A fabulous dinner ruined by the service. On our honeymoon, we went here for a romantic dinner out on the recommendation of a friend. The food did not disappoint! However, we ordered a bottle of wine to have with dinner, and after pouring us two tasting-sized glasses each, our waitress said it was “finished”. We saw her then grab the mostly-full bottle and bring it to the back of the restaurant. The food was wonderful, and one server shouldn’t ruin the entire experience, but our long-awaited meal at this restaurant was ruined by her swindling. If you go, be cautious of their (wait staff’s) actions!

Definitely the best meal we had in Lisbon. We went on a day they were changing menus and were lucky enough to get 8-9 courses. The wine pairing was fantastic as well. Total for 2 was 130 which was well worth it. I wouldn’t hesitate sending anyone here.

Venu en lisant les recommandations du routard mais excessivement déçus. Aucune subtilité dans la cuisine, service négligeant et prix exhaustif.

Bom menu de degustação funcionários super simpáticos

Menu muito cuidado e bem construído Zona de difícil acesso de carro, vizinhança duvidosa.

Restaurante pretensioso de pouca qualidade. Menu degustação de 8 pratos. Entre cada prato a demora foi de mais de 30 minutos. Não recomendo

The service was very good. He paid lovely attention as needed but wasn't hovering. We tried sending excellent local wines. The menu was great and very interesting with top quality ingredients and little surprises throughout the meal. We loved it!

Have been dying to get here. The concept is simple. Just a tasting menu with 5-6 dishes, which changes every month according to the season's ingredients. It also has a pairing menu, which I strongly recommend, or you can order by the bottle. Not that expensive and worth every penny.

Ausgefallene wechselnde Menüs. Die Weinbegleitung war passend zum Essen und gut ausgewählt. Wer einen vollen Teller für den schmalen Taler erwartet, sollte weiter gehen... wer Zeit und den richtigen Gaumen mitbringt, kann hier einen schönen unterhaltsamen Abend haben.

Great meal. the monkfish liver may be my new favorite thing. The Pork shoulder dish was absolutely incredible.

Menu de Degustação. Boa qualidade/preço. Contudo faltou alguma consistência ao longo do menu.

Mau atendimento, pessoas super arrugantes. Comida salgada e fria. Ainda ameaçam clientes para não dar mas avaliações.

Maravilhoso menu de degustação! Excelente!!!

Fantastic food, pleasant service, comfortable setting, and an awesome wine pairing!! I was a bit nervous, because the reviews seem to be quite bimodal... But the food was so delicious and interesting, I am extremely happy I trusted my gut. Give it a go - you will not be disappointed!

Excellent and different within the portuguese tradition. I appreciate a lot the herbs to enrich the flavours. Really good experience!

We had the tasting menu and wine pairing and were delighted by our evening at Boi Cavalo - thinking the food was far more creative than our food the evening before at a Michelin starred restaurant in Lisbon. What with several dishes as chef's extras, there was masses of food for a truly delightful gustatory evening. The wines were well chosen as accompaniments, and the pours were generous - we both tottered back up the hill to our hotel! As a general rule, we found that the chef was better at starters than mains or desserts - the starters were really excellent with good flavour combinations whereas the main was merely good and the dessert slightly missed the mark. However, very much five stars overall, and particularly for the price.

Um restaurante fora da caixa. Um chefe que vibra com o que faz. Um espaço original. É ir com mente aberta. Só não dou 5 * porque o serviço de mesa não está à altura de tudo o resto. Servem à mesa com explicações decoradas, mas quando se pergunta alguma coisa que não decoraram não sabem responder.

Um dos melhores chefes do panorama nacional, representa uma comida honesta de interpretação autoral de elevado nível.

