Portugal Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

[MiguelCardoso]

Dearest Ann:

You're absolutely right that's about the best itinerary, food-wise, scenery-wise, people-wise and, well, just wise.

Give me a little time to work out a set of responsible suggestions though, as I said, up North you can't go wrong.

I'm sorry for the delay but, being a Southerner, I have to consult my impeccable Northern sources before committing! :)

[fresco]

Miguel,

Thanks for the information about gritty authenticity. It makes sense. I do almost feel guilty carping about a little sand, though, considering the quality of the food and the ridiculously low prices.

We have pictures of the proprietors and the food, but alas, they well have to await our return in three weeks.

[MiguelCardoso]

You're a gentleman and a scholar, Fresco!

I pretend to be a down-to-earth, gritty sort of person, Fresco - but, like you, I hate sand. It interferes with the texture and, I suspect, absorbs not a little flavour. Also, there's a natural salivary/spitting reaction to grit which severely detracts from the enjoyment.

About it being cheap, though, I must protest. However cheap a place may be, you can be sure it's making a handsome profit. Be like the Portuguese and, even if you feel like a thief, protest no matter how ridiculous the prices. This is how we keep prices down.

A typical Portuguese reaction to your meal would be to say that, although you quite liked the meal (emphasis on "quite", with your six guests frowning) you felt they overcharged on the grit. You might add that it was difficult enough getting it out of your bathing costumes and toes after a day on the beach, despite being free. And yet, STILL too expensive! :)

Edited March 22, 2004 by MiguelCardoso (log)

[fresco]

We're hoping to make the trek up to the wineries in Alentejo on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the wines available in the shops here is good.

And while the Algarve is often disparaged as overbuilt and commercial, there is a rich vein of earthiness that runs through the place. You can hear roosters crowing first thing in the morning among all the hyperdevelopment, and fishermen still go out every night from Ferragudo, returning the next morning to sell some of their catch in the small but excellent local market.

The municipal market in Silves is a marvel. We talk a lot on eGullet about roasted cauliflower, but I think the appeal of roasting it in salt, garlic and olive oil has a lot to do with cauliflower in North America being essentially tasteless.

I haven't encountered a vegetable here that isn't the real thing--extravagantly flavourful. Same with the chicken, and almost everything else.

[ann]

Miguel, many thanks for your reply. Your reassurance about the itinerary is most welcome -- I put it together after doing a lot of research and it's very personal. I've been told, for example, that 4 days in Sintra and then 4 days in Lisbon is way too much, but I obviously don't think so (although a post about the quality of dining in Sintra has me a bit concerned!). I await your recommendations with eagerness, especially after reading Fresco's descriptions, but there's certainly no rush since we don't leave till late September. Besides, haste is bad for the health, especially that of Southerners!

[Hungry Traveler]

We've been in the Algarve for a week, and life could not be better--great weather, wonderful food and wine.

Last Friday, seven of us dined at Vila Lisa, and it was, as Miguel has said above, the best restaurant one is likely to encounter in this part of Portugal............The bill for all of this, though, was 192 euros, including all of the wine and the firewater.

Hi Fresco !!!

Thanks for sharing your experience !

Was the meal a "fixed" meal, at a "fixed" price ???

Or was there an extra charge for wine, "firewater" and dessert ?

Neither my wife nor I, are much into alcohol... perhaps a glass of wine or a bottle of beer at the most.

We'd just as soon pass on the booze, especially if it was so-so quality.

192 Euros is appoximately 27.43 Euros per person. About $34 US per person.

Maybe I'm spoiled but, I don't consider $34 per person... "cheap"

Thanks !!!

