Omanel Restaurant

My husband and I love Portuguese food. Saturday night, we decided to go to Bridgeport and have dinner at Omanel Restaurant. From the moment we walked in the door, we were made to feel welcome. Lisa, our server was exceptionally welcoming and competent. The food was authentic, perfectly cooked, fresh and tasty. We liked everything we ordered. We both had Ameijoas a Bulhao de Pato as an appetizer. What a delight! The Portuguese bread they gave us was perfect to soak up every bit of the garlicky sauce they were cooked in. Much to my surprise, the sauce had cilantro; I always expect Portuguese food to have parsley instead of cilantro. It was good, however, and definitely not overwhelming. My husband had grilled balcalhau with potatoes and vegetables on the side. I ordered one of the specials, which consisted of a variety of seafood in a tomato sauce. It came with white rice on the side. We shared a flan and had espresso for the perfect ending to this delicious meal. The portions were big. The ambiance was pleasant. We plan to return and hope that Lisa will be our server again.

So delicious Portuguese food! We ordered steak and salad. Fresh bread with butter on the side and a beautiful table setup welcomed us, along with fresh, real flowers. We ordered calamari as an appetizer, and while I didn't think I would eat much, all those smells made me so hungry right at the start! Although we only had water, they have sparkling water, tea, espresso, wine, and many other drinks to accompany your meal. Our steak came on a hot stone rack. (tip: call ahead if you order a hot rack because the stone takes about 25 minutes to heat prior to your meal. We did and it worked out perfectly!) The steak is raw and you can add fresh garlic, rock salt, and lemon to the steak as it cooks, slice it as you prefer until desired temperature and eat right away. The salad was delicious too, raw onions and olives with the pit (Portuguese style you can't taste anywhere else) to accompany the typical house salad toppings and olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing, and white rice like no other I've tasted (and I eat lots of rice, as Japanese and Asian cuisine are my favorite and good for the skin). To split between 2, you'll both feel full and have leftovers! Finished off with a orange pekoe black hot tea. Can't wait to come back and eat everything else :)

Very easily one of the better Portuguese restaurants I have been to in this state. My only knock was that my dish(which was one of the simpler ones to make) took wayyyyyyy to long to come out of the kitchen and by the time I was served everyone else had already eaten. That being said all the food was prepared to taste and cooked well. Their version of kale soup wasnt as hearty as I had hoped for but the linguica (portuguese sausage) was high quality. They serve a wonderful bread/roll to whet your whistle while you wait and their menu is fairly extensive. Their homeland specialties are not available at most any other basic restaurant of this nature so this place is a real treat. I loved the flavors and the ambiance of this establishment and am looking forward to the next visit in hopes that they improve upon this past experience. Authentic Portuguese food done well.

Old world feel with an excellent dining experience. Even though O'Manel is on a part of town that some might consider sketchy, you be well enough getting rid of any misconceptions. The food was expectacular!! It a great place for a date night. A little on the pricey side on their dinner menu, but I have check their website and they more moderate prices for the lunch menu. We went there to celebrate my wife's birthday and the staff was really courteous and the food got to our table really fast. We ordered some Lulas Fritas (Fried Calamari) and they were really fresh and delicious. Food is plenty and should be shared. I ordered the Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa (Salted codfish baked with potatoes) and windup taking half of it home.