Received an incredibly hostile e-mail from them. We wanted to reschedule- but weren’t able to in time. We cannot pick up phone calls from non-UK numbers without incurring costs to receive the call. Looking at earlier reviews mentioning the service I’m bit concerned they don’t have much regard for customers in general. This was a strange thing to receive given we never heard from them over e-mail before this weirdly passive aggressive message. —- “ Hi, Jade, Sorry for contacting you (again), but, as you missed your reservation with us, and failed to warn us about it, answer the phone on the multiple attempts we made to contact you, or neglected to give us any kind of warning you wouldn’t honour your booking, you got us quite worried, as this behaviour can only be justified in cases of extreme urgency. So, we hope that whichever urgent crisis (that justifiably held you from the common courtesy of cancelling your reservation), is soon solved, and that all is well with you and your loved ones. Best regards and good luck, Boi-Cavalo Restaurant “

Recommended by a fellow foodie friend. Showed up as it opened. Pre fixed set menu that rotates based on availability. All the dishes were well thought out and beautifully displayed. The meal was delicious and the service was personal and happy. This has nothing to do with the rating but the menu wasn't up-to-date for what they were serving that day. So if you have your heart set on an item clairfy it's available.

We have moved to Lisbon from NYC in September. We love trying new cuisines. Having travelled extensively around the world for many years, we embrace new flavours with enthusiasm. Every week we try different restaurants to get an idea of what the city has to offer: last night it was Boi Cavalo. I guess the place used to be a butcher shop: the interior is cute, but due to the greenish overhead lights, does not convey a warm, welcoming feeling. We arrived at 8 pm. Thirtyfive mins later, finally, one piece of warm bread with a side of some vaguely tangy cheesy mousse was put on the table. I would venture to say it was probably a whipped burrata based mousse, but I cannot be sure because nobody bothered to explain. The bread was ok, the rest not. At 8:55, when we were starting to get annoyed by the lack of food and some very loud diners seating not far from us (too much wine and no food), the waiter brought us the first course. Instead of explaining what we were about to eat, he handed us the printed list of dishes for the evening and suggested we read it. One bite to the cold, greasy fried square of bread, supposedly a french toast, topped with a green gloop devoid of any flavour and containing what I hope were sesame seed, and we decided we had had enough and decided to leave. The chef, called by the waiter, mumbled to my husband that his food was not for everyone. DAMN RIGHT! Whatever it was that they served us was unfit for human consumption. What made the experience even more absurd was, they had the boldness to charge us for the glass of wine my husband had consumed, as part of the wine pairing. This restaurant has 4.5 stars in the reviews and, at least on paper, it was the perfect profile for us. How did things go so wrong? Was this a subnormal night? The memory of the many other diners' unhappy faces, lead me to believe so. Every restaurant can experience a disastrous evening. Unfortunately, the experience was bad enough that we will not try again.

Wonderful restaurant in a less travelled zone of Alfama, reinventing typical portuguese ingredients in a creative and exciting way. The chef and his kitchen team are also the ones attending customers, in a warming environment.

A Experiência mais negativa e nunca mais repetir. Tudo tão mau que nem vale a pena fazer mais comentários.

Um menu pensado, bem executado, mas as quantidades no total são muito pequenas...saí com fome... Serviço adequado e simpático...

This place is over priced and very disappointing. We have eaten in many high end restaurants around the world and this is definitely sub paar. Especially for the price you can get a wonderful fresh meal around Lisbon. Avoid this place at all cost and do something more worthwhile with your money. There was not a single dish out of the tasting menu that anyone enjoyed (and there were 4 of us), we kept giving them back almost in the same form we received them and even though the waiter noticed and we had a conversation about it, no compensation / alternative was offered. All we were told is that it’s ‘special’ and not everyone likes it... We are people who usually eat everything but the meat and fish were dry, the desert was not eatable and we really started laughing after every dish because it was so ridiculous. We have been in Portugal multiple times, loves the food and never experienced something so horrible like today - we got back home hungry after paying €200.

A " real experience " of tonight !!( 25 August 2019) If you like over cooked fish and potatoes or a dried meat or celery as desert but with very sophisticated stories go for it!! The food is horrible the service but the stories behind the non eatable food are great!

What a wonderful gastronomic experiment. The meal was a rollercoaster of tastes and surprising flavours. Go with an open mind and palette.

Best Foto, best Service in Lisbon so far.

A truly unique gourmet experience. The chef makes crazy menus and displays an array of creativity in a sort of chaotic fashion. The punk rock of gourmet. Not for the faint of heart as the chef is highly experimental and there is a high tempo for the server. Also great coffee. Highly recommended for the ones that are looking for a new concept.

Small traditional restaurant. We enjoyed a multi course gastronomic menu with wine menu. Good quality food and drinks and friendly staff.

