Eclectic menu and interesting specials make Lisboa a gem
By Todd Lyon
From the New Haven Register
 | | Antonio Carvalho, owner of Lisboa. Arnold Gold / Register galleries. |
Out in the wilds of Waterbury one night, after sitting on a blanket and drumming my thumbs to a bunch of bands at the Brass Ball festival, I got a lead on a nearby Portuguese restaurant with a very cool reputation.
Waterbury is technically my territory — it is, after all, part of New Haven County — but I rarely get there, and my info on its restaurant scene is sketchy at best.
So imagine my delight when, an hour later, I was sitting with a trio of pals at a table laden with stewed goat, roast suckling pig, paella and steak topped with a fried egg.
I’d read about Lisboa — it had been cooed over in The New York Times — but it surprised me nonetheless. First, the location: Just on the other side of the tracks, in an industrial part of town, Lisboa’s neighbors are tank farms and fuel trucks.
The building itself, a stand-alone structure, looks like it could double as a VFW hall; but inside there is a comfortable dining room with highly attentive servers, and a wonderful menu written in English and Portuguese.
I was fascinated by such options as Grilled Quail, Madeira Style Shish Kabob, Cod and Smoked Ham and a specials list that included the aforementioned Stewed Goat, which turned out to be the star of the show that night.
Owner Antonio Carvalho, known to one and all as Tony, says that his appetizers are famous in and around Waterbury. He should know: He’s been running Lisboa for 17 years.
Originally from Angola, Tony moved to Portugal in 1974 to escape his country’s civil war. He eventually came to the U.S. and earned degrees in manufacturing and engineering. "For 14 years, I worked in manufacturing," recalls the charming Tony. "When I turned 30, I thought it was the end of the world." In fact, it signaled his new life as a restaurateur.
"This place has always been a restaurant," he says of Lisboa. "First it was Frank’s, a Lithuanian restaurant. Then the Portuguese moved in to Waterbury."
Tony calls himself "a mutt": His father is African, his mother is Portuguese and he himself speaks three languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese). Lisboa’s menu reflects his background.
Besides Portuguese dishes like Grilled Sardines on Broa (a traditional corn bread), Lisboa features dishes like Shrimp Angola Style (with lemon butter sauce, sauteed or grilled), Clams Spanish Style (with onions, peppers and sausage in a red sauce) and Shrimp Mozambique, made with a rich, creamy sauce that Tony says is "an ancient secret."
"It’s our number one, our most famous dish," says Tony of the Shrimp Mozambique appetizer. But Lisboa is also known for its Paella Valenciana. "Even though it’s not a Portuguese dish, some people call us ‘the house of Paella.’," he notes.
Other favorites are Pork and Clams (marinated pork loin with littlenecks, pickled veggies, potatoes and white wine, served in a clay pot) and what is perhaps Lisboa’s most famous plate of all, Steak on the Rock. This is a lean, fully trimmed New York strip that comes out of the kitchen raw on a piece of granite — you cook it yourself. "Steak houses better watch out," laughs Tony.
All dishes at Lisboa are cooked by five women who have been with Tony for 10 years, including head chefs Rosa Carvalho and Gloria Moreira. "My kitchen is all ladies," says Tony with pride, "and they’re the best team in the world."
The dishes I tried that night were dramatic, highly flavorful and an excellent value (Pork and Clams, for instance, is $17.95); as an added bonus, each dinner is topped off by a complimentary shot of Licor Beirao, the Portuguese version of Gran Marnier, served in a chocolate cup. I promised Tony I’d be back to try all his dishes, and to soak up more of the warm Portuguese hospitality that is always a specialty at Lisboa.
Todd Lyon of New Haven is a freelance writer.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Place: Lisboa Restaurante, 19-23 Lafayette St., Waterbury.
• Phone: (203) 754-0789.
• Web: www.lisboarestaurant.com.
• Hours: Lunch — noon to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; dinner — 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Lounge/bar area open later. Closed Mondays.
• Reservations: Not accepted.
• Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discovery.
• Food: A Portuguese restaurant that’s been a favorite in Waterbury for 17 years features a variety of dramatic, flavorful dishes from Portugal, Spain and Africa. Top choices on the extensive menu are appetizers such as Shrimp Mozambique Style in a creamy, spicy sauce ($9.95); Grilled Quail ($3.75) and the Grilled Portuguese Sausage Flambe ($7.95). Entrees are plentiful, and many are served with Portuguese Fries, which are actually homemade potato chips. Lisboa’s top-selling entree is Paella Valenciana ($20.95), which has a different flavor than most other paellas I’ve tried, but is nonetheless delicious, and laden with lobster, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, chicken, pork, sausage and rice. Also recommended is Steak on the Rock ($20.95), a specialty of the house featuring a New York strip that you cook yourself on a sizzling slab of granite, and Pork and Clams ($17.95), starring lean pork loin that’s been marinated for 24 hours, then cooked with clams, pickled cauliflower, peppers, carrots and onions in a clay pot. Definitely try the specials: I was wowed by a dish of goat stewed in red wine. A small dessert of Licor Beirao in a chocolate cup is on the house.
Lunch is on a specials-only basis, and features four or five dishes a day in the $7.95-$11.95 range. Look for Grilled Sardines on Broa, Cod Lisboa, Shrimp Fra Diavolo and Beef Stew.
• Drink: There is a full bar, and, in fact, a full bar room/lounge, right off the dining room. Tony says he makes a mean Espresso Martini ($5.50) and an equally savage Cosmopolitan ($5.50), but I’m attracted to the wine list, which has a host of unusual selections at modest prices such as Grao Vasco (a fruity white, $16), Casa de Santar (a red blend, $21), Joao Piers (a dry white Muscat, $28), and, believe it or not, Mateus Rose ($18).
• Parking: In a dedicated lot on site.
• Private functions: Lisboa has a lower level with its own bar and deejay system that can accommodate parties of nearly any size. |
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