[Bux]

192 Euros is appoximately 27.43 Euros per person. About $34 US per person.

Maybe I'm spoiled but, I don't consider $34 per person... "cheap"

There's a thread in the NY forum about "fine dining" and were it starts to separate itself from ordinary dining and whether there's a different standard in NYC than there might be in other cities. I suppose "cheap" is also relative to a few things such as where you are and what you get for the price. Dinner may be dinner, but not all meals are equal. It's also not reasonable to translate the price into dollars and think in terms of what that will buy at home. Most meals in Europe will cost about one and a half what they cost last year because the dollar is so weak. Europe itself is not cheap for traveling Americans, at at least what was cheap last year, is not cheap this year in dollars, although the price to the locals hasn't increased that much. Anyway, fresco's meal was six courses and beverages. One can't expect that to come at the same price as a simplier meal.

[Hungry Traveler]

192 Euros is appoximately 27.43 Euros per person.  About $34 US per person.

Maybe I'm spoiled but, I don't consider $34 per person... "cheap"

There's a thread in the NY forum about "fine dining" and were it starts to separate itself from ordinary dining and whether there's a different standard in NYC than there might be in other cities. I suppose "cheap" is also relative to a few things such as where you are and what you get for the price. Dinner may be dinner, but not all meals are equal. It's also not reasonable to translate the price into dollars and think in terms of what that will buy at home. Most meals in Europe will cost about one and a half what they cost last year because the dollar is so weak. Europe itself is not cheap for traveling Americans, at at least what was cheap last year, is not cheap this year in dollars, although the price to the locals hasn't increased that much. Anyway, fresco's meal was six courses and beverages. One can't expect that to come at the same price as a simplier meal.

Bux:

What you said is true, for the most part.

You can't compare Apples and Oranges...

But for $68 ($34 for two persons) my wife and I can dine on around 10 dishes, in an upscale Chinese restaurant, in San Francisco's ChinaTown.

This meal could consist of a whole Roast Duck, Mu-Shu Pork, a whole Steamed Fish, Dungeness Crab with Black Bean Sauce, a couple of stirred-Fried veggie dishes, a whole chicken, some appetizers, a huge bowl of rice and tea.

More food than we could consume at one sitting and something we'd NEVER do.

We'll still go to Portugal and dine at expensive restaurant but also balance it with lesser cost fare.

This we've done, where ever we travel, which we've been doing since 1959...

I understand a lot of American tourists are bypassing Western Europe and heading to Eastern European countries, where prices aren't as costly.... yet :)

[Bux]

Portugal is supposedly still a bargain, but as Miguel has noted earlier I believe, really good seafood is not going to be cheap anywhere in Europe. I'm more familiar with NYC's Chinatown and it gives new meaning to relativity. I can't even begin to compare prices or even relative value between restaurants in Chinatown and those in the rest of Manhattan. And yet I know of a place in Chintown where certain crustaceans bring prices approaching three figures which puts the total bill up near the luxury uptown restaurants. At the same time, one can easily eat well for thirty or forty dollars for two people if one focuses on the skills of the kitchen rather than the rare ingredients.

[fresco]

We've been in the Algarve for a week, and life could not be better--great weather, wonderful food and wine.

Last Friday, seven of us dined at Vila Lisa, and it was, as Miguel has said above, the best restaurant one is likely to encounter in this part of Portugal............The bill for all of this, though, was 192 euros, including all of the wine and the firewater.

Hi Fresco !!!

Thanks for sharing your experience !

Was the meal a "fixed" meal, at a "fixed" price ???

Or was there an extra charge for wine, "firewater" and dessert ?

Neither my wife nor I, are much into alcohol... perhaps a glass of wine or a bottle of beer at the most.

We'd just as soon pass on the booze, especially if it was so-so quality.

192 Euros is appoximately 27.43 Euros per person. About $34 US per person.

Maybe I'm spoiled but, I don't consider $34 per person... "cheap"

Thanks !!!

The price included wine and firewater, in pretty much unlimited quantities. I'd say it was a deal. As Bux has noted, food is generally inexpensive in Portugal, but the exception is seafood.

On Saturday we paid 30 euros for a couple of kilos of clams at the Silves market. The same quantity would have set us back, I'd guess, much less than half that amount in Toronto. But Portugal without seafood wouldn't be Portugal, would it?