I want to like this place and the tasting menu only concept, and the relative affordability of it compared with something with a Michelin star, but we had a bad night here and we just wish the restaurant had turned us away when we arrived. We made a last minute reservation via their website, and when we arrived, they had no record of it and had obviously not planned for us. Their website and Facebook is very out of date and does not reflect the very limited opening hours and what appears to be just one seating per night. The first few dishes started out strong and we were excited, but it very soon came apparent that they had simply run out of ingredients and had started to sub in things around the kitchen, ending the main courses with a straight up terrible steak dish that was inedible for most. Hate to rate a restaurant on only one visit, but our bill was substantial (in Lisboa) for 5 people and wine, and when there are literally hundreds of other restaurants within a few blocks, it stung. Still worth a visit, but I'd go early, and with plenty of advanced notice. Service was friendly.

Unconfortable space. Crammed guests on top of one another. Too many tables. Tasting menu only with uninspired, poorly executed food. Eternal wait between steps. Left frustrated, bored and hungry.

Maybe this restaurant is an elaborate practical joke on foodies like me? If so, then bravo. Not only was the service so disjointed that it was uncomfortable, but the food coming out of the kitchen was totally lackluster and almost non-sensical. The first course tasted like nothing because the two components themselves tasted like nothing. The second course tasted like nothing because the three components had nothing to do with each other and all the flavors just got muddled together. The main course was rabbit chops, which are exactly as tiny as they sound like they would be and exactly as annoying to eat as you would assume. Not only that, but they were paired with whole beans (similar to favas), snails and a fried dough kind of thing that is apparently traditional in Portugal (?) There was nothing tying all these ingredients together, just four ingredients on a plate, arranged somewhat artistically. It was just a disappointment, from start to finish, which is sad because there is a lot of potential here but it just seems like the kitchen is trying too hard to be creative with flavors and ingredients instead of focusing on the things that make a restaurant successful: delicious food and strong service; I would not return.

Outstanding tasting menu and wine pairings. Food on par with Michelin star restaurants nearby for a fraction of the cost. Only one of our approximately 8 courses wasn't outstanding.

Inventivo e interessante. Evite pedir harmonização com vinhos, eles não conseguem coordenar bem o serviço de vinhos com os pratos.

Hög kvalitet på den gastronomiska upplevelsen med spännande smakkombinationer och många överraskningar. Dock är det ganska trångt i lokalen då alltför många bord trängts in på mycket liten yta. Med endast en servitris blir servicen tyvärr lidande också. Vid flera tillfällen glömde hon bort vårat bord... I helhet en mycket livlig, spännande kväll dock väl värd ett besök. Mycket facila priser med tanke på kvaliteten på mat och vin dessutom.

Set menu, interesting presentation, quality ingredients, lovely service. Worth a stop when you're in Lisbon.

Really disappointed having seen previous reviews. We booked for Easter Sunday expecting it to be very busy as the place is tiny but there was only a handful of other guests. The staff are absolutely fantastic and give very friendly welcome. Sadly the food was a source of major disappointment: none of the dishes we had tasted were remotely interesting either in presentation or flavour. I've tried enough tasting menus to have something to compare with and none of the flavours were interesting or worked together, or complimented each other well. Perhaps we happened to be there on an odd day when imagination was lacking - one of the small dishes was rice mixed with onions with a flavoured biscuit on top: just like an onion risotto, with an added biscuit that didn't work together. Thankfully, much more interesting flavours awaited us in other places - Lisboetas are spoiled for choice when it comes to great food.

Fin très très fin menu dégustation 40€ un délice !

Merveilleux moment dans un super cadre. Penser à réserver mais vous ne pouvez pas être déçu. Une cuisine créative avec des produits frais. Superbe adresse !!

At Boi Cavalo you have only one option: the tasting menu (40€), which you can enjoy with whine pairing (+25€). Food is generally quite good. Interesting whine selection. Service is relaxed, not too formal. Interiors are simple but tasteful, music is decent enough. We asked for tea along with desert. They said "We don't have tea in the menu". We said "is there anyway you can try to make some?". They said "No".

