Eating out is a tricky endeavour if you intend to try a new place. Old favourites have the advantage of a particular dish, or a great view or something else that makes you come back. I had this in mind as I made my way to Pedro e o Lobo, in Lisbon, Portugal.

The place is not quite in the touristy centre, or in the heavily frequented Baixa-Chiado neighbourhood and as I walked through the quiet streets of Lisbon, I wondered if this trek was going to be worth it.

I shouldn’t have been so worried.

As I entered the restaurant, a waiter glided up to me and smoothly manoeuvred me to an available table. The decor features lots of wooden panelling but is not as harsh as Scandinavian styles can be; it’s a little mellower, perhaps more robust than that.

The menu is not long. This is a good sign, in my opinion. Too many places try to cook everything under the sun and end up being average at all of them rather than mastering a smaller selection of items. The kitchen shows that it is confident it can tackle the items listed and it didn’t take long for me to realise that the menu writes cheques the kitchen can expertly cash.

As I waited for my tuna steak, I was offered the usual collection of olives, bread sticks and oil. The background soundtrack was seventies funk – not an obvious choice, but it somehow worked.

I asked for a recommendation for the wine. I tend to try local wines when I can and the sign of a good restaurant is one that has staff who know what wines work with different dishes. The waiter suggested a Passagem wine which was a crisp balance to the tuna.

The steak was perfectly seared, rubbed in sea salt and was tender enough to practically melt in my mouth. It was chaperoned by a selection of crunchy vegetables – beans, baby carrots and endives. You rarely see the latter outside of Belgium and this was a pleasant surprise.

I followed this with their carefully curated cheese dish with assorted chutneys. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so I often go for this sort of thing; but it’s not every day you get chutney accompanying the cheese.

This is the kind of food the gods make.

Pedro e o Lobo is the kind of place that can easily shimmy its way into you favourites list with its quiet, all-smiling staff, excellent food selection, powerful and efficient kitchen and effortless atmosphere.

I’m can’t wait to go back to Lisbon.

Restaurante Pedro e o Lobo
Rua do Salitre 169
Lisbon, Portugal