Café de São Bento

A perfect dinner at a prestigious, long-established steakhouse became one of the most memorable highlights of our trip to Portugal. The exterior and interior of the restaurant exude timeless tradition and class. The waiters’ seasoned, professional service was deeply respectful and admirable. Every dish was outstanding, and the traditional-style steak in particular offered a unique flavor unlike anything I’ve tasted before.

Recommended by hotel. With too much seafood option in the city, we went to this restaurant to have something different. Shrimp was so tasty. Must dip the bread into the sauce and eat with garlic. The steak was also good. The sauce was amazing. The fries weren’t crispy nor flavourful but were tasty enough by dipping into the sauce. Would definitely go back if we are back in Lisbon.

Like a secret club, to enter Café de São Bento you must ring a bell. A waiter comes to open the door and all you can peak inside is the red velvet curtains which, once open, unveils what you will soon discover to be the best steak in Lisbon. in a refined setting. Make sure to book as this has been for the past 4 decades the go to place for locals seeking a good steak. We were the first into the door and lucky enough to be able to have the whole place to ourselves for a few minutes until the crowds arrived and the restaurant became lively and packed with people. The sauce of the famous File a Cafe Sao Bento is to die for and it’s recipe a well kept secret.

Very classic steak place in Lisbon, which is old school and interesting. We went to experience the decor and atmosphere. We first were seated on the main floor in the back room by the bathroom door with Library Book wallpaper - strange table. Luckily we asked to be moved, so they relocated us to the 1st floor at a table that was much better experience. The food was alright but not exceptional. The menu is small with little options for non-meat (which is reasonable for a steak focused restaurant). We started with the garlic shrimp, which was good and what you would expect. Our son and I had filet steaks, 1 with and 1 without coffee/cream sauce. My wife had the Vegetables Wellington which was basically roasted veg in some pastry dough. The highlight of out food was the excellent chocolate cake and Port wine. We are glad we have experienced Sao Bento in the original location, however, we will likely not return since Lisbon has such vast food options.

Honestly one of the best steaks we’ve ever had! Beautiful restaurant with secret club feel. We will definitely be visiting again when back in Lisbon

If you’re a steak lover, don’t think twice just come here. You won’t regret it! 😍 Café de São Bento feels like a secret club. You ring a bell to enter, and a waiter opens the door to reveal plush red velvet curtains. Step inside and you’re transported into an elegant, intimate setting. Home to what I’m convinced is the best steak in Lisbon. 🏆 I had the filet mignon and it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. The sauce? To die for. The fries? Perfectly crispy. And I know this probably sounds crazy, but the egg was so perfect!!!! Clearly the chef really knows what they’re doing. The bartender made me an amazing virgin mojito fresh, zesty, and beautifully balanced. Desserts were nice, though nothing to rave about. I would’ve loved to see a classic Portuguese flan on the menu, maybe one for the future? Still, the real star here is the steak 🥩 I loved every single bite and will 100% be back the next time I’m in Lisbon. Small heads up - just make sure to book in advance it’s quite small inside and gets packed really fast. ☎️

What a great experience. Dinner, steaks cooked to perfection. Wine selection was outstanding. And service, David is a true professional- kind, humorous and spot on with recommendations. Do not skip on this opportunity to enjoy Lisbon fine dining

We got lucky and got a table 15 mins after it opened with no wait. We got the traditional steak, foie gras, a bottle of green wine, chocolate cake (great), and creme brulee. We really enjoyed the warm, old-fashioned, and clean aesthetic. Staff were really friendly. This was an amazing last meal for our Portugal trip.

After traveling for nearly 24 hours, we were ready to settle down for our first meal in Lisbon. We rang the bell and were very fortunate to be invited in a bit past midnight. We came a long way to eat dinner here! The service and meal were all 5/5. We shared the food gras, the restaurant's speciality steak and the ratatouille. The steak went perfectly well with the fries served. We ate well and were too full for dessert, but it was the perfect first meal introduction to Portgual and Lisbon! Thank you so much for your service.