Des plats délicieux avec beaucoup de saveurs differentes et un super service

Excelente Restaurante de fusão. É uma viagem por sabores únicos. Serviço superior.

Gostei muito da experiência. Excelente atendimento, boa qualidade de ingreditentes e vinhos, pratos inovadores.

For an intimate, full-flavor discovery of Portugal, Boi Cavalo is the small plate restaurant you must visit. To visit the Alfama neighborhood at night and not eat here would be a crime. Cuisine and service are creative, passionate tour of the authenticity you're craving. If you go, do NOT pass up the wine pairing. The sommelier is top notch. Make some friends, dine with other jovial foodies and be inspired.

Wir hatten ein fantastisches Silvestermenü - jeder Gang war traumhaft und die Weinbegleitung ausgezeichnet! Der Service ist sehr sympathisch und die Einrichtung angenehm unaufgeregt! Ein rundherum zu empfehlendes Restaurant! Ich werde bei meinem nächsten Lissabonaufenthalt sicher wieder hingehen!

Unbedingt hin gehen! Wir hatten ein 10 Gang Menü und jeder einzelne Gang war ein Feuerwerk. Weinbegleitung war auch sehr gut und mit das beste was ich aus Portugal probieren durfte.

Menu imposé à 28 euros. Le restaurant est répertorié dans un celebre guide français, toutefois il ne m'a pas transporté plus que ça pour un tel tarif. Je vous ne le conseil pas.

Trying to hard to be inventive--a lot of misses. Nice wine. low price for prix fixe---but you get what you pay for. Will not recommend

Restaurante simpatico, descontraido. Staff muito atencioso e simpatico. Comida boa, acima da media, pratos de autor bem confeccionados e embora não estejam ao nivel de outros restaurantes de grandes Chefs de renome, pelo preço mais reduzido é uma ecperiencia muito agradavel e recomendavel

I wanted to like this much more than I did. I'd give it 3.5 stars if Google would let me. The service was great. Our waitress handled us being late due to travel difficulties, and she recommended two great wines as well as guiding us through each course while managing the rest of the table. She deserves five stars. The dishes however mostly missed. The chef shows tremendous promise but simply doesn't yet have the skill to wing it each night based on ingredients he finds at the market. There were many ideas expressed but little overall thought given to making the ingredients in each dish work with each other. I don't feel it is worth paying for the chef's practice. The first course of egg and purslane with brown rice jus was very good. The tuna was swimming in the bean purée and calf's blood butter that accompanied it. Far too overpowering for such a good cut of meat. The blackberry marinated veal with mushroom dust and rice cracker was ok. The oyster and arugula caesar side salad were delicious accompaniments to a lackluster fried quarter chicken. The chicken was dry (no buttermilk marinade) and there were multiple chunks of unfried batter hiding in the chicken's nooks and crannies. On the positive side, the fry was light and crispy even if it lacked seasoning or much flavor. The cheeses served were nice, but pickled radishes would be better served as an appetizer/palate cleanser, not as a segue into dessert. Also, the bread was dry, unsalted, and not worthy of the cheese meant to be spread on it. In fairness, this has been my universal experience over the past five days in Portugal. Finally, the dessert of caramelized white chocolate with watermelon sorbet, some sort of green, and another slice of what looked like soggy watermelon fruit leather fell flat. The green offered no complement to the other parts, and the watermelon treatment was weird both in flavor and texture without any apparent purpose. I wish the chef well, though. Honestly! There are glimmers of future greatness, but he needs to focus and hone his craft rather than conducting further experimentation at the expense of his diners. -i.

O serviço é muito simpático, no entanto só quando chegamos ao local é que nos apercebemos que só tínhamos uma opção menu degustação por 35€ por pessoa). A comida é boa mas não surpreende, e também notei uma certa pressão para os clientes beberem vinho, de resto gostei da decoração e do ambiente do espaço,

Excellent. Saveurs très originales qui se mariaient parfaitement. Très bon accueil, un seul menu dégustation unique mais ce concept permet d'avoir une grande qualité et de la recherche.

Très bonne table et accueil chaleureux.

