Portuguese Dining at O’ Sonho

I have been itching to give this restaurant a try because number one, I have been hearing a lot of good things about it and number two, I didn’t realize that I am so clueless about what Portuguese dining is.

The place was almost empty lest for one occupied table by the door. I got a bit worried. An empty (or in this case, an almost empty) restaurant is never a good news… or so I thought. Anyway, we settled to our table and browsed through their menu. I noticed that there were already priced changes (evident by the taped prices on the menu). I am not sure when they really opened, but a price change… that got me thinking.

And so we ordered the following:

Portuguese Gambas (Php 310) – I did not really notice anything different from the gambas except that it has more garlic than usual, almost hiding the olive oil. This dish was expected to be spicy which is perfectly fine with me because I can eat spicy food. It consisted of nine small plump deboned shrimps. As the dish ahd so much garlic, it is of course, expected to taste as such. It went well with the bread which I am not really sure if the basket came with the dish or was a house complement. In any case, it was good.

Peri-peri Chicken (Php 320) – Peri-peri is used in Portuguese cooking for added spice. It is said to be the African word for chilli. Prior to eating this dish, I know it would be spicy. It was served with rice which was cooked in some broth that made it very flavourful and with some more chilli sauce where you can dip your chicken to. The meat was juicy and tender even if the part was white meat. The serving, judging by the cup of rice that was included was good for one but because I have little space in my stomach (okay, fine, I try to be on a diet). I believe this dish will be good enough for two (just order another rice).

Tenderloin Steak (Php 620) – two blocks of meat wrapped in honey bacon and covered in beets. The dish came with buttered mashed potato. The meat was perfectly cooked as it was very tender and it actually felt like eating chicken. As for the taste, it was on the sweet side which I’m not really a fan of. But nothing like the remedy (also one way to ruin your steak) of  putting some A1 Steak Sauce. Don’t get me wrong, the flavour was not at all bad. It was just quite sweet to be meat for me but I was able to consume a chunk nonetheless.

Lemon Iced Tea (Php 200) – the drink came in a fish bowl, literally. I liked this iced tea as it came with fresh lemons. Also, aside from the usual sweetness that you taste from iced teas, theirs had a hint of bitterness that was just right for the palette. It’s also evidently for sharing.

I noticed at the end of our meal, the place seemed to have quite a number of customers already which was good. The ambiance and the lighting was good enough to allow conversations. Spanish / Portuguese samba music was being played all throughout the night which puts you right in the mood to chill-out and relax.

O’ Sonho

20 Jupiter Street Makati City

(63-2) 8963289

(63922) 8707844