This enchanting restaurant transports you back in time. The beautiful velvet accents and private small booths make this small restaurant very cozy. I ordered the steak with jamón and garlic and my husband has the house steak with the special sauce. They were equally delicious and perfectly cooked. Highly recommend!

This restaurant in Lisbon provided one of the best meals I've had in the city. The ambiance and service were impeccable, the steak was top-notch, the food was absolutely delicious, and the cocktails were excellent. It truly was a fantastic dining experience.

this restaurant is definitely a must when in lisbon. you need to make a reservation in advance for sure. there is a doorbell you ring outside for them to let you in its very cute. the interior is cozy and romantic. the workers are all super friendly and speak multiple languages. we waited at the bar for a drink before our table was ready. we started with the garlic prawns which were our favorite item we tried they were amazing! the bread was also super good. my boyfriend got the sao bento steak and liked it. i got a grilled steak which had good flavor as well. the only thing that didnt impress us were the fries but no worries we were too full anyways.

"The best steak in town" my a$$! This place SUCKS. (Disclaimer: went to the location in Time-out market, not the main restaurant) Got a Surf and Turf sandwich with "filet mingion" and "Prawns". Ordered it to be cooked rare.... Pretty sure I got served a stale baguette with a very thin piece of grey, overcooked flank steak and 3 canned shrimp. Thing was pretty much like eating drywall with a few pieces of arugula and some mayonnaise (which I had to add). Also saw a lot of other orders coming out after I placed my order (wish I saw it before) all looked grey, dry, and overdone :( Wish I took a picture, but refer to the other reviews on here, pretty accurate representation of how ass it is Only thing keeping this place from 0 stars (besides the limitations of this app) was the fries and the service. Very nice workers, and the fries were pretty bussin. Overall, spent around 16 euros for a 3 euro meal Time to drown my sorrows in Aeperol Spritz. If you are in Time-out market, reccomend going to O Prego Da Peixaria and getting "The Teddy" - had to get something to wash the taste of this disgraceful sandwich out of my mouth and the Teddy was bangin!!

I had fond recollection of here last time we were about. This time not so much and this review will remind me not to bother next time. We both had dubious fillet mignon in a cream sauce and French fries. I asked for the fries to be very hot and they weren't. The dubious steak was just ok and disappointingly NOT seasoned but worse still the 'sauce' was watery and not at all appealing. In short an unpleasant eat. In fact as I recall the experience not only would I steer clear of this restaurant I'd likely sidestep the Time Out Market completely. It's a victim of its own success and seating can be very hard to find. None of the seating is comfy. As you must order and collect your own food you've little chance of a seat unless there's at least two in the company. I watched people having to stand trying to eat their food but this ain't my idea of a night out. Yet many folks had finished food and hadn't the decency to give up their seat to allow someone else to enjoy their food. This was not limited to the Time Out place. Selfishness abounds in Lisbon - no country for old folk. We were on lots of trains (Sintra, Fatima, Cascais) and the metro all around the centre - young folk get the seats and if your old and standing tough. This surprised me and annoyed me. I saw one old chap on the metro who clearly couldn't see the metro map so he stood up for a closer look. No sooner had he done so a young bloke sat on his seat - pods in ears and that was that. Turning back to Time Out it's time's up for us. The tables were dirty and the staff clearing dishes away hardly bothered to actually clean the tables. We had to ask for our table to be properly cleaned. Finally, I'm getting tired of being dictated too by self interested big business and banks whose only real interest in customers is to rip them off. Time Out only takes credit cards with cash not required. To heck with it. I decide how I pay and if ya don't want my cash I'll find them that do and there's no shortage of them in this city.

Very tasty filet mignon steak sandwiches. But very small for the price. The Portuguesa is basically just the filet with olive oil and garlic. The Surf & Turf is better, with added prawns and arugula. Pro tip: Google said it opens at 11:30am but it didn't open till noon.

Visited Cafe de Sao Bento located inside of Time Out Market in Lisbon/Lisboa. Dinned at the bar and enjoyed a very good filet prepared traditionally with bento sauce and a fried egg. Entree served with French fries, and finished with a vibrant, fresh, green salad. We highly recommend a visit, Cafe de Sao Bento will not disappoint.

