Lupulo-- 835 6th Ave, New York

For my dad's birthday, we decided to go for some authentic Portuguese food, Lupulo, which is owned by a season 1 Top Chef contestant, George Mendes. The restaurant is very Portugese inspired-- tile walls, roped barriers in between tables, a nautical tapas feel. To start, we ordered the brussel sprouts and the Ameijoas A Bulhao Pato. Its manila clams with a green verde broth. The brussel sprouts were salty from the panchetta, and there was good heat from the sauce. The clams were amazing-- rich, tender, a hot spicy broth, and crunchy grilled bread to dip. For my entree, I ordered the octopus with rice-- spicy, creamy and flavor packed-- the octopus was cooked to perfection-- and steaming hot! My mom ordered the lamb over rice-- very tender smoky lamb, perfumed with fennel.  My dad's entree was the Frango Piri-Piri. A butterflied, young chicken charred but tender, with spicy piri-piri sauce on the side, also great for the fries. Simple but perfect. For dessert, we ordered mini doughnuts, which came with two delicious sauces-- caramel and passion fruit. The passion fruit was a pleasant surprise-- it really bursted in your mouth with zesty, sweet flavors. Too bad they left out the candle for my dad's birthday... that was supposed to happen. Overall, what made Lupulo a great experience was not only the food, but also the atmosphere. I really I felt like I was back in Portugal, eating delicious, hot and spicy Portuguese food. 4 1/2 pineapples. Till next time!

-tdg