Boi-Cavalo

Boi Cavalo is one of those special restaurants that I think about often - and always visit when I’m in Lisbon. I’ve been there 3 times in the last 8 years and have consistently been impressed with the quality and innovative cuisine. The wine list is well curated and pairs well with the flavors of each dish. The atmosphere is fun and funky, taking full advantage of the rustic location in the walls of the old city. The razor clams, roast quail and tartare were pure and delicious!! Oh, and the house made bread was crusty yet tender inside to soak up all those great sauces! Sadly, the restaurant will be closing October, 2024 after a great 10 year run. As a side note, I read some of the snarky comments by a few recent customers. I have no idea which restaurant they dined in, but it certainly wasn’t the same one I just visited. Boi Cavalo is an innovative, chef driven concept. Diners looking for “safe” tourist food or a Burger King menu should dine elsewhere. For diners seeking creativity and the best ingredients, Boi Cavalo is heaven!

We were not the easiest table. We were the last table of the night, asked a lot of questions, and ordered the whole menu. Of course tables like ours are quite annoying but Hugo and his team handled us with charisma, kindness, and most of all tasty food and wine. I have absolutely no qualms with this place. You get very good food at a really fair price. Nice service without being stuffy. While everything was great the highlights are the ‘gnocchi’, charred mackerel, flounder, and chorizo rice. None of these are dishes you’d like to miss. Finally a restaurant here in Lisbon that I can stand behind and recommend fervently.

Read to the end: This place is absolutely incredible since day 1. I go periodically to try new dishes and to introduce it to new friends. Specially recommended to people who like to surprised by unconventional culinary experimentation. The menu changes often so it's surprising every time, and each time has its 2 or so star dishes. I've had the best clams in the world here, the best tartare (of pork!) I've ever ingested, the absolutely best french toast on the face of the planet and some of the most interesting fish preparations ever. Occasionally there's a dish that falls short but it's part of the ensemble, and this establishment deserves 6 stars. The staff and the owner (also the chef) are absolutely consistently impeccable. A BIG must in Lisbon, it's without a doubt one of the best restaurants around. 👏 Do not be swayed by negative reviews some sour or nasty consumers have submitted, this is a place for happy bellies, and not everyone has one.

Truly a hidden gem. Delicious and creative Portuguese food in a no frills setting. We loved the pork tartare (a must!) and the mackerel. The cockles were flavorful but the cockles themselves were very small (probably due to the season). The wine pairing was superb.

Whilst the food was tasty and showed imaginative flavour combinations, some didn’t quite hit the mark (raspberry and langoustine, veal and chocolate sauce) and the portions were very small. The wine was good and we would have had more than one bottle if the service had been a bit faster. We were advised to share between 4 but instead split our group into 2 which was wise as we would have only had a small mouthful of each dish if we had followed the advice given. Also difficult was the positioning of the menu - written on the wall behind other punters - making it awkward to read. The bright overhead lighting was not in keeping with the ambience of the restaurant. Overall with a few tweaks this restaurant could be a real contender, but currently it is lacking in a few areas.

Lovely modern Portuguese eatery in a very laid back setting. Super helpful and friendly staff steered us through a wonderful culinary journey including roasted onion rice with cod roe and ibérico pork cheeks. Wine selection is very basic, but some bottles can be tasted. The Chilean Imaginador worked well for us

This was our first dining experience in Lisbon and despite a mixup in our booking they accommodated us with grace. We loved the recommended wine and overall service was excellent. Dishes are formatted for sharing which allowed us to try a bunch of different items - highlights were the pork tartare, caramelized orange cake, and the mackerel. The efficient design of the space is creative and cozy, and it was an impressive three man operation the night we were there. Would definitely recommend to other diners looking for a culinary experience without fuss. The boi-cavalo perspective is translated elegantly through their food, let them do their thing for you!

This place is wonderful. It's great for foodies. The food is inventive and fresh and completely works! The waiter/sous chef was fantastic. The music is a fantastic pairing. Its small and quaint and DELISCIOUS! Also, this was our last night in Portuga lhaving been here 2 weeks, we came for an early dinner (7:30) because we have an early flight tomorrow and the evening was perfect!!!The farm to table type men included leeks/sea urchin /fish/cornbread/squid/gnochi made from pastry/clams etc. All unique the vino verse wine was perfect. All delicious! Thank you!

November 2021 - there was still a wait at 10pm. I love Lisbon time - perfect for night owls like me. Really tasty, creative (but not overdone), and affordable food. A la carte menu only, which is what I prefer anyway. And get wine - water costs almost as much!

Amazing local food. A small hole in the wall that is well worth the visit. The staff/chef is super friendly and engaging. This is a better value and arguably better experience than the Michelin restaurant I dined in last night. If you want to experience a more local vibe this is a great option Just finished with two amazing to die for desserts. Thai stop made the trip for us !