I don't know if you could negotiate a price without alcohol, but it's certainly worth asking. There was a couple across the room who seemed to be drinking just bottled water.

If you are staying in a place with a kitchen, cooking in the Algarve is a real pleasure. Because we enjoy cooking a lot, and also because this trip in part was a bit of a reunion, we've done a lot of our own cooking, everything from the above mentioned clams to hake, Lisbon style, (in tomato, onion garlic, white wine, etc) and chicken. All good.

[Marco_Polo]

If you are staying in a place with a kitchen, cooking in the Algarve is a real pleasure. Because we enjoy cooking a lot, and also because this trip in part was a bit of a reunion, we've done a lot of our own cooking, everything from the above mentioned clams to hake, Lisbon style, (in tomato, onion garlic, white wine, etc) and chicken. All good.

Hi Fresco,

I agree with you that it is a real pleasure to be able to shop in markets and cook in Portugal. We have a family apartment where we stay on our frequent visits to the Algarve, and we invariably eat in more than we eat out. I love to purchase fresh vegetables from the market and make a Portuguese gaspacho. Slabs of deliciously chewy presunto from Monchique and good chouriços cooked in the oven as a pre-dinner nibble. Slabs of the wonderful, dense Portuguese bread, sometimes toasted then drizzled with good extra-virgin olive oil from Alentejo and a sprinkling of coarse flor de sal from Olhao.

We purchase ameijoas by the kilo (soak them in a bucket of seawater - I hate sand), and langostinhos and gambas na costa and love preparing them simply at home, then eating outside on the terrace overlooking the beautiful sea (as night falls, the lamps on the sardine fishing boats are dotted on the wine dark sea reflecting the stars above). Though shellfish is not cheap, it is still less expensive than eating out; but more than that, cooking in makes us feel more relaxed, more like we are living and experiencing the country, not just visitng as tourists.

We also particularly enjoy the local lamb (borrego). We love to purchase tiny costeletas to grill over charcoal on a bed of rosemary picked from the garden. Or perhaps a leg of lamb, redolent of garlic and rosemary, with a sauce made from a reduced bottle of good vinho tinto. Cooking lamb gives an excuse (as if one were needed) to enjoy some of the great red wines of Portugal, notably from Alentejo and Douro (and they are truly great). Portuguese free-range chicken (frango na campo), scrawny, yellow, with feet and head still attached, is also usually excellent, chicken that really tastes like chicken: simply grilled 'piri-piri', or stewed in wine and vegetables, or just cooked in the oven with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and perhaps a little piri-piri.

Then there are the magnificent mountain ewe and goat milk cheeses (more reason to drink more red wine)...and the magnificent fig and almond sweets.

Miguel, your wonderful description of Vila Lisa makes me want to go there so I'll try and hunt it down on our next visit. Where exactly is it located? Problem is, when we go to Algarve, we get so lazy, just return to our old favourites, or cook at home.

MP

[fresco]

Marco,

The way you describe your stays here makes me want to stay forever...or a lot longer than a month.

Vila Lisa is in a small village a few kilometres east of Lagos, damned if I can remember the name.

The Algarve is the oddest place, in that it is probably easier to eat poorly and superlatively here than almost any other place I've encountered. The number of short term package tourists has encouraged the sort of establishment that offers a "full English breakfast" pretty much all day and all night.

The supermarkets, which stock wonderful food, also have bins full of frozen readymade cheesburgers (presumably to go straight into the microwave) and the number of new pizza places is truly disheartening. But there are probably more cafes and restaurants here than anywhere else in Portugal, and many are reasonably priced and produce good food.

[MiguelCardoso]

Damn you, Marco! Such is your way with words you've now got ME pining for the bloody Algarve!

Vila Lisa is in Mexilhoeira Grande, near Alvor, just 200 metres off the main Algarve road. Here'sa Portuguese review with all the details.

I hope you both have a great meal!

Miguel

[Chloe]

And all of you have almost got me pining for the Algarve!!

Chloe

Ponte de Lima

inveterate northerner

who was in the Algarve once, 19 years ago ...

