When we entered the restaurant there was nobody and we became hesitant whether it’s one of those pretentious places… Then again, we forgot we are parents and now we lunch and dine earlier than the ordinary human. Not long after we sat at the table and ordered, the place filled in steadily.
I’ve been longing to come here ever since I first saw a picture of the place on the Instagram account @thespacemag. At the time I read about it, Prado had just opened its doors to the public. When I learned about the food concept, I knew I had to come here soon. I shared my thought with hubby and of course tadaaa, Edgar took us on a surprise lunch.
“Prado celebrates the best Portugal has to offer, from sea to land.
All our dishes are inspired by and made with national, seasonal, and fresh ingredients.
Basically, if it’s not in season, it’s not on the table.
To go with the food, our wine list, with only organic, biodynamic, and natural wines.”
Prado restaurant is a place where the light, greenery and food co-exist to make sure you’ll tell your friends about it too. It is located in an abandoned early 19th-century factory which made candied fruit, preserves and biscuits with Roman ruins on display and a wide variety of plants hanging from the high-ceilings. It’s rustic yet modern, it’s lavish yet simple…we really loved the space!
We haven’t fine dined in many places, places where each bite you take is a mouthful delicacy. So really, we can’t compare or analyse, we just know we fully enjoyed the experience, from the first dish to the last dessert. We love the fact they adapt the dishes to seasonal and fresh ingredients.
The food is traditional with a modern twist. The name of the dishes on the menu are the most sophisticated names we’ve seen on a menu. The look and taste are not less sophisticated either.
They recommended five dishes for the two of us. I would add one more, if it weren’t for the three rounds of extra bread we ordered so we could soak up the delicious sauces left in each dish ha ha ha! 🙂 Oh but the bread, that airy warm bread, with a perfect dark crust from the Gleba Bakery! Did we say we love bread, and it’s one of the things in the international cuisine that we always like to taste first when we travel abroad?! I wouldn’t mind coming to Prado just to eat some bread and enjoy the light and the greenery of the space.
So here is what we had in titles and pictures:
Barbela wheat bread, with fresh goats butter, smoked salt & sea lettuce + whipped Iberico pork fat, garlic & bay leaf
Mackerel, parsley & sea lettuce vinagrete
Pumpkin, whey & pumpkin seeds – our favorite one
Iberian pork tenderloin with shiitake (and something else we forgot)
Black scabbard fish, zucchini & turnip greens
Dessert: Fig & smoked milk ice cream + Some sweet rice cream that we forgot the name
+ Edgar had orange wine that was uau!
Go to Prado! Indulge in this visual and taste experience at least once.