Totally retro vibe of a Portuguese steakhouse - great cocktails and a range of choices for your steak. Very attentive and friendly servers, liked but didn't love the steak itself, but an overall great Lisbon experience.

One of, if not the worst, dining experience ever!!! Terrible food, disgusting, rude and nasty staff! We visited their booth in the Time Out Market because we had good meals at the market before and very, very good steaks in Portugal at other places. Their sign read "Best steak in Lisbon", so we sat down. The waitress was very rude from the start. It was a counter in a hallway. I ordered a rare steak with garlic, wine, water and olives/bread, my wife ordered prawns. My steak came to me blue, bleeding and cold in the middle, my wife's prawns were rubber! I told them my steak is raw, so a very rude waitress took it to an even ruder cook (definitely not a chef!), who gave us very dirty looks. He Took my steak off the plat, slapped it in a cold pan and fired the hell out of it for about five minutes, all the while leering at me. He slapped it back on my plate, tossed the old garlic back on it and buried the Portuguese flag in the now cold sauce and had the waitress serve it to me. It was like rubber! I told them I would not pay for that steak and the real ugliness started. "You ordered the steak, you pay for it" screamed the waitress. No. She called in a burly, bearded guy who sternly said the same thing plus "we do not waste food in Portugal" Bull. The cook wasted the food, not us! So they called security on us. We explained to the guard (and subsequently two other guards and two managers from Time Out. They talked for at least 45 minutes with the people at there, then said the big manage would come. A very mean-looking woman appeared. I asked her if she knows what is going on. Not even looking at the food or asking what we felt, she repeated, loudly "You ordered the steak, you pay for it!!!". No, we said, and pointed out that we ate and drank nothing and will not pay for poorly cooked food. She threatened to call the police! We said go for it. She then said we should pay for the wine, water and bread/olives, so we agreed. We drank the wine and water and ate the olives, not wanting to waste food. As we walked away, she said something rude in Portuguese at us. The guard and Time Out manager were very gracious and happy it was resolved. Never met a worse manager or been treated so badly at any establishment in the US or Europe, where I lived for over a decade. Otherwise, Time Out is a lovely place though somewhat touristic.

Way overhyped. The filet mignon Portuguese style was way too undercooked for medium rare (it was basically raw in the middle). Green bean tempura was alright but too much batter. Fries with the steak were unsalted. The shrimp did not taste fresh and was too oily. Not sure what the hype is about this place (only stall in the Time Out Market to have a 5+ people line at all times). You can definitely get better steak elsewhere.

Heard about the restaurant and decided to book a reservation for dinner. It was a good decision on dinner at Cafe de Sao Bento. What a cute, charming place. We rang the door bell and was invited in to a beautiful dining setting. It's small and limited seating, so definitely make a reservation if you plan to eat here. The service was top notch! The food was very good. And for what we had with a bottle of wine, food, dessert, dessert wine, and espresso our bill was 1/3 of what we would pay for in California. Love it!

A friend took me here and said it was one of the best places to get steak in Lisbon. He was right!

Excellent steaks for what are (to a New Yorker) insanely low prices. We came here on our trip to Lisbon and got two steaks -- one Portuguesa style, and one Sao Bento style. Both were great, but we both preferred the Sao Bento steak, and my wife thought it was one of the best steaks she's ever had. I wasn't quite as crazy about it, but I still really enjoyed it. We also really liked the fries. If this isn't the best steakhouse in Lisbon, I would think it would have to be up there. It's old-looking inside (almost bizarrely so in a city that feels so trendy in so many ways), but the steaks are great, and the staff is extremely friendly.

There's nothing quite like a good ol' fashioned steakhouse, replete with wood-paneled walls and dark red interiors. This place is everything you'd expect from the genre- infused with a distinct Portuguese influence, which is what you came here for in the first place. We had the house special steak in the cream sauce (excellent) and the Portuguese version, with potato rounds, olive oil, and garlic (different and also excellent). They were both perfect- not the over-sized, monstrosities that we're used to in the U.S., but right-sized and more importantly, right-tasting. Of course you *must* have wine here. Wonderful Portuguese red wine. Go for the steak, stay for the wine...

