Lisbon Restaurant
“So far my favorite is the shrimp in garlic sauce, and my husband had the Salmon Lisbon Style last night and said it was perfect, too!”
“This spot isn't one of those all-you-can-eat-until-you-vomit beef-a-rias that you find in Newark.”
“Then leave you with a thousand degree (little exaggerated) stone for you to finish cooking to your liking.”
Lisbon Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
7 reviews
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Our experience here was dismal on virtually every count. I will not return.
The first problem is evident upon entering the restaurant. Is this a bar or a restaurant? It's trying to be both, and the bar side of the battle is winning. LOUD music, TVs all around, and raucous drinkers do not go with the white table clothes and guy in a bow tie who scrapes up table crumbs after dinner. Eating dinner while Katy Perry is screaming in your ear is hardly an enjoyable experience. And here's a hint for the host/waiter: If you need guests to repeat every order because you can't hear them, TURN DOWN THE DAMN VOLUME!
One table on the end of the place seemed to be filled with family and friends of the owner. They were loud and treated the place like it was their living room. At one point, a woman walked down the middle of the restaurant screaming the name of a person who had just left, trying to catch her attention. At another point, a guy in a "wife beater" T shirt and trucker cap grabbed the remote control and turned away from news. He spent five minutes scanning every channel and finally settled on "Who's the Boss" reruns. Because nothing complements a fine meal like 1980s hairstyles and Tony Danza.
The first drink I ordered was not made correctly, but the waiter replaced it without any complaint.
Service was slow. We were seated and it took five minutes to order drinks. When the drinks were delivered it was another eight minutes before the waiter returned to take our dinner order. Dinner took another 35 minutes to arrive.
The bread you get at the table is terrific. Had dinner stopped and started there, it would have been a success.
The salad was terribly mediocre. Wilting iceberg lettuce, overripe tomatoes and a "blue cheese dressing" so bland I had to put quotations around those words.
Dinner arrived. The stuffed shrimp were dry and mediocre, and my wife complained the dish was lukewarm. And my Chicken Cordon Bleu was so deeply fried, it looked like Chicken Fried Chicken. I had my first bite–no ham or cheese. Second bite–no ham or cheese. Finally, I cut down the center and found the things that make a Chicken Cordon Bleu a Chicken Cord Bleu. I'd guess less than half the chicken dish actually had ham or cheese.
Dinner was accompanied by home-made potato chips that were greasy and soggy. My meal also had vegetables that were overcooked and tasteless.
Our experience was loud, slow and unsatisfying. My advice for this place would be to stick to bar food and be a bar, because from my perspective it is more bar than it is restaurant.
This place is just OK. We went for dinner Saturday night. At first the heat was blasting, then when they turned it off it got really cold, so that was pretty annoying. Also I see what people say about service being slow – there's only one waiter, who I'm guessing is the owner of the restaurant. There were maybe two food runners slash bussers. I didn't get a glass of water (the only thing I asked for a drink) until after the appetizer came out.
We ordered the mussels in green sauce appetizer – I think the mussels were frozen because they were served in the pot with sauce on the half shell. The green sauce was a bit too thick, but may have been good with bread. We also ordered the NY Steak and the shrimp and scallops dishes. The steak that I ordered medium came out nearly well done. The shrimp and scallops I believe were frozen because they just had that gummy texture.
The place wasn't totally horrible and I'd probably give it another shot for just the meat. All entrees are served with yellow rice and delicious homemade potato chips.
HOLY CRAP. My mom came into town and mentioned that she had heard good things about Portuguese food in Jersey City.
We split the seafood platter for two, which was enough for 3 or 4. Everything was BRILLIANT. I had champagne sangria, and mom had blue (which is white wine with blue curaco, I believe).
When we left, I took the leftovers (seafood omelet FTW) and asked to take the bread too ('cause I'm poor) and when I got home, I realized that they gave me a whole @##$ loaf of bread. Awesome.
Service is a bit slow, but get some sangria and wait it out. It's so worth it.
Enjoyable experience. I agree with others that it is more of a 3.5 star place, but unlike my fellow yelpers, I am erring on the side of 4. My girlfriend and I came on a Friday night, kind of late (if you consider 9:30 a late dinner). The place was fairly empty, only 2 other tables and 5 or 6 people at the bar.
We ordered a pitcher of red sangria, Flambeed Chorizo, Flounder stuffed with Crabmeat, and Salmon "Lisbon Style".
