Casa do Nunes opened in November, but it could be a hundred-year-old house

Casa do Nunes opened on 15 November 2025, but if we had been told it had more than a hundred years of history, we would probably have believed it. Not because it is frozen in time, but because, between the dishes, the recipes and the décor, this is a house that breathes history and tradition.

The project was born after José António Nunes – better known as Zé Tó – left the classic Solar dos Nunes, the restaurant in Alcântara that he helped to open with his father, José Nunes, and where he worked for 37 years. Although he and his wife, Paula Teixeira Nunes, thought they might be approaching the end of a chapter devoted to gastronomy and the art of good service, after countless phone calls from customers asking “where are you now?” and urging him to reopen, the idea of stopping was quickly replaced by the desire to open a new house. “It was the customers who gave us the strength to carry on,” confirms Zé Tó.

They found this space in Parede almost by chance, when they were still customers of the restaurant that used to be there, and in just a few weeks transformed it into what would become Casa do Nunes. “In just over a month, we did the building work and refurbishments and opened the doors,” says Paula, proud of this sea-facing space, decorated by herself and designed to be “our dining room”.

The mission is simple, but demanding: to welcome people as you would welcome friends and to serve only what you yourself would be happy to eat. “If it’s not good enough for me, it’s not good enough for anyone,” repeats Zé Tó, who gets up early to choose the fish, seafood, fruit and wine. It is this obsession with quality that explains why they are “fully booked until next month” and why so many people walk in asking how many years they have been there.

Almost the entire team comes from the past, including head chef Sónia Santos, “by my side for more than 24 years” (and to whom Zé Tó gives all the credit for the quality of the dishes). “This isn’t a beginning, it’s a continuation,” he stresses, invoking his father, José Nunes, founder of Solar dos Nunes and the great inspiration behind a lifetime devoted to restaurants.

At the table, Portuguese tradition is the rule, seasoned by the origins of both. From Trás-os-Montes come memories of milhos, botelos and mão de vaca com grão; from the Alentejo arrive açorda, dogfish soup, partridge and hare. “My in-laws are from Trás-os-Montes. My mother is from Serpa,” sums up Zé Tó.

Among the starters, the pata negra cured ham (€18) is a house signature, sliced by someone who “puts his head on the line” to ensure every slice is perfect, and whose leg sits in the middle of the room, right in front of the door, like a work of art on display.

For fish dishes, two soups that have accompanied him for decades stand out: the rich seafood soup (€48 for two people), which here gained a new name because of its proximity to Parede beach, and the grouper broth with clams (€28), created by his mother, with spinach to cut through the richness and a scent of the sea. It is “his rabbit out of the hat”: “When I realise people are looking for something different, with great quality and a natural aroma, this is the dish I always recommend.” For meat, the hare in a pot with white beans (€26) arrives marinated, with bacon, linguiça and fresh beans.

Tradition continues in the desserts, where the house focuses on the most classic Portuguese sweets. The rice pudding is creamy and the milk custard is burnt to order, made only with egg yolks, with a looser texture, “just like my mother used to make”, recalls Zé Tó. If you still have room, you can order the Doçaria Debilitada (€19.50), which brings together a selection of different sweets and is ideal for four people.

More than the dishes, there is a way of being that sets the place apart: attention to detail, the friendliness of the service and even the restaurant’s name – or a small tribute, like the one paid to Time Out – written in chocolate on the rim of the plate. “I started doing that [in Lisbon] for a table full of children. When I saw how happy they were, I ended up doing the same for celebrities like the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Roger Waters or Axl Rose.”

For the future, and despite being grateful for the support of the team, family, customers and suppliers, Zé Tó has one ambition: to keep this house of friends alive and to establish it as one of the best restaurants in Cascais. And of course, to continue honouring his father’s legacy. “I am his biggest fan. Everything I know I owe to my father, who only finished primary school. I want to show that my legacy hasn’t ended or is about to start again. It’s a continuation.”

Casa do Nunes by Zé Tó, R. Luanda 914 (Parede). Tue-Sat 12.00–16.00, 19.00–23.00; Sun 12.00-16.00

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