Chico Elias — Restaurant in Tomar

BEIGE FOOD TRIGGER ALERT: Going for over 70 years, all dishes at Chico Elias here are the ancient recipes of the original cook and her takes on traditional Portuguese cuisine. Some don't sound so appealing (e.g...Codfish with Pork.... pork, cabbage & cheese ) but all taste melt in the mouth A-Mazing.

All the dishes are prepared in a wood oven, everything must be ordered when you book (at least 24hrs in advance) so that nothing is wasted.

As one table didn't turn up the day we went, we were treated to a sneak-peek of the menu so that we could order one extra dish... no descriptions, no prices, just original photos of the dishes from the 70s.

Chico Elias generously let us bring our own wines so we spoilt ourselves with a natural Espument from @luispatowines (highly recommended) a Tinto from good friends @texturawines (when in Dao, drink Dao) and treated to an old 70s aguardente from Tomar.

Definitely worth the trip only 90 mins from Lisbon via...

This is one of the classic restaurants of the area. 70 years on the business. They require reservation as the dishes need to be selected the day before coming to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the times changed and the recipes that sounded interesting, were flavourless and had strange combinations that were not suited to our family taste. We had the lamb and the duck with bread and cabbage. Honestly: the lamb was dry and tasteless, the duck was almonst inexistent and the dish was put together with bechamel which I didn't think suited the combination. The desserts were Fatias de Tomar (again tasteless) and creme brulée (very cold and very liquid). The staff was kind and helfpul and that is the best part of this restaurant which was a big disappointment for us - we were planning to come for years until we...

Uma das piores experiências gastronómicas da minha vida. Não existe menu — apenas promessas vagas de que “o chef vai cuidar de vocês”. Na prática, isso significou não fazermos ideia do que estávamos a comer nem de quanto iríamos pagar.

O dono é um verdadeiro vigarista, a tentar forçar os clientes a encomendar por telefone, como se fosse um vendedor de televendas. Não escolhemos nada — ele simplesmente impôs pratos caríssimos, sem sabor e alguns até nojentos.

A conta foi um insulto. Pura enganação com cara de restaurante.

Evitem este lugar a todo o custo. Não é uma experiência — é uma armadilha com comida má.

Easily one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. There was no menu—just vague assurances that “the chef will take care of you.” Translation: you have no idea what you’re ordering or paying for until the bill shows up like a punch to the gut.

The owner is a total con artist, aggressively pushing dishes over the phone like a shady salesman. We weren’t given any real choice—just strong-armed into overpriced, mystery food that was either bland, bizarre, or downright disgusting.

The final bill was an absolute joke. I’ve had more transparency buying secondhand cars.

Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this place. It’s not a restaurant—it’s a rip-off with a side of...