Chigwell, Portuguese Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Great atmosphere and something quite different!” – this “warm and welcoming” Buckhurst Hill operation mixes Goan and Portuguese influences. It’s a partnership between Cyris & Pervin Todiwala and the Redman-Schaffer family from Woodford, delivering “great little dishes” (‘petiscos’) and “fantastic Portuguese wines from independent estates”.

“I call it posh Nando’s… but I feel like that does it an injustice as it’s so much better than Nando’s!” – MJMK’s “jolly” piri piri chain can make “a very pleasant surprise”. The “atmosphere is very bright and fun” and they serve “great flavour-packed food at very reasonable prices” (“mostly tasty grilled meats” and “decent sharing plates” with some good veggie options too). The SE1 original is “big and buzzy” with an excellent plant-filled upstairs. The Victoria branch “suffers for being in the soulless glass and steel of Cardinal Place”, and is “best at lunchtime in the glass-roofed room upstairs”.

“I call it posh Nando’s… but I feel like that does it an injustice as it’s so much better than Nando’s!” – MJMK’s “jolly” piri piri chain can make “a very pleasant surprise”. The “atmosphere is very bright and fun” and they serve “great flavour-packed food at very reasonable prices” (“mostly tasty grilled meats” and “decent sharing plates” with some good veggie options too). The SE1 original is “big and buzzy” with an excellent plant-filled upstairs. The Victoria branch “suffers for being in the soulless glass and steel of Cardinal Place”, and is “best at lunchtime in the glass-roofed room upstairs”.

“Excellent Portuguese tapas at a very reasonable price” and a “wide selection of Portuguese wines” are found at this bar bedecked with blue-and-white azulejo tiles near Borough Market, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year – founder Max Graham is from the Churchill port family. A second branch in the City’s Broadgate development is “a great option for lunch – if you can find it amid the construction site” (and is not listed).

2024 Review: “Great fun on a Friday night, when there’s music and dancing” – this large Stockwell venue opened three years ago, near the new Thames-side developments surrounding Vauxhall and Battersea; and comes complete with an ‘Olive Tree Garden’ for the summer months. “The food is typically Portuguese – ample and fulfilling!”

“5/5 for the pastels de nata, in our experience unsurpassed… even in Portugal!” – this veteran Portuguese patisserie in Notting Hill has no airs and graces, but has been trading in its “unbeatable pastries” since long before they became the world’s favourite take on the custard tart.

“Incredible food in a beautiful dining room” leaves fans mightily “impressed” by this three-story Portuguese townhouse in the heart of Fitzrovia’s restaurant row and its appeal is boosted by “a wine list that’s an adventure in itself, carefully curated and passionately advocated by the wait staff”. Opened in 2022, it’s the work of star-chef Nuno Medes and is his ‘love letter to Lisbon’, created in partnership with the canny MJMK Restaurants group. Not everyone’s blown away though, with a feeling that “the portion size and prices of the delicious food are not in balance”.

“I call it posh Nando’s… but I feel like that does it an injustice as it’s so much better than Nando’s!” – MJMK’s “jolly” piri piri chain can make “a very pleasant surprise”. The “atmosphere is very bright and fun” and they serve “great flavour-packed food at very reasonable prices” (“mostly tasty grilled meats” and “decent sharing plates” with some good veggie options too). The SE1 original is “big and buzzy” with an excellent plant-filled upstairs. The Victoria branch “suffers for being in the soulless glass and steel of Cardinal Place”, and is “best at lunchtime in the glass-roofed room upstairs”.

“I call it posh Nando’s… but I feel like that does it an injustice as it’s so much better than Nando’s!” – MJMK’s “jolly” piri piri chain can make “a very pleasant surprise”. The “atmosphere is very bright and fun” and they serve “great flavour-packed food at very reasonable prices” (“mostly tasty grilled meats” and “decent sharing plates” with some good veggie options too). The SE1 original is “big and buzzy” with an excellent plant-filled upstairs. The Victoria branch “suffers for being in the soulless glass and steel of Cardinal Place”, and is “best at lunchtime in the glass-roofed room upstairs”.

“High up in the Battersea Power Station complex” – in the “beautiful” 16th-floor dining room of the snazzy art’otel – guests feed on Portuguese dishes from star Lisbon-based chef Henrique Sá Pessoa. After a couple of years, however, the level of the cooking is judged “competent” – “we loved being here, and would have loved even better food”. Even so, most reporters reckon it’s “worth the high prices for the views”.