Wir können das restaurant leider nicht empfehlen. Das Preis Leistungs verhältnis stimmt nicht. Wir haben 100 euro für 2 personen ausgegeben. Haben über 2 stunden auf 7 gänge gewartet von denen keiner das warten wert war (z.b. stabmuschel mit thaibasilikumblatt, ein stückchen schweinfilet an einem klecks kartoffel und spinat püree oder drei stückchen käse). Wenn man weiss das man zu zweit für 30 euro in lisabon bereits sehr gute hausmannskost essen kann ärgert einen die verschwendete zeit und das geld. Kein wunder das in diesem laden nur touristen sitzen. Immerhin der service war sehr gut und das essen nicht ungeniesbar.

Un menu dégustation excellent!!!!

we had an excellent meal here. I have food allergies which can be a pain for the chef during a tasting menu. But they were generous about it, and made the necessary substitutions, and my food was still wonderful. My husband and son both loved their meals as well. And this was the best service we had the entire time we were in Portugal. This is a great place for dinner.

Restaurante em plena Alfama, que se pode definir como uma experiência gastronómica. Ó atendimento foi atencioso mas demorado e os pratos não me conquistaram.

La cuisine liboète revisitée. Nous étions un peu surpris qu'il n'y avait pas de carte, seulement un menu de 5 mets. La serveuse nous explique qu'il y a aussi 3 surprises... Contrairement à la mode, les plats ne sont pas décrit à l'ingrédient près; on a droit à l'ingrédient principale et son accompagnement ou épicé principale. Le reste est à découvrir avec le palais. Les ingrédients sont connus, frais et locaux, mais l'assemblage est ... innovant, surprenant, ... en cuisine, ça se décarcasse. Nous n'avons pas aimer tous les plats, mais ça n'était vraiment pas grave par rapport à ce qu'on a pu découvrir. Une équipe en cuisine qui risque de faire un malheur dans l'avenir. Nous sommes repartis rassasiés et heureux.

Super madoplevelse og udsøgt betjening til fantastisk pris, set med danske øjne

Ein Geheimtipp! Unbedingt reservieren.

Had an absolutely wonderful experience here. Great wine suggestion, went well with the delightful plates. Lovely subtle tastes. For the quality (and quantity) of food, extremely affordable. Both server and chef talked with us about the meal in detail. Of all the places that we've eaten at in Lisbon, our heart is here. Don't miss it.

Innovative leckere Küche in gemütlichem Ambiente

A dinner at Boi-Cavalo is one of those rare experiences where you know that every detail has a purpose, a precisely defined role in a well written story - but you can't do else but simply enjoy yourself to the fullest. I might travel to Lisboa just to repeat this again and again.

Muito, muito bom! Uma excelente experiência gastronómica a um preço razoável.

Definitely adventurous food. Modern and intriguing with strong Portuguese flavors at it's roots. Exceptional value and great service.

Sehr gutes und einfallsreiches Essen! Selbst für mich als Vegetarier hat die Küche ein fantastisches Menu gezaubert.

This is the big next big thing that is big already, the food is forging new directions and has adventure in its soul. It is great value and very relaxed.

Recomendado por revista tapas

Pequeno, moderno e desafiante. Uma excelente ementa para quem gosta de ser surpreendido.

Profoundly excellent gastronomic adventures to be had here. Intimate setting, about 25 seats. Great wine. The chef was a visual artist, and it shows, but the flavors make the meal transcendent.

If you like the small modern places in Paris or Copenhagen that focus on putting the putting the produce in the center of the restaurant experience, you are gonna love this place. Cutting edge focus on vegetables (although not vegetarian at all), local produce and small portions beutifully plated. No nonsense interior and kind service keeps the attion on the great food and wine. This place is years ahead of what seems to be happening on the Lisbon ding sceene in general.

I don't know enough of Portuguese food to compare, but what we experienced was modern, a little different than the norm and super delicious. Less touristic than the rest of Alfama (restaurant had actual Portuguese people in it), super small and a great experience ;-)

Service was very good and friendly, food was delicious! definitely recommend this place. It would be even better if they had a terrace but we still went and definitely did not regret!

Friendly and attentive service, fresh ingredients with some really intriguing meat choices and original preparations in a beautifully simple and cozy setting. This was a highlight of our stay in Lisbon. Tips: reserve early and ask your waiter how actually large your portion will be, quantities vary a lot depending on the dish. Definitely recommended!