Talk about incredibly thoughtful, quality service, coupled with unique and flavorful dishes - we had an amazing time at the *local-feeling* spot, tucked away on a beautiful street. The sous chef recommended an amazing wine, ensuring it was all to our taste - we will be back soon

This restaurant was on Eater's top 38 places to go in Lisbon, which was sent to my by a dear foodie friend. I decided to make a reservation and check it out. Reservations are recommended (especially for weekends), but not required. I went on a Tuesday night and was one of two tables in the place. So, despite what some reviews say, it's not always packed. On a weeknight, I suspect you have a good chance at getting a table without planning ahead. The menu is a 7-course tasting menu. I'd never had a multi-course tasting menu, and it was a delightful experience. I have posted photos of the food. The service was top notch. I had some minor reservations based on so3me of the reviews on Yelp, but my experience was very positive and I have zero complaints about the service, the venue, the food, the price, etc. For my menu, it was ~33EUR--for the quality and uniqueness, that's a good deal by US standards! I highly recommend coming here.

Ehhh, maybe it was our fault. We should have left when they seemed reluctant to make substitutions on their tasting menu. And I admit, asking the kitchen to substitute all of their seafood dishes with something else might be unreasonable. But dammit let me know if you can't do it. There's a line outside just waiting to get in. You won't lose out at all... If that was our only complaint, this wouldn't be such a harsh review. But besides the poor service, they also served bad wine, and bad food. And the ultimate sin- we were still hungry when we left (rabbit chops as a main? really? where's the meat)... Did I mention that they still served the seafood, even though we repeatedly asked them not to? "It's OK. It's just a little..." Just take it off if you can't come up with anything else... The location, next to a smoke-filled, seedy little bar, with patrons smoking (and selling?) weed in the street, didn't help either. And in the end, they asked us to leave right after we finished our food as they had other unwitting tourists to disappoint. Worst meal we had in all of Portugal...

I don't get it. Hunk of bonito was dry, overcooked, nearly room temperature, with no complexity, no deliciousness. Tomato rice was fresh from kitchen and almost comically amateurish. Complete flatline. No flavor, no reason to eat. Paid check and left. Maybe the good chef was off, but it was a Friday, so I doubt it. Place mostly empty. Maybe this went badly downhill and I didn't get the memo. Two stars for no foreign objects or spoiled ingredients and decent ambiance. Though if you're upscale enough to replate for the second dish, replace my flatware too, and don't make me stack it on the (no placemat) table, especially during Covid.

We had so many great meals in Portugal.. This was by far the best. I am not sure what the other year old reviews were about but this was hands down the best place for a foodie to go. The prices were outstanding. The creativity of the chef blew me away. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better there was another course that was delivered a few surprises along the way. We had great wine pairings with each course and of course some port with dessert. I can not restate how much of a must attend place this was. Seek this place out when you're in Lisboa!

Not going to really review the food here. It was good, I think. I don't really know BECAUSE THE CHEF KEPT SMOKING RIGHT NEXT TO US. So all I could really taste was smoke. Now mind you we are american so we arent really used to to the fine taste of cigarette smoke with our very carefully prepared meals and we were sitting right next to the door so the smoke taste was most intense but if this restaurant wants to take a high end approach and charge high end prices then the chef shouldn't smoke in between preparing meals. How can he even taste the dishes to make sure they are spiced properly? Maybe he just thinks all his meals taste like cigarette smoke. Maybe he just totally addicted to cancer sticks. Here's my advice to the chef (and probably owner) as an american physician. At least while you are working, use nicarette gum or a nicotine patch instead of smoking cigarettes in between each dish you prepare. I recommend you quit smoking, unless the thought of a lung resection appeals to you(fyi I've been to the hospitals here in Lisbon and I don;t think you want a thoractomy here, the surgeons all smoke here as well).

My wife and I are on a trip of a lifetime which included an evening at Boi-Cavalo. It is a true breath of fresh air when coming from the States. A multi course tasting meal for a low price that gives you flavors from the sea and meat you have never experienced before. The host and chef work together and come up with great combinations that really work. It's a small place but worth the wait. The servers were very on top of everything - from giving you the rundown of what's on your plate to joking around with you and making the meal a true experience.

Boi Cavalo was recommended by our AirBNB host as one of his favorite spots. We almost didn't brave it due to poor yelp reviews but are SO GLAD WE DID! Our 5 course tasting menu ended up being 7 of the best dishes I have ever tasted. My husband and I regularly seek out eclectic tasting menus and found this to be at the top of our list and by far and away the best value ever. The staff was great and helped us to select the perfect wine pairings for our meal. Would recommend Boi-Cavalo with out hesitation and hope to make it back some day!

Worst restaurant in Lisbon. The food was tasteless (and we asked for the dishes the chef recommended). In a country with such delicious wine, the wine selections were horrendous. I tasted 4 before deciding on the least worse. When the bottle came, I took 3 sips of a glass and it gave me a headache so I sent it back and ordered and PAID FOR something new. We were still billed for the bad bottle of wine. When we asked about it, the chef said it was fine and clearly my tastes were not refined enough. So, bad food and bad service. There are so many magnificent places in Lisbon, don't even bother with this one.

Modern Portuguese with an amazing price tag, most inspired meal I've had all year. Tasting menu 5 courses plus extra 'surprises' from the chef, 28 euro. Place is only 3 years old and the staff are all super young. Really special, interesting food. Probably don't need a reservation but we made one anyway through their website, easy. Have recommended it as a do not miss to friends who are planning to visit Lisbon. Really excellent food!