[Hungry Traveler]

REGARDING ......On Saturday we paid 30 euros for a couple of kilos of clams at the Silves market. The same quantity would have set us back, I'd guess, much less than half that amount in Toronto. But Portugal without seafood wouldn't be Portugal, would it? If you are staying in a place with a kitchen, cooking in the Algarve is a real pleasure. Because we enjoy cooking a lot, and also because this trip in part was a bit of a reunion, we've done a lot of our own cooking, everything from the above mentioned clams to hake, Lisbon style, (in tomato, onion garlic, white wine, etc) and chicken. All good.

Hi Fresco !

YES... we will have a kitchen and love to shop for local produce and seafood !

I have a listing of the outdoor markets and the days they'll be open.

30-Euros for a couple of kilos translates to:

30-Euros for 4.2 pounds in weight.

30-Euros is approximately $37.50 US

Thus about $8.50 US per pound.

Though not the same variety, I can buy live clams for around $2.00 a pound, a half mile from where I live.

I'll be there in early October...

Hopefully the weather will still be "decent" and most tourist gone...

Will grilled Sardines be readily available in October ???

Thanks All !!!

[Marco_Polo]

REGARDING ......On Saturday we paid 30 euros for a couple of kilos of clams at the Silves market....

30-Euros for a couple of kilos translates to:

30-Euros for 4.2 pounds in weight.

30-Euros is approximately $37.50 US

Thus about $8.50 US per pound.

Though not the same variety, I can buy live clams for around $2.00 a pound, a half mile from where I live.

Hey Hungry Traveller, make no mistake, we're not talking about any old garden variety clams here. These are amêijoas, or carpet-shells, the king of clams, the sweetest, tastiest, most delicious in the world, purchased still alive to be cooked and despatched as simply and as quickly as possible. In France they are known as palourdes: we enjoy them raw as part of a plateau des fruits de mer in Brittany, while in Italy they are known, I think, as vongole verace and are the only clams to enjoy on a big steaming plate of spaghetti con le vongole .

In Algarve markets you can certainly purchase similar looking but gastronomically far inferior clams for half the price -- Miguel will know the names, the smooth-shelled, rather dinky conquilhas, berbigãos or cockles (bigger than the English cockles we dig out here, but still just cockles), and more. But amêijoas, goddam, they're another kettle of, well, clams! Stint or economise on anything else, but not on amêijoas: buy a kilo or two in the market, cook them yourself, or order a dose in any simple local restaurant or marisqueria to pick up with the fingers and suck off the tiny half-shell, garlicky olive oil dribbling down your chin as you lustily mop up the clam juices with good crusty bread. I repeat: they are not to be missed! Amêijoas are one of the reasons in itself to visit the Algarve.

All this talk has made me want to jump on a plane (not least to visit Vila Lisa - thanks for the directions, Miguel). In fact, as from this month it will be far easier to do so. One of the new cheap airlines, Flybe, is now offering three-times-a-week flights from my small regional airport in southwest England direct to Faro, and if you pick your dates right, for ridiculously cheap price (£35 one-way). Only problem is, we're at that awkward stage in life where we're stuck with having to get away during school holidays (at which time the flight prices go up astronomically).

Now what I'd really like to do is find an excuse to take that magical sounding train from Lisbon to Madrid, and then, after a few days enjoying the wonderful suggestions, from Madrid to Lisbon to do the same there...Well, this site is also about dreams, too, isn't it?

Marc

[MiguelCardoso]

It seems my function here is to support and agree with Marc, whom I suspect is called Marco and lives next door, such is his expertise.

There are many types of clams in Portugal. The very best are "ameijoa boa", the bigger the more expensive (some are gigantic: 10 to a kilo for around 60 euros!) but the flavour is the same. The ones you bought, Hungry Traveler, are about 10 euros cheaper than I can buy here in Lisbon, since you're so close to the source. These are simply outstanding, the nec plus ultra of clams and the juiciest and most delicate come from The Ria Formosa estuary in the Algarve.

