It's a hole-in-the-wall little joint, but food from Cape Verde is not easy to come by, even in Portugal, so I was excited to find this small place. Cabo Verde was a Portuguese colony, an island off of West Africa, so this was a neat diaspora find.
The place is very minimalist and service a bit gruff, but the prices were quite low (€7 mains) and the dishes very traditional. I got the "cachupa" the national dish, which is a rich stew of hominy, beans, and like 5 or more kinds of meat. It doesn't taste like a Brazilian feijoada, but the concept is very similar. Tasty and huge portion.
Also I got the "grogue" and "ponche", two traditional Cape Verdean drinks, €2.50 each for a shot glass. The grog was pretty fiery, so I ended up mixing it with Coke, but the punch was very fruity and smooth, most sippable.
The place is only a few minutes' walk from all the tourist stuff in Baixa Chiado, but tucked away in a blue-collar neighborhood, in a divey little storefront in the old city. So you have to be okay with a proper ethnic dive to enjoy this, but if you like a little adventure and some hard-to-find specialties, this is worth a visit. read more