Chef Zé Saudade e Silva’s family-run bistro, Cacué, is exactly the kind of restaurant Anthony Bourdain would have omitted in the final cut of a No Reservations episode in order to keep the secret to himself. It is, in simplest terms, exactly the restaurant a salt-of-the-earth chef dreams of owning.
Fussy white tablecloths and molecular cooking are nowhere to be found here, but you’d be a fool not to realize that Zé has the chops to deliver that type of fine-dining if he’d care to. Thankfully, his attention is firmly directed at whipping up a melt-in-your-mouth prego, a delicately spiced crab soup, and arguably the best baccalhau a bras in town.
It’s Portuguese soul cooking of the highest order; homey but romantic; simple but rich. In a city full of great tascas, this is the local eatery that soars above them all. And go to Cacué’s equally brilliant sister-restaurant, Suzana.
O jornalismo que a Mensagem de Lisboa faz une comunidades,
conta histórias que ninguém conta e muda vidas.
Dantes pagava-se com publicidade,
mas isso agora é terreno das grandes plataformas.
Se gosta do que fazemos e acha que é importante,
se quer fazer parte desta comunidade cada vez maior,
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