If you're anywhere near Silves please, whatever you do, make the pilgrimage to the Cervejaria Rui, which is one of the best places in Portugal for ameijoas à Bulhão Pato, some say the best. Others will argue that a similarly simple outdoor café in Cacela-A-Velha is better (it was mentioned elsewhere here on eGullet). The price is as cheap as you can find and the quality is absolute. I hate to say so, but it's very difficult to find restaurants that entirely respect ameijoas - out of about 500, I'd say only about 10 are tuned in.

You then have 5 or 6 different types of ameijoas, all delicious but a wholly different kettle of clams: ameijoa macha, ameijoa cão and ameijoa branca (in descending order of goodness) are the most easily found. These are all much cheaper but they can't really be compared.

Cheaper still, are conquilhas (a sweet small orange clam which is very tasty and much loved), lambujinhas (a grey clam which has a lot of devotees although I think they're almost tasteless) and berbigão (cockles), which are very cheap (3 euros for a kilo) but mouth-wateringly good.

We eat our clams in 3 ways, basically, by order of popularity:

1) "À Bulhão Pato" - opened in olive oil, garlic and lots of fresh coriander. We're talking 30 seconds in a very hot frying pan, generally covered to help the steaming. Fancy restaurants idiotically add white wine, lemon, butter and even piri-piri, but this is akin to assassination, specially with the good "ameijoas". The all-important taste-factor is the tangy sea-redolent clam juice they release and which should NEVER be asfixiated and overcome by the olive oil or garlic. You want a grey liquor, 90% clam juice at least. The clams should be removed the moment they die (open) as even an extra 5 seconds will make them rubbery.

2) "Ao natural": opened in a little water or (very) briefly steamed, with lemon wedges to add a squirt. This is the best way for berbigão (cockles), which are probably the only true bargain of Portuguese seafood - they really are delicious. Buy them on a Saturday - that's the day after they're gathered.

3) "À espanhola": steamed in onions, tomatoes, garlic and white wine. It's used when you're using inferior clams (or mussels).

Japanese restaurants and fishermen apart, "ameijoas boas" are unfortunately seldom eaten raw, due (I think) to no-longer-relevant worries about shellfish. I say this with not a little hypocrisy because I prefer them "Á Bulhão Pato" or "ao natural" if they're really good. In France and elsewhere I'm glad to eat them raw but (forgive my nationalism) their "palourdes" are nowhere near as good - just because I adore the whole concept of their "plateaux de fruits de mer", drooping with seaweed and dripping in life-saving iodine, so startlingly led by their numerous insurpassable oysters! Or "unsurpassable" even!

I think we should all send Marco Polo a generous gift for his having out-Portuguesed the Portuguese by making an Algarve-hating Lisboan (me) - though I do *cough* spend two fortnights there a year - and, much more difficult, an Algarve-indifferent northerner (Chloe who lives in Ponte de Lima which is Paradise) feel "saudades" for (miss) the Algarve!

Next time you're here, please give me the chance to show you my life-long gastronomic secrets, too rare and too easily spoilt to share on the Internet! :)

Edited March 24, 2004 by MiguelCardoso (log)

[fresco]

REGARDING ......On Saturday we paid 30 euros for a couple of kilos of clams at the Silves market. The same quantity would have set us back, I'd guess, much less than half that amount in Toronto. But Portugal without seafood wouldn't be Portugal, would it? If you are staying in a place with a kitchen, cooking in the Algarve is a real pleasure. Because we enjoy cooking a lot, and also because this trip in part was a bit of a reunion, we've done a lot of our own cooking, everything from the above mentioned clams to hake, Lisbon style, (in tomato, onion garlic, white wine, etc) and chicken. All good.

Hi Fresco !

YES... we will have a kitchen and love to shop for local produce and seafood !

I have a listing of the outdoor markets and the days they'll be open.

30-Euros for a couple of kilos translates to:

30-Euros for 4.2 pounds in weight.

30-Euros is approximately $37.50 US

Thus about $8.50 US per pound.

