Before we went to Portugal, I anticipated having a lot of seafood. I had never thought I liked seafood and discovered it was largely due to the way it was prepared (bland). I found some really good recipes before we left and got myself “up to speed” with fish.
Portugal is also known for its wines. Beer, not so much. During the trip, I don’t think we had any bad wine. Conversely, I only really had one good beer (a can of Hazy IPA our last night in Porto).
WINE
I’ll start with the wine. Our first night in Portugal, we went to a restaurant near our hotel and six of us had entrees and two bottles of wine for €127. Total. The wine on the menu was €13 and we had to ask if that was by the glass or by the bottle. It was bottle.
We also when on a wine tasting tour of the Douro Valley where they make Port wines. I had never really like Port wine, but these were amazing.
Portugal is also famous for its Ginja, a sweet, fortified liquor made from cherries. It is popular in Óbidos and served in a chocolate cup that you eat after drinking the Ginja. It wasn’t bad.
Beer. Don’t bother. You can have most any kind of beer you want as long as it’s Super Bock, a pilsner. I dislike pilsners. They also have a Super Bock stout. I dislike stouts, too.
So stick with wine.
FOOD
Overall, we were a bit disappointed in the food. As I’ve mulled over my thoughts on this, I think it’s largely the lack of variety and the very mild seasonings. We have a friend who always takes a tiny bottle of Tabasco with him when he travels.
Now we know why.
Obviously, there is a lot of seafood (cod, sardines, octopus, shrimp and occasionally, salmon). There is also a lot of pork, generally as sausage or pounded-thin fried steaks. They do a fair amount of soup, generally vegetable and generally pureed. There are some “touristy” foods such as pizza, burgers, and hot dogs.
We tried some alheira sausage. Originally created by the Jewish residents to hide the fact they were Jewish during the Inquisition It was made with chicken. It was also not nearly as good as the pork sausage.
Two specific foods we tried (and liked) were the Bolinhos de Bacalhau (cod cakes) and the Francesinha (a layered sandwich).
The Bacalhau were generally very yummy. I ordered them a few times and liked them.
The Francesinha is a hot sandwich of sorts with a layer of bread, layers of meat, layers of cheese, more bread, more meat, more cheese. Topped with a sauce/gravy. You could also call it “heart attack on a plate”. It was OK.
However, one amazing food they have is Pastel de Nata, which is a small, egg custard pastry that is amazing, especially when you sprinkle cinnamon on top and eat them slightly cooled right out of the oven. Our cooking class made them (see my blog for Day Five) and loved them. Paired with some good espresso.
TOURISTY STUFF
There were some touristy foods we became thankful for. After eating cod, pork, cod and more pork, we enjoyed some other good foods. We had an amazing smash burger in Queluz (paired with fresh-squeezed lemonade), a unique “hot dog” and fries in Porto at a place recommended by the late Anthony Bourdain and a four ingredient pizza in Porto where they separated the four toppings. Interesting.
Not to miss out on some unique pastries more like we are accustomed to, we had some carrot cake and pastry with an espresso and a macchiato. Quite tasty.
Overall, the food was decent. But not a lot of variety and, as I mentioned earlier, not a lot of spice. We were there two weeks and by the end of our time, I was a little tired of eating pretty much the same things day in and day out.
But if you just went for the wine… it was superb.
