Small but mighty, don't overlook this gem of a restaurant in it's off-the-beaten path location. TLDR recap: simple range of fish but very fresh! Terrific cooked items. During my short one week trip to Portugal I came here to eat a second time after trying it for lunch and didn't regret it!
This is a small mom and pop hole-in-the wall kinda place with no frills but a heart of gold, focused (pun intended) on serving quality sushi and Japanese/Asian fare. I was looking for something to eat close to the Gulbenkian art museum and saw the excellent ratings this place got on Google maps (4.9) which was surprising to me since it's rare for a place to have such high reviews. Reading the reviews, I saw some positive feedback from prior customers that urged me to give this spot a shot, and I'm so glad I did!
First time we came for lunch and tried the combination 3 €7.50: 5pc mixed nigiri, 4pc salmon sashimi and a 6pc salmon roll. Also got the combo 8 €8.50: which was 8pc of yakitori skewers--2 salmon, 2 chicken, 2 chicken meatballs, 2 cheese wrapped with thin sliced beef. Yummmm. Nestea iced tea to drink.
Second time we came for dinner and arrived waay too early before dinner hours but the owner was kind enough to let us know he would open 30 min early for us. Oops we decided to come back 15 min before they reopened instead.
We ordered a couple sushi combinations (#3 €7.50 and 15 €7.50), a combination #9 which consisted of 6 Yakitori skewers €6.50, and a plate of stir-fried noodles €6.50(? Sorry can't recall the exact price but it was pretty low). Sushi was fresh and Yakitori delicious as the first time. What was an unexpected delight was the noodles. They really reminded me of the taste and quality of noodle dishes served at high-end Chinese banquets for weddings. Needless to say, we really enjoyed them.
Want to take a moment here and add that towards the end of lunch we had a chance to chat briefly with the son and father (our Portuguese being worse than their their English, we spoke in Chinese instead). We learned about the father's extensive background in the restaurant industry how his passion for creating an excellent sushi dining experience drives his attention to all the details like temperature, thickness, and cutting grain of the fish. This is part of the reason their menu is so dedicated to serving a few main types of fish,--he really puts in the effort to make sure the customer's eating experience is optimal. Even as covid really challenged their business, they have been hanging in there, and relying on take out orders and some tourist business. Both times we were there business was so quiet that I'm not sure how they are managing to stay open, given their extremely competitive pricing and attention to freshness. Being such a small operation they work hard each day to keep it going, all with a welcoming attitude and humble demeanor. I hope more customers can come try out this spot, it's such a diamond in the rough. read more