Non-smoking Portugese restaurants?

[Rosie]

chopjwu12--Can you recommend any restaurants in the Ironbound section?

Good to see you posting.

[menton1]

Let me tell you something about the "portugese" restaurants in newark.........most of them suck and they are as far from real portugese food as you can get. Being a chop first generation speaking the language and visiting the country every two years or so i think i can come as close as you can get to being a pro on the food. So please stop nitpicking on what Menton is saying because he is 100% correct on what they are saying by being touristy. Yeah they have a couple of authentic dishes but thats as far as they go.

'Thank you Chop! Nice to have a voice of reason here (Particularly since you argree with me! ) I have been to Lisbon and these places in Newark with their enormous portions and combining of Spanish and Portuguese styles is definitely for the tourist crowds and bogus.

The other issue was smoking. No smoking in restaurants in NY.

Have you been to Alfama in NY? If so, how authentic is it?

[bhelpuri]

they are as far from real portugese food as you can get. Being a chop first generation speaking the language and visiting the country every two years or so i think i can come as close as you can get to being a pro on the food. So please stop nitpicking on what menton is sating because they are 100% correct on what they are sayign by being touristy.

Don't be silly.

There's no reason to produce credentials on this food forum, first of all.

But, most important, the allegation that some (not all) of the restaurants in Newarks' Ironbound are "not authentic" is nonsense. The place recommended twice now, Seabra's Marisqueria, has 90% of its clientele from Portugal, at least. It can actually be hard to get a server who speaks English.

Roughly the same is true for a couple of other places, as well as most of the grocery stores.

I'm all for seeking as close to the original as possible, but it's patently ridiculous to strike off the Ironbound as touristy. Specifically, I defy anyone presumably in the know to go to the aforementioned restaurant and dismiss it as anything but the real deal.

[chopjwu12]

Like i said i dont go to those places. My parents have always believed that there a ripoff and not very good. So we dont eat out at them very often at all. SO i cant really recomend one. I do rememebr liking siebres fejioada(sp) it was full of tripe, sausage, pigs ear and all the things i love. It was a special that day and my parents and i just stopped in for a drink an da quick bite at the bar after shopping. We all got the same thing and as a looked around at the chops in there and the americans in there. Only the chops were eating the stew.

As for alfama you have raised my interest. My wife and i have just moved to the city and i would be really interested in eating there one day. Maybe sometime in two weeks, after mothers day. I will report on it for sure.

[menton1]

Sorry, please disregard.

Edited May 4, 2004 by menton1 (log)

[bhelpuri]

I suggest, not that humbly, that you go to Seabra's by yourself, revel in the all-Portuguese/only-Portuguese counter scene, and then return to pass judgement about the restaurant's Luso-chops.

Edited May 4, 2004 by Rosie (log)

[menton1]

Bhelpuri, there may be 1 or 2 authentic Portuguese places in Newark, but the vast majority of them are not.

Furthermore, if it is authentic, there will be a fog of cigarette smoke pervading the dining room. That is what the title of this thread is seeking to avoid.

Bhelpuri, have you been to Alfama in NY?

[bhelpuri]

No, I have not been to Alfama.

Of course, if you wanted to ask me, the very name of the restaurant reeks of touristy-ness.

But I wouldn't be so cavalier to pass judgement before I tried it out, and I have eaten memorable - totally "authentic" - Portuguese meals in Manhattan before, most memorably at the outpost 'Pao'.

[tommy]

since when did "authenticity" become so important in picking a Portuguese place in NJ? NJ has a whole bunch of Portuguese restaurants in newark and plenty of other places that, to my mind, offer the same type of experience. i'm not sure if it's "authentic", but it's pretty clear what people are looking for when they discuss, in terms of NJ, a "Portuguese restaurant in the ironbound or elsewhere."

anything else seems fodder for a discussion possibly better served on a thread of its own where we can throw around terms like "authentic" all day long without ever having to make a restaurant recommendation, or clouding a request for the same.

Edited May 4, 2004 by tommy (log)