Positives. The sangria was delicious and a nice size for the price. The chorizo was fantastic. They bring it out in a cast iron pig, light it on fire at the table, and char the skin. It was amazing…that fatty goodness from the chorizo and a nice crispy charred skin. The portions are very large, for the price, we got a nice lunch the next day out of it as well. Their home made potato chips were crisp, where at many Spanish or Portuguese places they can be soggy. Also their side of rice and veggies were nicely cooked and flavorful.
Negatives. Most negative to me was the atmosphere. The restaurant itself is relatively uninspiring, not a real cozy romantic vibe. That in-and-of itself is fine, but they were BLARING pop music. Nothing says classy, romantic, Mediterranean experience like not being able to hold a conversation over Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Iggy Azalea.
Also, My salmon was sitting in a pool of garlic oil. I guess it was meant to be scampi style, but to me a plate full of garlic oil with a piece of fish sitting on top is not that appetizing. It was, however, very flavorful and well cooked.
It is a solid choice for Portuguese food in the downtown area, but probably won't be a staple for us.
Overall, a very enjoyable experience. There was a bottle of wine on special and we indulged in quite a bit of food. For being on special, the wine was great. We started off with crab stuffed mushrooms which were good, but I felt that the stuffing was just a bit under done and the sauce a tad too vinegar based. For our entrées, I enjoyed the salmon with mustard sauce and he had the shrimp and scallops. My Salmon was fresh and cooked perfectly. However, the shrimp that accompanied it were a little fishy, and te sauce was a tad too buttery…not very mustard-y. His shrimp were good and the scallops were "just okay". The sauce was also incredibly buttery. The sides were served on one plate (rice, potato chips and steamed veggies) which was kind of confusing. For dessert, we shared the Tartufo which was the highlight of the meal — excellent! The service was good but slow. The ambiance needs a little work to make it seem less like a cheesy diner. Overall, I was pleased.
They also got bonus points for sending us home with an extra serving of rice with my leftovers.
I went here last night and was surprised that out of 4 adventurous people who have pretty much eaten at every restaurant in JC this place was new to us all. It's definitely a 3.5 place. I enjoyed the red sangria, which definitely had some alcohol in it since 4 glasses later I left with a buzz and I found the value to be great even if the seafood wasn't the best.
First of all this is a dive. Definitely a random Portuguese spot in PHook. The menu is a mesh of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese but for the most part we all went the Portuguese route. The bread basket is the size of a face. You literally get a loaf of crusty bread and it's good. Don't fill up on it though. The portions here are ginormous.
I'll speak for the pork and clams which is my go to Portuguese dish. Solid. Ive had better but you know what, I haven't seen this on the menu anywhere in JC so props for them. The pork is more fried than sauteed and the clams were decent. To be honest I was pretty happy with this dish and it was priced reasonably. This place is legit. My man's paella filled with so much food was a butt of many a joke. It was a home depot pail filled with shrimp, scallops, mussels, sausage and chicken. It was way too much food. We would have been happy paying half price for half the food and some of the seafood may have not been the freshest. That happens. Seafood is tricky. Order accordingly.
Nasto's from Newark for dessert. Yes please.
If you love Portuguese food and don't want to schlep to Newark this spot is legit. Try it, but one app and one entree between two people is more than enough.
3.5
This place was just okay for me. A large group of my friends and I were here to celebrate a friend's birthday last Friday evening. With reservations for 7:45PM, I was expecting a much more calmer crowd than one if we were to arrive at 6:30PM let's say. To be honest when I got there, the tables were barely filled; bar had more patrons sitting and chatting away.
A large table constructed of a round and rectangle table was made up for us in the back corner of the room. As the night progressed, we had more people arrive than anticipated but our server was more than able to accommodate all of us. If there's anything about this restaurant that I certainly liked, it was the service. Our table must have went through at least 6 pitchers of sangria. Our glasses were always topped off, and by the end of the night, we were given two pitchers on the house.
Despite the great service, unfortunately the overall food was just sub par. Now I had ordered the WHOLE FISH red snapper and had asked for it fried. It was probably the best thing on the table. Deep fried, head on, extra crispy skin, no fishy aftertaste. It was served with boiled potatoes. My boyfriend and celebrant had shared the PARRILLADA for two. A mixture of shellfish, mussels, shrimp, lobster, and scallops served with a side of potatoes (chips), steamed vegetable, and rice. The seafood was the freshest, but it was tasty! I had a few shrimps and a scallop. The rice was definitely insuffient for two. Other friends had ordered PAELLA which balanced the whole group. Thank god this place didn't charge for splitting entrees like the restaurants in the Newark Ironbound.
Was it the best Portuguese meal of my life? Hell no. Would I recommend it to others? I guess if you're having Portugal withdrawals and in need of some Super Bock and are in the area, then yes. Would I go out of my way? Me thinks not.