*Side Note: I ate from their location at Mercado de Ribiera* A friend recommended this place as the best steak in Lisbon and I had read plenty of recommendations. Unfortunately I was severely underwhelmed. I will start by acknowledging the great flavor and texture of the steak croquettes, with a creamy/tangy sauce that was quite pleasing. As for the steak, the flavor was lacking in every aspect. Maybe it's a Portuguese style to not season this type of steak, but I was caught off guard by how bland the steak was. The sauce the steak was soaked in was also disappointing - a somewhat simple cream sauce without much complexity. It didn't complement the steak so much as add to the boredom of the plate. For the price and supposed local reputation, I'm quite pressed. I hope that the main store does a better job and the owner chooses to address this second location in the future.

There's sixth star. You just can't see it. Alan found Café de São Bento on TripAdvisor and took me here tonight for an early Mother's Day dinner. I was surprised. I had forgotten tomorrow was Mother's Day. On vacation you become untethered from time. Like O Arco, Café de São Bento is on a very narrow street. Earlier Yelp reviews said there was no signage, but there's an awning w/ the name and the name is on a menu or something in the window. You still ring the doorbell for admittance. Charmingly old school in its décor, it was established in July 1982, the same year we were married. We were the first customers and were given our choice of tables and chose one by the stairs. We were given menus. Our server was David and he was courtly and charming. We ordered prawns to start, green salad and bread and butter. I ordered a glass of red wine and Alan had water. For our mains we ordered sirloin steaks, medium rare, Alan's grilled and mine w/ the São Bento sauce. The prawns were delicious, very garlicky. The bread was excellent, a dark, crusty bread and a substantial toasted white bread. In addition to the butter we were served a chorizo paté. Alan couldn't eat it so it was all for me and it was wonderful. We finished the dark bread and somehow knocked the breadbasket off the table, scattering what was left. I wanted to invoke the 5 second rule, but Alan said no. One of the other workers observed the mishap, told David and they gave us another basket. We used the white bread to sop up the garlic sauce from the prawns. Delicious. The salad was also excellent, lettuces w/ a few sun dried tomatoes in a well made vinaigrette. Our steaks came w/ fries. Alan requested they be well done w/ no salt added and David responded that that was how they always made them. A little while after we had been there a family of three came in w/o reservations. They were seated nearby. As they talked we could hear they were probably from New Zealand and sure enough, they were. Their table was close enough to ours that we could chat easily and we took great pleasure in watching David joke around w/ the 7 year old boy. He looked very grandfatherly w/ him, although when Alan asked him how many grandchildren he had, he surprised us by saying none. It's a very intimate, welcoming setting. When our steaks were served Alan's was a bit too rare for him so David took it back to be fired a little longer. I was fine w/ mine. The steaks were tender and flavorful. We both prefer the flavor of sirloin steaks to filet mignon. They were much better quality than the ribeyes we had a few nights ago. The fries were hand cut and were crispy and good, although neither of us finished them. My wine was delicious and a very generous pour. We did have dessert, chocolate ice cream for me and sliced Brazilian mango for Alan. When we finished, David called us a taxi, letting us know when it arrived. He told us the restaurant was quiet now, but it would start to get busier around 8:00. The quieter atmosphere worked out perfectly for us.

Wonderful service, outstanding food and wine! Loved their shrimp appetizer and steak!

We lucked out as on the evening we decided to try this place there were riots going on nearby. Cops were everywhere and our taxi was not allowed to drop us off in front of the restaurant. Fortunately it was not too far of a walk from where the taxi dropped us off. We tried the salads, two different steaks, and the apple pie. The steaks were good and very saucy. Cooked perfectly to medium rare. Was it my favorite steak..no..but still a good steak. The chips that came with the Portuguesa were wonderful! They were slightly thicker cut so you got some spuds but very crispy as well. Great friendly and efficient service. MIXED GREEN SALAD, DRY TOMATO AND PARMESAN CHEESE CAFÉ DE SÃO BENTO STEAK (our 29 years classic steak with cream sauce, inspired in the Marrare Steak, with french fries) FILET MIGNON (the best Lisbon steak Time Out) with FRIED EGG (served as steal topping) PORTUGUESA STEAK (traditional Portuguese fried in olive oil with garlic and laurel, with chips) SIRLOIN STEAK TATIN APPLE PIE WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM (Hot Apple and caramel pie served with vanilla ice cream)

Not for me. Steak filet is super tender, however the cream sauce is bland. Would not go back considering it's pretty expensive for such a small piece.

