The Gardens of Portugal opens in Kings Park

Long concentrated in its stronghold of Mineola, Portuguese and Brazilian food — known for heroic presentations of grilled and barbecued meat — has been spilling east across Long Island. While the Brazilian chain Fogo de Chao has grabbed the spotlight as of late, the cuisine has much more quietly arrived in Kings Park.

The Gardens of Portugal takes up residence where Long River Restaurant used to be on the corner of Main Street and Indian Head Road. That sprawling space had, in recent years, evolved from a Chinese restaurant to a Chinese-Portuguese fusion spot before going all in with caldo verde and rodizio, a parade of all-you-can-eat barbecue that rotates among 10 different meats (primarily beef), costs $39.95 and is available Thursday to Sunday.

The restaurant’s dining room is a charming, if slightly austere, time warp, cast in brick and mustard hues with dark wood tables, potted ferns and a flickering gas fire in the middle of the space. Out front, along the street, is a stone patio, while near the back entrance — closest to the parking lot for the Kings Park Long Island Rail Road station — is a full bar.

Meals are launched by baskets of hot, shatteringly crisp potato chips. Appetizers ($13 to $19) run through Portuguese classics such as curl of octopus grilled to a pliable char, then piled with roasted peppers and onions and dressed in citrus and olive oil. Littleneck clams steamed in a buttery wine broth with showers of cilantro is a Lisbon specialty; a cold-weather comfort. Of the main courses ($19 to $36), skirt steak in a portobello sauce was peppery and fork-tender, but the traditional Portuguese dish carne de porco a Alentejana — pork butt with clams and potatoes — was tough and overcooked.

There is plenty of seafood on the menu — from stuffed, steamed and broiled lobster to bacalhau, or salted cod, served two ways — as well as multiple expressions of grilled steak, lamb, and pork, plus goat and rabbit stews or barbecued chicken sold whole or halved. (A smoker is visible on an outdoor patio). A few Italian dishes dot the menu, too, from antipasto to a few pastas; flan and cheesecake are among the desserts.

The Gardens of Portugal is open for lunch and dinner every day but Monday at 4 Main St., Kings Park; 631-544-4666, gardensofportugal.online