Restaurante Pátio is one of the most reliable places to eat in Lubango, with a menu that covers the range of what you would want after a day of driving the plateau roads. Grilled meat is the backbone — beef and goat done simply and well — alongside fresh fish brought up from Namibe on the coast. The kitchen also turns out proper Angolan comfort food: muamba de galinha, the national chicken stew cooked in palm oil with okra and garlic, is exactly what it should be here.
The setting lives up to the name — there is open-air seating in a courtyard that makes the most of Lubango's pleasant climate. It is a step up from the street churrascarias in terms of price and formality, but still entirely unpretentious. Reserve ahead if you are arriving with a group, particularly over weekends.