Ramiro in Lisbon

[docsconz]

My wife and I owe Miguel Cardoso a huge debt of gratitude for showing us how good simple and traditional Portuguese food could be.

Although we had an excellent New Portuguese meal at Pica No Chao and a good, albeit touristy dinner at the Fado restaurant Bacalhau de Molho in Alfama, we had been largely foundering in finding a really good traditional meal. I had actually made a reservation at one of Miguel's recommendations, Ramiro, but not speaking Portuguese, I wasn't sure how well that was going to work out. Shortly before our reservation Miguel got a hold of me on my cell phone. The man is amazing. He called the restaurant and ordered for us after he determined what would be best that day.

Neither my wife nor I have ever had a better shellfish meal, although we have had specific dishes eslewhere as good as or better than what we had at Ramiro. The whole, however, is unsurpassed in our experience.

We took the metro to Entendentes stop and found the restaurant on Admiral Reis. The Restaurant is Ramiro.

It is a neighborhood restaurant with all its fare out in the open to inspect.

We started with some small whole red shrimp with salt. We tore off the heads and ate the shrimp tails, shell and all.

We ate them with a short beer before moving on to a vinho branco, called Pera Manca from the Alentejo region and the 2001 vintage. This was an excellent wine, perfect for shellfish.

Next up I had a couple of huge Portuguese oysters with fresh lemon squeeze. These were amongst the largest oysters I have ever seen. While quite good, they were not particularly assertive. I prefer my oysters to be a bit brinier.

The Oysters.

The Loosening.

The Squeeze.

The Start.

The Approach

The Prize.

followed closely by shelled shrimp with olive oil and garlic (al ajillo). This was perhaps the best dish of its kind I have ever had and the single best dish we had in Portugal.

So hot it steamed my lens.

That's better! Fortunately, we had plenty of great bread for the garlic oil!

Clams with cilantro, white whine, garlic and olive oil

followed by a huge spider crab that we had previously chosen from its live state.

This was awesome and primal as we ate it with a sauce made from its organs and served in the main body shell. I have eaten some great crab, but I don’t believe I’ve eaten better.

At this point some special white shrimp had arrived at the restaurant. These succulunt delights were quickly prepared for us. Miguel, where are these from?

we had almost finished them before I remembereed to wipe my hands and photograph them.

To finish off the main part of the meal, my wife and I split a steak sandwich, that would make a Philadelphian blush with envy. This was not an intuitive choice at this restaurant, but was yet another stellar recommendation by Miguel.

We finished this meal with a split piece of chocolate cake that we had seen some neighbors eating. It too was excellent but we still wanted to save a little room for a return trip to Pasteis de Belem for some more Pasteis de nata.

Miguel, I didn't get back to you since we were too full to eat again that night and needed to pack anyway. In fact the worst part of this meal was that it occurred at the end of the trip. If not, I would happily have taken Miguel's advice and returned every day.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I am delirious with those shellfish closeups and those of you and your wife enjoying them with such pure pleasure! What memories you must have from this trip! Very envious!

[MMerrill]

Thanks for the great review and wonderful photos - wow! We'll be in Lisbon in a month and will add Ramiro to our restaurant list.

[docsconz]

Don't tell Miguel I told you!

He'll be happy we didn't have a chance to try any of his other potential recommendations.

[MMerrill]

He'll be happy we didn't have a chance to try any of his other potential recommendations

Ha! You know on an earlier trip we wanted to try one of those. He hadn't given us the exact name or the address or telephone # of course, but with the help of my Portuguese son-in-law and a lot of snooping we ferretted the place out and had a lovely meal. Of course I wouldn't consider publishing the pertinent info! Please let me add, that I love Miguel's posts. He's outrageously entertaining and helpful and full of great and opinionated recommendations.

[docsconz]

Miguel is a treasure.

[MiguelCardoso]

Thank you for your kindness, John but, in all honesty, you're the one who's amazing.

You are, quite simply, the ideal guest and a joy to receive. You're so knowledgeable, yet as curious as a child, with the enviable capacity to start from zero with every meal. You have no hang-ups or preconceptions and yet your standards are high. Your deep respect for different cultures, cuisines and cooking and eating styles is profoundly civilized.

It's no wonder you and your wife enjoy yourselves so much. You entirely deserve to have the world laid at your table and the fact that you go to so much trouble to share your pleasure with others is uniquely generous.

I hope you realize yours was probably the first report ever written about Ramiro though it's been open for 70 years or something? I've never seen (or written) a review, in Portuguese or any other language!

They really liked you at Ramiro too - an impossible feat, since it's a frantic, working-class, no-frills, no-favours shellfish joint which just gets on with its job.

I'm truly sorry we were still up in Porto, conducting our own fishy, shellfishy and general gastronomic investigations and were unable to meet you both.

I hope next time, when you have more time, we can embark on the full voyage. You passed the test of fire - no blandishments, no scenery, no fancy footwork - and are now ready for all the easy-to-like stuff! :)

P.S.

The white shrimp are the native "gambas" of Cascais or of the Algarve. These look like the Algarve variety as the Cascais ones have noticeable white stripes. The reason they're delicious is that they're alive when they're boiled, so they're absolutely fresh. Bigger "gambas" come from all around the world - the ones we eat here from Mozambique - and are, of course, frozen.

I agree about Portuguese oysters - they're big, stonking, tasteless beasts, like an early failed prototype or something. I hate them and I also hate it that they're sometimes sold by weight, which means paying 250 grams for 1 gram of meat. Better restaurants sensibly import their oysters from Brittany. I adore oysters and, when visiting France, Ireland, England or the U.S., I try to eat as many and as varied as I can. I always swoon when I walk into the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station and can never resist having at least 3 of each - which is a lot of oysters.

Edited October 12, 2004 by MiguelCardoso (log)

[Bux]

I adore oysters and, when visiting France, Ireland, England or the U.S., I try to eat as many and as varied as I can. I always swoon when I walk into the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station and can never resist having at least 3 of each - which is a lot of oysters.

←

I hope I'm not abusing my privilege here by going off topic for a minute, but I've found that over the past twenty years or so, the oyster selections in NY have improved vastly, while France and Brittany just seem to be recovering from certain disasters at sea. When I returned from my first visit to Brittany, I found the oysters in NY to be tasteless. Not so now. It may have been my imagination and maybe I gave up on them for twenty years too quickly, but in the forty years I've been eating oysters, things seem to have changed. There's no doubt in my mind that cold water oysters are just more exciting to eat. The best defense of Gulf (of Mexico) oysters I've read, is based on their meatiness and cheapness, rather than flavor. Health reasons may suggest cold water oysters as well, although I suppose if you're eating oysters for health, you're not eating oysters at all.

[vserna]

The best European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) are to be found around Colchester, England - but, as The Guardian reported this week, they can hardly be found in England at all! Countries where enthusiasts are ready to shell out big bucks for oysters, basically France and Spain, are gobbling up large parts of the production, The Guardian says. At La Marée, the best seafood restaurant in Paris, they don't serve belons from Brittany - they serve "les Colchester".

[Chloe]

I'm truly sorry we were still up in Porto, conducting our own fishy, shellfishy and general gastronomic investigations and were unable to meet you both.

←

Anything disclosable?

Chloe

Ponte de Lima