Portugal Food!

We had a ton of delicious food in Portugal. I guess I'll start with the amazing food tour that Blake and I went on in the Alfama District while we were in Lisbon. I booked the tour on Airbnb and the tour was through a company called Treasures of Lisboa. The company is run by Ruthy and her husband. We got the chance to meet and get to know Ruthy as she led our tour. The tour was great because all of the restaurants that we went to were family-owned and supporting those types of businesses is very important to me. The first restaurant that we stopped at was called Manjerico Alegre. We started by having local beer (I had iced tea) and bread that was accompanied with a specialty olive oil that contained a blend of three different olives. Blake loved the olive oil and will tell you that this was probably his favourite thing that he ate while we were in Portugal. The next dish that we had were pastel de bacalhau, which translates to codfish cake. They may not sound too appetizing, but these cakes are a staple dish in Portugal. These were the best pastel de bacalhau that we had on our whole trip. The cod was perfectly blended with the mashed potatoes and were super yummy! Our final dish at Manjerico Alegre were sardines on bread. Sardines are practically worshiped in Lisbon, so we knew that we had to try it while we were there. Every June, Lisbon has a month of celebration which includes celebrating sardines! You can eat the sardines whole including the bones. It was surprisingly good. You couldn't taste any bones, just delicious fish and with a little bit of lemon juice, you could really taste the flavours. This was definitely a good place for us to start our tour!

Next up, we went to Maruto Bar & Bistro. We were served Vinho Verde which is a green wine. Different from red and white wine, green wine is a specialty that can only be produced in specific locations, much like champagne. I had a sip of Blake's wine and it was good, but I thought it tasted a lot like my non-alcoholic wine that I drink here in Canada. Continuing, the wine was accompanied by even better food. We started with 100% black pig ham. The quality of the ham was great and the meat had a smokey taste which was a delicious change to the meat that Blake and I usually eat on our charcuterie boards. Afterwards, we had a fabulous codfish bruschetta. I'm not usually a fan of bruschetta, but I was open to trying all of the different foods and I'm so happy that I did. This bruschetta was delicious and, although I'm also not an onion fan, the onions really added to the taste. Blake was also the chosen hand-model for the group. So professional!

As we left the restaurant and started walking through the Alfama District, Ruthy took us through some of the incredibly narrow walkways in the area. She said that a particular walkway was known as "The Kiss" because, due to the way the roofs tilted inwards, if people leaned out of their windows then would be able to kiss. It was very interesting. After walking for a bit, we came upon a tiny restaurant called Cantinho Da Rute. We were a group of 12 and we sat in the back of the restaurant in a room that was meant to seat probably a maximum of 8. Needless to say, it was pretty cozy. Blake and I didn’t even sit at the same table, but we enjoyed getting to know the rest of the group separately. Here, we were served charcuterie style, which included various cheeses and the restaurant’s famous flaming sausage. As well, we got our first taste of Ginja which is a cherry flavoured liquor that is very popular in Portugal. It was served to us in tiny chocolate shot glasses and is incredibly sweet. Personally, Blake and I didn't really like the taste, but it was something that we knew we had to try! The owner even brought us over to the restaurant’s extension that they were building across the street. He was an … interesting man, but him and his wife made delicious food which is all that mattered.

Now it’s dessert time! The final stop was at Fabrica Pastel Feijao, which makes just that! Pastel Feijao are white bean desserts that are jam-packed with protein and even more flavor! (That's Ruthy in the picture!) These dessert pastries were spectacular and I even ended up making them when we got back to Canada. We were also served espresso, which I didn’t like because I’m not a coffee drinker, but I still tried it. Inside the restaurant they had a blackboard that you could write on, so I wrote mine and Blake’s names on the board so that we could immortalize our Portugal trip. At the end of the tour, we walked up to another one of Lisbon’s viewpoints and ended the tour overlooking Alfama District at sunset. It was beautiful and the tour was a great way to start off our adventure through Portugal!

Another place that we had amazing food was at the TimeOut Market in Lisbon. I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures of the dishes because we ate everything too quick. We attempted to try new foods while we were there and started off by trying calamari deep fried in black tempura. We’ve had tempura before, but never black tempura. It gave the calamari a sort of charred taste but was still good. My favourite one bite dish was the green codfish egg with sweet potato, chickpeas, and coriander mayo from Cozinha da Felicidade at the TimeOut Market. It may sound unusual, but it was so good. For some reason, while we were in Portugal, I had a craving for eggs. Since, the Portuguese don’t really eat “American-style” breakfasts, it was harder to find eggs, so this bite really hit the spot for me! We also had a chocolate ganache cake from Nos e Mais Bolos which was good, but it was also as if diabetes had taken a physical form and punched you square in the face. Chocolate fix...check! We also had a sea bass tartar from Tartaria. We had never had tartar before, but we figured a place called Tartaria was probably the place to get it from. It was good, except for the hidden wasabi peas. Unfortunately, the wasabi peas really overpowered the dish. Our final taste while at the TimeOut Market were oysters from Monte Mar. Again, I had never had oysters before, but I surprisingly enjoyed them. I’m definitely glad we tried so many dishes while at the market. We discovered so many different foods that we would never get the chance to try regularly.

My favourite full meal was at a steakhouse in Lisbon. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant. All I remember, is that it was amazingly delicious. I ordered an aged steak, which was the best steak that I have ever had. It didn’t come with any sides, just the steak, but it was so good that you didn’t need anything else. Blake ordered a veal and prawn skewer that was probably meant to be shared. It came with 4 veal steaks and 4 very large prawns. My steak was better! This restaurant also had the best chocolate mousse that I have ever had. It was so decadent and creamy! I wish I could remember the name of this fabulous restaurant!

(Editor's Note: the restaurant was called Carvoaria Jacto) Also, one day for lunch, we had delicious grilled octopus with roasted potatoes. The grilled octopus tasted like butter! It was delicious!!! While we were in Portugal, we quickly learned that ordering one meal was enough for us to share.

Although, I thoroughly enjoyed most of the food while in Portugal, there were a few dishes that I didn’t enjoy. Unfortunately, most of the food that I didn’t like was while we were in Lagos. I was excited to try the seafood while down in the southern part of Portugal, thinking that it would be fresh and delicious since we were on the ocean. Blake will eat practically anything, so he enjoyed the food everywhere, but I actually sent a dish back one evening. I have never sent a dish back before, but it was inedible to me. Again, I was trying something new, but it was a mistake. I ordered grilled baby squids. One taste and I knew that I couldn’t eat another bite. I knew that if I didn’t send it back, then I would go hungry that night. So, after a bit of personal encouragement, I told the waitress that I had to order something else. Lucky for us, they didn’t make us pay for the uneaten dish, but Blake thought that they were giving us attitude for the rest of the evening. I didn’t care, I had something I could actually eat. I won’t mention the restaurant because it still had good dishes (Blake liked the swordfish) and I don’t want to tarnish their great reputation, but just don’t order the grilled baby squids if you see it on the menu.

Finally, Blake and I never really went out for breakfast because every morning had yogurt, custard tarts, strawberries and freshly-squeezed orange juice from the local market, but it was the perfect European breakfast.

Well, that’s all folks! That was all of the amazing (and not-so-amazing) food that Blake and I had on our trip to Portugal. Hope you enjoyed reading and seeing some of the food that we had and I hope that maybe, it made you a little hungry!

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