Retiro dos Sentidos

A nice hole in the wall, family run, traditional Portuguese restaurant. I found this place by accident. I wanted to try another restaurant on the same block which had pretty decent reviews. But guess what? It was closed at 6:15 pm on a Saturday evening! Just when I was wondering, how business runs in Portugal, I noticed this cute little open and inviting!
The waitress didn’t speak much English but their menu had both English and Portuguese right next to each other, so that was really convenient. I ordered the Prawns with Garlic and Olive oil and Bacalhau à Brás as my entrée. My entrée was amazing. Really delicious. Just when I thought the potatoes overpower cod fish, you get a very subtle taste of the salted cod. Just amazing and very light on your stomach, so you feel the perfect amount of satisfaction!
Also had their draft beer which was Sagres. Really good and strong. Tasted like Stella.
At around 6:40 pm, this place wasn’t busy at all. One very interesting thing I saw was that their staff was having their meal at the same time in the restaurant itself. They had these 2 huge plates with what looked like pork, along with chips and fries. Looked delicious and I was very tempted to join it!
Taking away 1 star because when I presented my Visa Credit Card for payment, they refused and said that they don’t access Visa, Mastercard of American Express. I started wondering what else is accepted then? Sadly, I couldn’t communicate in Portuguese so had to let go.
I’d suggest confirming before hand if they’d accept a card. else safe to say that this is a cash only place!

My family isn’t great with making plans, so when we tried to get into Tasca do Chico across the street, we were told they were completely booked. You just really need a reservation, especially if you’re going with a group. I wasn’t about to leave Lisbon without listening to fado, and I happened to see Retiro dos Sentidos had live music and a table available.
The wine wasn’t great, the food didn’t wow most of my party (I happened to really enjoy mine!), but the fado was amazing. Their voices were mesmerizing. It was so fun how they would try to teach the crowd callbacks so you could join in to the more upbeat tunes. The slower ones could bring tears to your eyes, they were so beautiful.
So, my food! I had a traditional Portuguese Alheira sausage… except it was vegetarian! Seriously! I was totally thrilled to have a tradition Portuguese meal in a hole in the wall fado place that was vegan. The veggies that accompanied it weren’t great, pretty bland, but the sausage itself was full of flavor. I clearly enjoyed my food more than anyone else.
I still want to check out Tasca do Chico, but I wouldn’t say no to coming back here again. Major points for secretly having an awesome vegan option!