We only had one night to dine out in Lisbon, and we knew our flight was arriving late, so we made an 8pm reservation in the city center's old town at Palacio Chiado.
We arrived and walked into a very busy bar on the entry level, but then we're told to please go up the staircase and check in. This was no ordinary staircase, as the building was originally a palace, and the steps were long, and I hope that handicap folks had an elevator. On the top floor there were several large rooms with ornate gilded ceilings with frescoes, and one room even had a giant hanging gold lion of Venice. Our room was more intimate, with less than a dozen tables and our server Amar always had a smile and a positive outlook that was so refreshing these days. The tables were green marble slabs and chairs simple bistro style and barely comfy.
Seafood was big on the menu here, so I immediately perused the wine list and spotted a wonderful Douro Portuguese blend of Alvarinho, Verdelho, Habitat and Viognier from Quinta da Pedra Escrita that we fell in love with. Wonderful minerality and citrus, and truly a great white blend, which was refreshing as we had only reds for three most part in the UK as it was so cold. Temperatures in Lisbon, we're ranging in the 60s at night and 70 today!
Will went for the local oysters to start while I had Camarão Alho e Malagueta, a take on garlic shrimp but here with garlic and chillis and "pata negra" ham and guanciale, pork cheek; it was superb and bathed in butter.
Main courses were the traditional Bacalao Lisboa a Braga for Will, a beautifully plated cod with poached egg, olive/parsley talented, agria potato, olives and garlic. My Cataplana de Peixe e Langosta was another Portuguese treat; basically, a rich stew from fish broth and veggies loaded with cod, lobster, clams, mussels, squid, potatoes and peppers that was a meal in itself.
I did have the aged goat and aged sheep cheese for dessert both of which were superb but not a tad as good as the goat we had in Setubal some 6 years ago!
Today, we board our ship for a 3-1/2 week voyage to Africa.
