El Cabron - Largo Santos 5, 1200-808 Lisboa
First things first: happy new year! I hope you had a good start in 2020 and it remains a good year!
This time I’m gonna talk about El Cabron, a Mexican restaurant located in Santos. I and some friends choose this place for dinner for the last meal of 2019. I’ve never been there before and I was excited to try out a new Mexican place in Lisbon.
The menu was pre-chosen and for the price, it sounded really cool. It had totopos y pico de gallo and quesadillas for starters and then tacos or burritos for the main course. Lastly, he had homemade churros. All for 35€. That’s really cheap considering it was a meal in new year’s eve.
The place as a cool Mexican vibe, with a lot of cultural references such as wrestling masks, painted skulls, Mexican music and a good set of neon lights that draw the attention. It’s an Instagram catchy place where you feel welcomed. As we began to sit – we were eight people – a lot of other people began coming into dinner as well and in a few minutes, the restaurant was packed.
At this time, some problems began. There were only two employees, one was preparing cocktails behind the bar and the other was attending the tables. I don’t understand how any restaurant owner believes two employees are enough to serve on a busy night like this. Of course, it went sour, with us complaining as were other tables. The services was a mess, although the two guys tried their best.
Foodwise, it didn’t amaze me or left a good impression. The starters were good, with the totopos beeing tasty and crunchy and the guacamole had really good flavor. The margaritas were nice, although some juices were not fresh from fruit. That was a bummer. If you’re going to have a cocktail, you shouldn’t drink with bottled juice.
As for the tacos, they sure weren’t amazing. We ordered a bunch of different types and some were okay but must were simply not good, especially the ones with cow tongue. It just doesn’t fit at all.
I guess El Cabron is one of those Mexican restaurants that seems really cool and hipster but the food does not match the ambiance. It’s blend, simple, with not much heart in it. Lisbon has a good variety of these kinds of restaurants and for me, El Cabron simply doesn’t cut it.