Though not the same variety, I can buy live clams for around $2.00 a pound, a half mile from where I live.

I'll be there in early October...

Hopefully the weather will still be "decent" and most tourist gone...

Will grilled Sardines be readily available in October ???

Thanks All !!!

Comparing prices probably doesn't lead to much happiness, and may well lead you into false comparisons if you take it too far.

Toronto may be one of the least expensive and best places in the world to shop for food, such is the competitive and multinational complexion of the city, but I haven't found Portugal anything but good value.

I'm pretty sure you'll come to similar conclusions, but in any case, let us know.

[Marco_Polo]

It seems my function here is to support and agree with Marc, whom I suspect is called Marco and lives next door...

My dear Miguel,

I am afraid I have a dreadful confession to make. I am not Marco, your next door neighbour. Nor am I that intrepid 13th century Venetian who travelled the Silk Road through Mongolia to China, eating and writing reports along the way. I am an imposter. I truly know very little indeed about Portuguese food, only that which I love from firsthand experience. To demonstrate my profound ignorance, I have a further dreadful confession to make: I do not like bacalhau! There, I have got it off my chest and may be able now to sleep tonight. Honesty is always the best policy.

I have loved reading your wonderful, passionate, extremely well written reports about Portugal and Portuguese food (your English is so perfect and eloquently crafted that I wonder if you are the imposter?!). You have made me want to travel more extensively through the country, if not at least to Lisbon. It is many years since I have visited Northern Portugal and I have fond memories of our travels.

From your imposter friend,

Marc

[Hungry Traveler]

Marc and Miguel:

Thank you for your inspiring recommendations.

Okay, as one of our splurge dinners, we'll try the expensive clams :)

I'm sure the $1.99 per pound clams I get are not in the same class but...

We'll be there in early October... will grilled sardines be readily available ???

Edited March 25, 2004 by Hungry Traveler (log)

[v_wang]

I'll be there mid-April - HungryTraveler, where did you get that list of markets?

This thread has me even more eager to go! Thanks to Miguel and all

[Eric_Malson]

We'll be there in early October... will grilled sardines be readily available ???

Unfortunately for you, the REALLY great time for grilled sardines is the month of June, when it seems that everyone is grilling sardines almost everywhere in Lisbon in honor of the Festa de Santo António. Walks through the Alfama in June are wonderful for many reasons, not the least of them being the aroma of grilling sardines permeating the entire neighborhood.....tramping up and down the stone steps and alleyways, one is constantly happening upon makeshift grills and handfuls of tables offering grilled sardines anywhere there is enough space.

But that's only in June. Personally, in October I would suggest my second-favorite grilled sardine experience, which is: take the ferry to Cacilhas (these leave from Praça do Comércio or Cais do Sodré), head up the next street away from the water from the ferry landing, but parallel, past the really touristy, multi-language menu joints and look for A Cabrita on your left. Hmm....come to think of it, I actually can't remember if sardinhas are still in season in October (Miguel??), but if they are, they have the best sardinhas assadas I ever had in a sit-down restaurant. On weekends (used to be Sundays, but my last trip back there it was Saturdays), they have a killer bacalhau com natas (one of my favorite ways to eat bacalhau, soaked and shredded, then made into a gratin with potatoes, onions and cream, and baked in the oven), good Sopa alentejana (the bread-garlic-poached egg-cilantro soup), and great grilled chocos (cuttlefish). They used to be closed on Thursdays. A comfortable little family-run place, and inexpensive.

[MiguelCardoso]

Yup, Eric - there will still be fresh sardines in October but they'll be dwindling.

Every year the exact month when they're at their fattest and moistest, but not too fat or moist, varies tremendously according to the streams of warm water in the Atlantic. Last year it was late July before they really peaked and they mantained their form until the end of August/early September.

Of course we start eating them in mid-May, small and thin, because we've been walking about in a daze, foaming at the mouth for the taste of them since...about now!

