When visiting the newly renovated and fabulous Mercado do Balhão, you must stop by this beautiful…read morestorefront of incredible cheeses, charcuterie, nuts, oils, wines, jams, chocolate...etc. It's half a block away! Your eyes lure you in; upon entering, you nose stimulates the curious and happy neurons in your brain; your ears are filled with Portuguese chatter on what to get and how much; you start feeling around at the old-world packaging all around you; and you salivate at the tastes that will overwhelm you when you take your sizable packages back to your place - it's a sensory wonderland!

This. Place. Is. Fantastic! If you love cheese- you…read moreabsolutely have to eat here. The menu was so tempting that we had a hard time making decisions.We started with the seia cheese and smoked ham croquettes. They did not disappoint! Ooey gooey goodness served with a lovely quince sauce that left us wanting to lick the plate. We settled on sharing the smoked sausage rice served in a spent seia cheese shell. Words cannot even begin to explain how incredibly decadent this dish was. It was more than enough to share, yet even as we were both full we could not stop indulging in it. It became richer as the steaming hot rice sausage and vegetable mixture continued to melt more of the sidewall cheese into the combination. We also could scoop melty cheese directly off the wall inside the bowl. I didn't think about it at the time, but if we had saved the crisps that are served with complementary olives on arrival we could have spread some of the cheese onto them as well. Alas- hopefully someone else can give that a try on our recommendation. Although too full for dessert, the cocoa cake was recommended as a house specialty. It is really more of a rich chocolate brownie or torte and is served with an incredible salted caramel sauce and topped with a dainty scoop of a fantastic goat cheese ice cream with flavoring along the lines of a creamy cheesecake. Such an absolutely lovely meal served by wonderful staff! Reuben and Maria made us feel very welcome and the staff at Rei Dos Queijos apparently speak every language there is. 4 mixed drinks, appetizer, shared entree and dessert €54. Not too shabby!

We had a great time ! We had the pumpkin rice with cherries and the beetroot and cheese tartare. As…read morefor dessert : cocoa cake and cheesecake But beware the cocoa cake is not your typical dessert ! Great chocolate with a caramel sauce and the best ice cream I had in a while. Would highly recommend for someone that doesn't stray to far from " typical " desserts. Everyone around us was sharing a cheese and/or meat plate as appetizer than an entree for two as well. We also had some white wine with that we had the cheapest by the glass but it went perfectly we everything we had. And really not expensive wine with a great taste. Would gladly go back !!