O Nau — Restaurant in Setúbal

My lord... This is a full package! Small square divided between 3, maybe 4 restaurants, with barbecue area in the center and tables surrounding it. Speciality - fish. I was there with my lovely girlfriend, she actually wanted to make a picture of our food, but when the fish was delivered she forgot about her phone, camera, instagram, and even Pokemon Go! I usually hate when she makes those pictures, but this time it was supposed to be in a review for a good reason... We ordered obviously sardines (6 or 8 pieces, I do not remember :P) and seasonal speciality - carapau (4 pieces). It was served with fresh salad and young, boiled potatoes as a side dish, basket of fresh bread that we ate with salted butter and sardine paste, plenty of olives and amazingly soft, tender and aromatic local cheese. Everything was extremely fresh, prepared right in front of our eyes almost without any spices altering the natural aroma of all the products. The cheese I mentioned was actually delivered to the restaurant 5 minutes before it reached our table! Service was excellent. Everyone seemed to be so... passionate about their selection of food, so confident about it's quality, but they did not mention it even once, they were not bragging about it! It was the vibe, the atmosphere and the anticipation (yes, we were very hungry :P) that made us feel extremely confident about our choices when we were waiting for our food. It did not take long and it was there... The fish, hero of the day. So juicy, so fresh, cooked to perfection. We got some instructions and recommendations regarding consumption strategies from our waiter and we tried checking them out - squeeze sardine juices on the bread, mix vinegar with olive oil and use it as a sauce, mix the fish with potatoes etc. It was exceptional. For the whole meal for 2 people, with drinks and starters mentioned before we paid 32€. We did not finish the meal completely, so the portion was really generous. I gave a tip to the waiter and he came back explaining, that I made a mistake and gave him too much money... The tip was actually 5€ (plz do not judge me, I give as much as I can afford and as much as I believe someone deserves) and I was so happy to tell him that it is my way of expressing my appreciation of his efforts to make my food taste great, my day so amazing and vacation experience so good in general. He was to us one of plenty ambassadors of Portuguese culture that we met during our trip and I hope that we will meet more of his kind in the upcoming days. The review is long, but it seems to be the first one about "O Nau" and I wanted to draw a complete picture. If I could use one word to describe this place it would be... Authentic. I am not sure if it really is, but the fact that the square was packed during lunchtime and we were the only tourists sitting there speaks for itself. Have a great...

Kind of just ran into this place in a central square of Setúbal and fell in love with the atmosphere around. They basically serve fresh fish with potatoes and salad, made to order on the grill in the middle of the square. It seems to be a local favorite and everyone knows the charismatic owner. Service was pretty quick (we did have to wait for a table, but it was straightforward) and the fish...

Without a doubt one of the best fish restaurants in Setúbal. It is located in a cosy square, within a walking distance to Luisa Today avenue and Setúbal downtown, "a baixa". The food is really good, fish always fresh and the man on the grill won't let you down. It can get pretty busy in summer time but it is worth the wait, the feeling after a meal there is...