Nau Palatina — Restaurant in Sintra

If you are reading this review, first stop, go book a reservation at this place, then come back and finish reading, you won't regret it.

Ever since arriving in Portugal, I've been wanting to try a tapas restaurant that does traditional dishes and flavors. We had been to a few other spots but they didn't match the feel of what I had created in my mind or they weren't actually serving tapas style.

Instantly after walking through the door, I knew my wife and I were in for something special.

Physically, the restaurant is inviting; the dining room is intimate. There are only 7-8 tables max so it feels like you are being personally attended to by the staff. There are two younger men running the front of house and one of them presented us with the drink menu and explained all the options. We don't speak Portuguese beyond the extreme basics and even though their menu is in English as well, this was a welcomed gesture.

The co-owner came over shortly after to explain the food menu and go over each dish as well. We are vegetarian but eat some fish, so again this was very helpful in deciding which dishes we could try. He also shared personal info about his story, his current injury (which sadly he'll have to close the restaurant for a week while he gets surgery, wishing him all the best in his recovery!!) and about the restaurant in general.

The items we ordered came to the table in an efficient manner and based on the 5 staff they have working there, they have some serious hustle.

The dishes can be described as simple food done extremely well, which makes them seem more complex than they are and have a lot of depth of flavor.

From the tuna "ham" to the pumpkin cream, the zucchini soup, the goat cheese on bread and the lentils, wild rice and tzatziki, they were absolutely delicious. That pumpkin cream though...I commented to my partner, I wish I had a swimming pool filled with the stuff to just dive into; heavenly. The desserts we had were the ricotta with apricot jam and the traditional ricotta cake which was the absolute star. Crispy outside and smooth inside, it could have been mistaken for a cheesecake if my eyes were closed.

The portions are perfect and even better, the dishes are priced accordingly; not only was my stomach happy, my wallet was too. Bonus points for the staff offering some sour cherry port with our desserts.

When we left, it felt like we were leaving old friends and I'd find a way to come and visit Portugal again just to eat...

I almost never write reviews but for Nau Palatina I had to. I took my mother here on a sleepy Saturday night during our only evening in Sintra. It's a 20 or so seater restaurant a little off the beaten path from the town's centre - about a 10 minute walk up the hill.

The food, atmosphere and the attention of the owner was worth every step. He took his time explaining each dish, made by his wife, in detail and provided some excellent recommendations. We went with the melted goat cheese and bread, beet root salad, octopus a lagareiro and the cod bladder and chorizo stew. The stew was something I never thought I'd try but ended up being, thus far, my favourite dish during our entire stay in Portugal. We had some lovely wine by the glass and we were even served complementary ginjinha liqueur to finish the evening. Went for a drink afterwards next door (down the alley) to a friendly, casual spot called Tasco do Strauss which made the night even sweeter.

I will say that if you are in a rush or expecting to be finished your meal within one hour this may not be the place for you. But if you are looking for a restaurant with an incredible and casual atmosphere, local cuisine that is both exquisite yet unpretentious, and to be treated like family by caring and engaging staff - please do yourself a favour and make the trip to Nau Palatina if you are staying in...

A wonderful (and accidental) discovery!

Having arrived at Sintra on a Wednesday, we looked up the restaurants recommended by our AirBnB host, and the first two were closed.

So then we tried Nau Palatina - and we are so glad that we did!

This is a fabulous, small, family (and neighbour!) run restaurant, frequented by locals. And it was both wonderful and ridiculously good value.

On the Wednesday we tried all of their tapas options, plus the soup, and enjoyed a couple of bottles of excellent white wine. The service was exemplary (despite the co-owner’s padel injury having left him on crutches) and the cooking (by the co-owner and wife) was superb.

By halfway through, we had booked to return on Friday.

Friday was even better. This time we were greeted as old friends, and we sampled the main courses (cod fish stew and a pork and cream dish) and tried every one of the three fantastic desserts.

Nau Palatina will live long in our memories of Sintra - thank you to all of the family and their staff for two...