Restaurante Roots — Restaurant in Torres Vedras

We came for a meal on a Sunday afternoon and were happy to be seated quickly the place looks lovely so we were looking forward to a nice meal. We received our wine quickly and the waitress was nice. My partner ordered the chef special of pork cheeks , I had the bulgar and roast veg,,, we waited far too long, but when my partners arrived he was happy, mine however was a gross looking green mess topped with barely cooked eggs. The menu stated soft eggs which I took as like a soft poached egg. When I say the eggs were snotty and the white was runny , it’s not an understatement. I felt a bit sick looking at it. But I asked for egg to simply be cooked a bit more, happy for it to be grilled even so it was edible. To my shock what came back was the main meal scrapped of the egg and 2 COLD hard boiled eggs sitting in the remnants of the raw egg. It was an abomination. Slop, bland, tasteless. No refund was offered, we paid and left. Needless to say we won’t be back, and wouldn’t recommend… I’ve never left a restaurant hungrier than I entered,...

Roots is litterally in the middle of a leafy park. The black building stands out from outside and looks sober and almost cold. Once you've passed the door, the decor is lush and makes you feel at home.

We were welcomed warmly by the host who directed us to our table. Menus were in English as well which always helps :)

We opted for an Alentejo cheese and a red wine from the Lisbon region which was fresh and tasty. A steal at 25eur the bottle. Then, we shared a veal carpaccio. The plate looked beautiful with some young sprouts, littles eadible flowers and a drizzle of oliver oil. The veal itselfed melted in your mouth.

As main, we had the grilled octopus and the pork belly. Both dishes were well executed and could be discribed as traditional Portuguese revisited with great enthusiasm and a modern twist.

The only disappointment was to pay 10eur each for an "aguardiente" but we would come again when visiting...

We decided to locate a restaurant between Nazare to Lisbon airport for a late lunch on our last day. We were initially disappointed to realise that we had missed the lunch menu which finished at 3pm. Wow.....it didnt matter one bit...even with fussy kids, we were all sighted with the food. The waiter spoke great English and was very knowledgeable about the menu and wines. The place itself is fab, with the decor and furniture all very in keeping with the food served. The location beside the park and playground was very handy for families. The prices were very reasonable for the dishes we had, and with a really beautiful wine too. My one and only issue was smokers being close by just having coffee while others are eating. It would be nice to have a separate area for smokers, as it was a little unpleasant to have the flavour of cigarettes with my...