Restaurante D Raiz — Restaurant in Peniche

The food: The main dish octopus was fantastic. The starter with morcela was pretty decent as well. The dessert apple crumble was definitely not up to expectations, it was cold, stale, and not crunchy at all. My husband had grilled squids, which were alright but not stellar, were a bit chewy and charred.

The service: a bit chaotic, the table staff was all over the place, and there seemed to be no logic or structure behind the way the team works. Long waiting times to order stuff and difficult to call the waiter’s attention. Our waiter (a brazilian gentleman) was lovely though and did his best to cater to our requests. When we paid the bill, what seemed to be the owner was less than enthusiastic about the feedback we provided and had a very inelegant and condescending reaction to it. She explained to us what squids and apple crumble should taste like, as if it were the first time we ever had them… Though she tried to offer us another dessert, all we wanted was to just leave, so we declined the offer. Didn’t even offer to remove the dessert that we did not eat...

Off the beaten tourist track along the harbour, this is a little haven on a back street with a "terrace" in front of the local church. Family-run, where the husband Alex is the chef and takes pride in cooking fresh (especially fish and shellfish, "Raiz" means "root" in Portuguese, so it's back to the basics!), Alex prefers to take off a special dish from the menu, if the ingredients were not found good enough on the market for the day. Served by a granddaughter of a true Peniche fisherman, who really knew "her" fish and gave fantastic recommendations, even speaking German since she was raised in Germany. To be recommend as one of the most cozy and homy restaurants of Peniche where you step in through a tiny door and it feels you have directly entered the dining room and kitchen of a welcoming Portuguese family. Will definitely come back next year when passing by...

Hands down the best dining experience I've had, in Portugal or in the US!

I'm an avid northern California ocean fisherman , and because of that rarely order seafood in a restaurant...it usually isn't fresh enough for me. Restaurante D Raiz however was phenomenal. The menu changes daily based solely up what is freshest. Alex is a magician in the kitchen with only one helper but making the food come out with perfect timing. The dishes are ingenious and perfectly balanced with the main characters. Sophia is the master of the dining room and engaged us in an endless stream of questions we had about the menu. The dining room makes you feel like you are right at home and though small, is delightfully quiet and perfectly lit.

Our only sadness is not staying longer and being able to share another meal here....