Restaurant - DAO

Moar sushi! That's right, my first post about a Japanese restaurant.

Before we had just a few Japanese restaurants in Lisbon, all very expensive with the typical minimalistic nippon decor, and the Hatori Hanzo looking chef. I've tried a few and I liked, not a huge fan but it was a good experience, the only problem was that they were too expensive(over 20 €) for me to go back more often.

Some years ago sushi restaurants start popping everywhere like mushrooms, but this time in a buffet style(all you can eat) and with prices under 16 €! Hurray... not so fast, it turned out that they were chinese restaurants making japanese food(at least most that I tried were), wait what? That's right, and it makes sense, chinese people love to copy your fancy stuff and make it cheaper. The drawback of course is a decrease in quality, and this was confirmed by my experiences. Hope was lost...

Then while ago a friend of mine invited me for a dinner with some friends, and as she told me about this great sushi place, cheap and near Martim Moniz, I thought, oh well another crappy sushi wannabe...

I was surprised! It was very better than all the others, cheaper (~10 €) and It was "à la carte" instead of the usual buffet, for those who are not familiar with the terms, it means you just point at the list and the waiter brings whatever you want instead of having to get up and pick the food from the buffet trays.

They have a wide variety of dishes, sushi, teriyaki, etc. (and sake!) everything you'd expect from a japanese restaurant, plus some other stuff I never tried before, all good, and the famous cantonese dim sum, nham!
I don't think the owners are japanese nor chinese, maybe somewhere in south asia.

The only problem is the service, they try to be very nice, but just mess up your orders, specially if the place is full, they forget stuff, bring you things you did not order, but as I am not picky I just eat them all. Maybe with practice they will get better...



Misc:
Average price: ~13 Euros
Multibanco/Visa: Yes
Smokers: No
Closes at: ???

Pros:
- Excellent price/quality ratio
- Good for groups
- Lots of variety
- "à la carte"

Cons:
- Service messes up your orders

- Not a very good neighbour

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Polvo à Lagareiro - Homemade

Polvo à Lagareiro(roasted octopus) it's a traditional portuguese recipe, it's easy to make and fast preparation. Below is my latest attempt and I must say it was quite tasteful.
You can get frozen octopus in almost all supermarkets, but sometimes they inject so much water in it that shrinks a lot when cooked, this time I tried "Pingo Doce" supermarket and I was very please with the size and flavour.

Ingredients:
- For 3 meals, ~15 Euros
- 1 red pepper(the vegetable, not the spice)
- Garlic
- 1 Kg frozen octopus
- Small potatoes(the dark red ones for roasting)
- Olive oil
- Spices: black pepper(pt: pimenta preta), salt, bay leaf(pt: louro).

Preparation:
Pre heat the oven to ~200º C.
Defrost the octopus in hot water.
Cover the bottom of a large oven tray with olive oil and put 2 bay leafs, the smashed garlics, the octopus(cut the legs from the head), the potatoes and the sliced red pepper, spray with salt and black pepper.
Put in the oven for ~1 Hour, around 30 minutes check to see if the octopus released too much water, if so, remove almost all and put a bit more olive oil.
Poke the octopus and the potatoes with a fork to see if they are tender, serve with Broa(a traditional portuguese corn bread) and voilá! Bon apetit!

The wine:
You can go with the white or red wine, try the "Encosta de Pias" red for ~2 Euros, it's a simple wine with a good quality/price ratio. If you prefer the white wine go for the "Loios" for ~3 Euros.

Restaurant - Mestiço

The Kretcheu association has tried to establish itself in Lisbon several times, from what I know. They want to give this city a place that promotes the culture of Cape Verde, their music, dance, art and food.

The latest attempt is a restaurant, that may also serve for music concerts, workshops and art exhibits. I have been there 2 times and I liked it, the food, ambience and service was good, and it is cheap!

The manager(I think) is Aires Silva, a friendly guy that is also an African dances teacher, if you are interested give him a call.

Its a good place to make group dinners, and it is also very cosy, nice place to take your date. On weekends night sometimes they have live African music.

I have tried the Cachupa, Moamba and the Caldo de Peixe, all good, normal doses around 6 Euros. At the end ask for the Grog(strong sugar cane firewater) or the Ponche(less strong but sweet), traditional drinks from Cape Verde.

Its near the Terreiro do Paço subway station, and parking should not be difficult, afterwards you can go to Bacalhoeiro for a drink with your friends.



Misc:
Average price: ~9 Euros
Multibanco/Visa: No
Smokers: No
Closes at: Open every day

Pros:
- Good ambience and service
- Good for groups and dates
- Live African music
- Very good quality/price ratio

Cons:
- Nothing to point out



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