Galeto really is a place that deserves phrases such as ‘hidden gem’ and ‘place where locals visit’. With no social media presence, nor website, you’ll only find it by accident or by recommendation.

We stayed in the nearby Hilton DoubleTree – one of the guys on reception suggested Galeto when I asked for a nearby place that locals visit. Open from 7.30 am to 3.30 am – we went for dinner.

Galeto is huge, with multiple lines of counters, where diners sit side-by-side on stools.

The stools are a little high for the table, so our knees were right against the table underside. Maybe people were smaller, back when Galeto first opened in 1966.

Bread, pâté and cheese arrived automatically. Our waitress didn’t speak any English and so it took a while to discover that wine was only served by bottle or half bottle. A half bottle of house red was €6.50. A small bottle of water €1.65.

This was supposed to be Octopus, but we received what was probably deep-fried John Dory with a sort of risotto €15.95. As we couldn’t communicate with our waitress and it was perhaps our fault for mis-pointing, we took it. It was still pretty good.

Luckily, the other choice of Monkfish fillets, rice, prawns and clams €17.90 arrived as ordered. That was excellent.

I’d tried the bread and some sardine pâté. The bread appeared on our bill as €0.85 and the pâté €1.60.

I made the mistake of trying the cream cheese (also €1.60). This dripping, pungent cheese was definitely not for me and I had to order a few glasses of tawny Port (€3.50) just to get over the taste – well that’s the excuse I used anyway.

Galeto is busy, local and chaotic, but the food and prices are good. You could visit for breakfast, lunch or dinner – I’m pretty sure you could just stop by for a beer and they’d be fine with it.

Why Galeto?

The restaurant was started by six Brazilians, who wanted to serve a small barbecued chicken dish made popular by the Italian community in Brazil – the dish is called galleto in Italian. The current owner is the son of one of the founders.

Galeto
Avenida da República 14
1050-191 Lisbon

(+351) 21 354 4444

(+351) 21 353 3646

galeto@netcabo.pt