Calisto’s is an old favourite when it comes to restaurants in the south, its a hearty Portuguese, family restaurant that’s been around for as long as I can remember, and is renowned for good Portuguese food
The reason for my visit was my moms birthday last weekend, we decided on Calisto’s because we wanted something a little out of the ordinary that we normally wouldn’t go to but not to far out our way, so Calisto’s it was
As arriving to Calisto’s its almost like pulling up to a mansion, as its not in a shopping centre or designed like a typical restaurant, as we walked in the door we were warmly welcome and immediately seated, so first impressions were delightful, we only expected great things from here
From our warm welcomes to our waitress, service was great, our waiter seemed to be new because she seemed a little confused and all over the place at times but non the less did a great job as we could see she was trying her utmost to keep us happy
They have a great selection of Portuguese cuisine from Prawns, steaks trinchado, Peri Peri chicken and the works, I ordered a Portuguese steak, which is a Rump steak, toped with a slice of ham, egg and gravy and chips. The flavour was superb, the sauce was a creamy alternative from which I’m normally used to when ordering a Portuguese steak. The cut of steak however just had lots sinew in it, which made it hard to chew for me. The chips were crispy and fluffy inside, which went great with my gravy. I also had a taste of the peri peri chicken and Roasted vegetable both of which were very enjoyable. Made just the way it should be
Another thing Calisto’s is know for is for its Peri Peri sauce, if you like it hot, this is an awesome Chilli sauce, its hot and has great flavour, its not to oily tasting like some places, I believe this is because they use a good quality olive oil, it was delish on a bun with butter and drizzled over my steak. Even better yet, they know its good, so they even sell it in bottles so you can buy it for home
The Dessert was unfortunately Disappointing, I ordered a sticky toffee Pudding but its was more like a muffin, and it wasn’t the fact that it was made to look like a muffin, it was the fact that it was dry and bland. It looked so inviting when seeing it in the dessert display but once in my mouth, big let down.
The ambience throughout our whole meal was great, Portuguese music (I’m assuming) playing in the background was Cheerful, The décor has a very rustic feel, which face break walls with big open pan windows and doors looking out and random old trinkets hanging from the Ceiling, like an old guitar and bowls and radios, all random thing, it sets a great visual experience
The Price Range Is above average, not cheap but not toooo Expensive. There are Cheaper options like your light Meals for example a Prego if the other stuff is out of your budget. So if you have a little cash to spend for some authentic Portuguese food with a great Dinner or lunch vibe Calisto’s is the place
So I’m rating my Experience at Calisto’s with
I had A great lunch witch a great vibe, I felt like I could have been sitting in Portugal itself, the reason I haven’t rated it higher is mainly because of my food, the flavours of the steak was great but I don’t want to fight with my steak to get it down, another disappointment was the muffin or sticky toffee as they called it, visually it was beautiful but reason its called sticky is because it needs to be sticky
I will be going back to Calisto’s, and would suggest it to people if they looking for a nice Vibe and family setting, Even though my food and dessert weren’t perfect the rest of my experience was great
Rambling little Miss Sunshine 