Bitoque

Let me start off by saying that the owner (Howard? Herbert?) is a very friendly guy and had great communication. He called us right back and answered all of our questions. Our booking also got a little confused: what started out as 40 people in the private room ended up being 12 after some cancellations. We called to inform him of the change and were told that we still had to order the group menu. Frustrating, but fine with us as long as we got the private room. When we got to the restaurant however, I was surprised to see that we were seated in the dining hall however still expected to order from the imposed group menu. After some additional people showed up (we were 17 in total), we were able to get the private room downstairs, which was great as this was a surprise 40th birthday. I understand the reasoning behind the set menu for large groups, but it struck me as odd that he would impose this for such a small number of people. The unfortunate thing is that we would have spent more money without it as we all wanted tapas AND main meals, but kept being told that it was impossible. Ok fine, so we order the a-la-carte menu only to be told that we ALL need to select the same type (there are three options: one without tapas to start, another with tapas and a soup or salad, and the last one includes tapas plus the soup AND salad). In this day and age of allergies and food restrictions, it is a little hard for 16 people to all want to eat the same thing. But we made it work, and settled on the $45 tapas plus soup or salad, main and dessert option. After a loooong time, the tapas roll in. The Piri-Piri shrimp was crazy spicy, the sausages were ok, but I do have to say that the fried cod was quite good. Then the soup comes - it is pretty much unedible as it has a coat of oil floating on top of it...I couldn't eat it but people did because we were all starving at this point. The salad was small and from what I heard not that great either, and then the mains came: the chicken was probably the best thing. Most of us had the lamb which was, unfortunately, very dry. Probably the best part of the meal was the Pastel de Nata that we had for dessert. After all we went through with this imposed menu, we had high hopes for the meal, unfotunately they didn't live up to our expectation. So, if you are looking for a small group (40 and under) I recommend that you keep looking for a more flexible option. There are tons of restaurants in the city that still take tables up to 20 people without imposed menus...and if they do impose a menu, the food is substantially better. Our groups' verdict: two thumbs down.

Everything was just amazing!!! I couldn’t ask for more... succulent food, friendly staff, the warm/cozy ambiance of the place...and we even had a welcome personal greeting on our table from Mr Alves himself (owner of Bitoque). What wonderful/interesting person...I would like to chitchat with him more! He is also the author of ‘Breaking Stones’. Thanks for the wonderful gift Mr Alves. WE’LL BE BACK!! Oh one advice, it would be smart to reserve your table in advance..the place is very popular. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

The restaurant was really nice. We went for a work related event and had an excellent time. Everything was will organized and the food was exquisite! I had the lamb cooked for over six hours... Yummy yummy!!!!!!! Are so fast that I didn't think about taking a photo :P

Food was relarively good. However sercice was extremely long. They've made a few mistakes on a relatively small order (8).

Good Portuguese food. Nice portions. Salade missing more dressings. The Pastel des Natas were very warm and one of the best I have tasted (and being Portuguese myself, I have had many).