effort to visit ours. We would have loved to share our impressions and experience with the restaurant in-person, for we had an admittedly delightful time; yet were profoundly disappointed in the decision not to approach our table. Such a slight greatly discolored our experience and I'd be remiss if I didn't share what we also found disheartening in...

Good atmosphere when you walk in. We were very politely greeted by staff. At each table is a covered box with two spreads and different kinds of bread that the host uncovered as we were sitting (back to that later). Our Wait person was very cordial. He asked if we wanted water, and we said yes, so he came back with a bottle of room temperature still water. No where else in Europe were we served room temperature bottled water. At this point, we are browsing the menu and happened to see that there was a 4€ charge for the couvert (spreads in the box) that we had already dived into. It would have been nice to know there was a charge for couvert before we started eating it. We most likely we would have said ok, but it's the principle. No one likes a "Gotcha." Here's where things get a little tricky. I ordered the grilled seabass, and my partner ordered grouper in curry. I don't know if this is a European thing, but I was not warned ahead of time that the grilled fish had lots of bones. I couldn't really enjoy the meal because I was dealing with bones the whole time. The cocktails were good, and we didn't have dessert.

In summary, it is not just salt and pepper, but seasonings seem to escape Portuguese food. This was standard Portuguese food. It was not bad but different. We heard about Soul Kitchen & Bar before coming here, so we decided to support. And that we did. Lastly, while writing this review, I discovered that our wait person was the owner. Now, the handshake makes sense. I wish...