Last night we had our first fresh sardines, only about 4 inches long but quite plump - they were too small to be grilled, so they were fried in the best tradition - so the skin is crispy and you can eat the heads and everything - but the flesh is very dry. Properly fried, even the cartilage is delicious.

This is a new trend from this year - it's barely a week old! - which is the "meia-sardinha", the "half-sardine". I don't know whether it will catch on. Having them yesterday involved contacting a trusted fish supplier who then, curious about them, convinced a small fishing boat to land some. Then we took two kilos to our favourite restaurant, where every whim of ours is indulged, and they fried them up with an "arroz de grelos", a crunchy salad and a plate of very thin, match-stick potato chips.

Meias-sardinhas are probably not a very good idea because they're well on their way to become big, juicy full-size sardines. But boy oh boy!

"Petingas" - baby sardines - are another matter. They're always available and although delicious and crunchy, they don't hit that aching sardine hole in our hearts. Only the fat Summer sardines, grilled outdoors and served with (or on top of) crusty bread; roasted pepper salad with onion, lettuce and tomato and new peel-them-yourselves boiled, waxy potatoes will do.

So you see, Eric, the Great Sardine Wait has already started and we're all getting frisky!

Your great Cacilhas suggestion makes me recommend another lovely ferry-trip on the Tagus. In Belém, hop on the ferry to Trafaria, about 20 minutes, very relaxing and appetizing, beautiful views, and choose one of the small riverfront restaurants serving Caldeirada à Fragateira, the Lisbon version of the famous Portuguese fish stew, our so-called "bouillabaisse". My favourite is Marítima. Saturday is the traditional day and, again, you have to go very early as they're small, very popular and good value so they fill up soon and Portuguese diners are notorious for taking their time at table.

Back in Belém, walk to the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém for some hot "pastéis de nata" and another coffee or a glass of Tawny port.

Hungry Traveler: sardines are always ridiculously cheap, as are scrumptious "carapaus" and "jaquinzinhos" (tiny and even-tinier horse mackerel). But you have to get to the restaurant early as everyone wants them. I'm a great believer in arriving very early (11.45 to noon is best) and watching the kitchen put the finishing touches to the daily specials (or the suckling pick or kid goat emerge from the wood-fired oven) so I can have my choice just-made. To pass the time, I have a gin and tonic (a real sacrifice!) and chat with the waiters, trying to slyly discover what's freshest and best that day. The Portuguese, even the hard-liners, are incapable of arriving before half-past noon, so this is an important advantage!

I'm sorry I can't go in to all the Portuguese etiquette thing - it would take ages. The best guides, in my opinion, are Cadogan and Time Out. They'll have all you need to know - not that you need to know anything! :)

.

[Eric_Malson]

I hate to admit this, but in four years of living in Lisboa, I never went to Trafaria for a meal. And as far as pure environmental aesthetics go, I would say that a trip to Trafaria would likely be even more pleasant than a trip to Cacilhas. And with the promise of Pastéis de Belém upon ones return....well, I think that solidly tips the balances in Trafaria's favor! Still, I have a great fondness for A Cabrita....I think it's well worth a trip.

Miguel, I'm tempted to schedule a trip to Portugal just so I could snag a meal or two in your company! I love your line about

....the Great Sardine Wait has already started and we're all getting frisky!

[MiguelCardoso]

You're on!

Eric - I remember reading this great post you wrote where you listed all the typical dishes of Portugal and thinking "Wow - this guy didn't miss a beat!", as I so agreed with you.

For the record, you were already living in Lisbon when I first went to Trafaria - it's a very recent discovery. The "Cabrita", on the other hand, well.... :)

P.S. Two years ago, in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, I went into this wonderfully old-fashioned fishmongers because the shop window was full of fresh-looking Portuguese sardines, at a very attractive price. There was this very well-dressed old-timer sittingin a chair and an equally dapper guy behind the counter. I asked them where I could eat them and he suggested a Greek place called Costa's (?). Anyway, we went there and it was marvellous.

So, whether I come to New York or you come here, I thinik we can safely say we're assured of a good meal, no? :)