If you want a really good steak, go to Cafe de Sao Bento, which I learned about from an article in Wine Spectator. Great service, amazing, amazing wines. They specialize in steaks and have little else as a main course other than a steak sandwich. You can get two steaks- a filet or sirloin- prepared one of three ways: the Sao Bento sauce, which has cream added; Portuguese style, which is sautéed in olive oil; or simply grilled. I had the Sao Bento sauce and my wife had the grilled, both filets. The meats were very nice and although I'm not used to a heavily sauced steak, both were excellent. The wine options are what led us there via Wine Spectator. They had some very expensive wines to choose from, but some very good Portuguese wines for under 30 Euro. This place is about 30 years old and probably has the original decor. That added to the authenticity. And we had the most polite, professional server ever. Definitely a place to go if you want a good steak and good wine and not terribly expensive.

I've come several times now to this place. It's THE place to go when you want a really good steak. The quality of the meat, the addictive couvert (I have a really hard time not to get full straight away with it) and the attentive staff make it a 5 stars restaurant! Furthermore, what also keeps me wanting to return is the unique balance they were able to achieve between an elegant yet relaxed environment. It makes you feel like you're in the fancy living room of a very cool host! Also, I usually recommend it to my foreign friends that want to go to an actual Portuguese restaurant and not a tourist trap...

Very good food and service. We ate salmon carpaccio and a steak sandwich meal. Fine flavor profile. Light yet satisfying. Quality ingredients. For dessert, we enjoyed the Carre de 2 Chocolates.

I really can't praise this place enough. 5 stars from top to bottom. A friend and I got an air bnb right up the street and were feeling pretty hungry at about 11:00 at night. I really wasn't expecting to find anything outstanding at that time of night, but we found this place online and decided to give it a try, solely based on the high praise it's received online. Honestly, I was just happy to find something open till 2am that was so close to us. The ambience, the food, the wine, and especially the service (our server was David) were all top notch. Not that it's all that important, but my friend and I both work in fine dining steak houses in the US. Because of that, we don't really eat steak at restaurants all that often. We get enough steak at work. I've been in Europe for about a month now, and not only was this the best meal we've had, but by far the best service we've had and in the end, that's what keeps people coming back. It's no surprise that this place has thrived for three and a half decades. Cheers to David for his attentiveness and excellent recommendations and a huge thank you to the kitchen staff. I'll recommend this place over and over to anyone who plans to visit Lisbon. Truly a memorable experience. Thank you!

So good. These are some of the best steaks that I have had...just excellent. There were three of us and we each had a filet done differently...pan fried, grilled, and with their special sauce. I had the last and thought it was phenomenal. We also had the shrimp appetizer which was very good as well. If the food wasn't good enough, the staff was so amazing. They made us feel right at home...like we had stopped in at an old friend's house for dinner. The ambience was a classy blend on formal and casual...nice to dress up (jeans and a button down shirt!) rather than wearing shorts on holiday. Only regret was that I forgot to leave a tip for the great service we received...so sorry about that..really.

Best steak in Lisbon. Not to be missed!

A very nice and hidden place. We went there after reading an article about it. There is not really something infront of the restaurant that could be recognized as an identification plate. We passed the location three times until we saw the bell, you should ring to get into. The waiter will check you and in case your dress is not too bad, you will be seated inside. The restaurant is just one room and very expensive. It is almost frequented by politicans from the parliament which is close to the location. It has a very discrete atmosphere and the food, especially the meat, is really good and tasty. The beef costs about 25 Euro. A very extraordinary place, worth a visit.