Luso :: 101 E. Main St. Smithtown

Luso, a Portuguese wood char BBQ restaurant, adds yet another international sampling for Smithtown’s already diverse “menu.” Luso also completes the original mission of this blog to taste every dine-in eatery on Main Street. Good thing there’s more to Smithtown than just “the strip!”

Jennifer ate:

Sauteed Collard Greens — ($4.00)
Vinaigrette — ($4.00)
Fried Banana — ($4.00)
Heavenly Whites (dessert) — ($5.00)

That says, "Rodizio: all-you-can-eat MEATS..." which was not actually as surprising as it was funny. (At least it was for me.) Only $30 for all the meat you can eat! Hope they have a defibrillator in the back!

Okay, I’ll be honest. It’s almost not fair for me to review a Portuguese BBQ restaurant. I mean, I’m a vegetarian and this restaurant is ALL ABOUT meat. But we committed to reviewing all of Smithtown’s restaurants, so I felt compelled to give it a whirl. As expected, there were no vegetarian entrees, and not even any entrees that could be made vegetarian by eliminating the meat. The entrees WERE the meat, and they come with things on the side like rice and steamed vegetables. I did manage to find side dishes to sample at least.

But first, it’s pretty standard inside. Not sure I got any Portuguese ambiance, if there is such a thing. The cuisine could have been anything. They even had a “light” local radio station playing in the background. We were seated quickly in a nearly empty dining room.

It’s always interesting to see what a restaurant will bring to your table while you are either waiting to order or waiting for your food. And Luso brings out an unusual spread: a lightly dressed “salad” of iceberg lettuce, white onions and tomato, some rustic bread, and a small bowl of olives. It was fun to munch on while we waited.

Our server was somewhat difficult to understand, but we managed. I ended up with three of the four side dishes on the menu, and only skipped the fourth because it was black beans — which are usually prepared with ham or ham stock — and which our server confirmed that this was. The sauteed collard greens were very lightly sauteed, barely enough to wilt the greens. It was tasty, but bitter. It was much better when I spooned some of the vinaigrette on top, which is a chopped tomato and pepper vinegar-slash-dressing that is typically designed to top (what else?) meat! The best of the three was the fried banana, which was sweet and warm and really good. But as I’ve said before on this blog and elsewhere, you can deep fry just about anything and it will be tasty.

The presentation was nothing to write home about. And because I had so few options for the meal, I had room for dessert. I tried the Heavenly Whites while Chuck opted for the Chocolate Mud Pie (but only because I had already ordered the Heavenly Whites). The Heavenly Whites was a sundae-glass full of a yellow caramel-like cream, some crumbled vanilla cookies, and a great deal of whipped cream. And yes, it was delicious; although I could have used a bit more of the crumbled cookies. The Chocolate Mud Pie was good. It lived up to its name and was rich, decadent, and too much to finish — which is rare for me and a dessert. The Heavenly Whites was more unique and definitely tastier.

Admittedly, a vegetarian reviewing a Portuguese BBQ restaurant isn’t much of a review, but I found Luso to be an interesting addition to the Smithtown food landscape and would recommend it to all of the local carnivores out there. (See Chuck’s review below for more about that!)

The bottom line:

Sauteed Collard Greens – Bitter, but good. I think I prefer my bitter greens to be slightly more “wilted.”
Vinaigrette – This is what made the Collard Greens tasty. Chuck tried some on his Tilapia and liked it.
Fried Bananas – Sweet, warm, delicious. (And probably fattening.)
Overall rating: This is difficult for me for the reasons mentioned above, but I think I can see the merit here if you’re looking for a meat-based meal but they COULD grill up some veggies if they wanted to…. I bet they’d be tasty too.

Chuck ate:

Tilapia Grelhada ($16.95)
Chocolate Mud Pie (dessert) ($5.00)

My brother has frequented Portuguese BBQ restaurants in New Jersey and raves about them all the time. So I was eager to try Luso. This “Churrasqueira” which essentially means a wood-fired barbeque is certainly a great cultural edition to Smithtown’s strip. While the dining room was indeed empty, I’ve witnessed Luso (on more than one occasion) pretty packed for dinner. Meals are served “family style” which means the meat and sides all come as separate items. Each person can order something different and share.

I ordered the Tilapia since I wasn’t really in the mood for beef. Tiliapia is typically a very mild fish, but the flavor of the sweet butter and lemon sauce over the crispy/flaky wood-smoked fish was exceptional. The vegetables (broccoli, carrots, and potato) were steamed lightly and had just enough crunch for my liking. They were not seasoned so the flavor of the vegetables really came through. The rice, which had some carrots and peas, was also very good. I ended up getting half of the meal to go.

Like Jen mentioned the dessert menu is impressive (from a flavors standpoint). The Mud Pie was a little too rich for me (I’m not a dark chocolate kind of guy) – but the Heavenly Whites was light and extremely good.

The bottom line:

Tiliapia – Excellent flavor with a hint of smoked wood and a slight crunch with the white flaky fish, lemon butter was was also really good.
Overall rating: Luso is a great restaurant to bring friends. Since it’s different than the typical “family style” most Long Islanders are used to, I believe, it will make for a “different” night out. Just bring your appetite.

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