Thank you thank you for all your replies. This is exactly what we are looking for. Our experience in Portugal five years ago when we were there was that although everyone we knew predicted that the food was uninteresting, we had great meals, even if we couldn't find a vegetable to save ourselves. We had a wonderful meal in Coimbra in a restaurant in a tiny alley with no name on the door...we first walked into the kitchen, then into a teeny dining room where the walls were covered with graffiti--sound familier to anyone?
