Portuguese cuisine -- much like Belgian fashion and Canadian rock music -- has an identity problem. Overlooked and underrated by the world at large, it inevitably suffers by comparison with the better-known output of its far larger neighbor, Spain.
Over several visits to Lisbon, we have found the food to be honest and straightforward, less sensuous and varied than Spanish perhaps, but no less satisfying. This is an assessment that holds true at Manuel, Tokyo's first and only Portuguese restaurant, which is finally (after an on-off start) up and running on the leafy fringes of Shibuya.
It's a small, tidy place in southern European style -- whitewashed walls, wood panels, beams across the ceiling and simple but comfortable furniture. The bistro look is apt, since Manuel serves the kind of home cooking that would not be out of place on the banks of the Tagus.