A Portuguese Tour of Food & Wine

My mother once commented, "Michelle, you should probably rename your blog to 'Eating my way through Madrid' since that's what the majority of your posts seem to be about..."

Well mom, you're wrong. I don't just eat my way through Madrid, but I expand to other cities and countries as well.

At first, Leigh and I were worried that two tours in one day may be a little much, but the food and wine tour was an entirely different experience than Hugo's tour. In other words, what we worked off in Hugo's walking tour, we gained back in this tour. The tour was led by two young Portuguese locals, who informed us at the beginning that we would be stopping at five different locations to try a variety of Portuguese appetizers and local drinks. We ended up realizing that half the fun was exploring new areas of Lisbon as we walked from place to place.

Here's a quick run-down of the places and plates:

A Tendhina-a bar in the central plaza of Lisbon big enough to fit twenty patrons with nothing costing more than 3 euros on the menu.

Eat: Cod Cake

Drink: Green wine

So was it actually green?! No, no, to my dissapointment, the wine was not a festive neon green. But it was excuisite (to sound fancy). Tasting like a mix between a white wine and champagne, this wine is usually ordered with seafood.

Grapes & Bites-a sophisticated and trendy restaraunt with wine bottles decoratively lining the walls.

Eat: Island cheese with pumpkin jam on bread

Drink: White wine (called Pedra Cancela) from the southern region of Lisbon

A tropical cheese? The "island cheese" actually comes from St. George Island and that island only, so its formal name is Queijo St. Jorge.

Manteigaria Silva-a typical-looking Portuguese bar with a cod stand on the side and meat hanging from the walls.

Eat: Island cheese with Portuguese marmalade

Drink: Port wine

Sweet and So-not-sweet...The island cheese is already great on its own, but add the sweetest and savoriest Portuguese marmalade to it and you have a very, very tasty appetizer. The marmalade is not how we know it to be, but a lot sweeter (so much that Portuguese even make it into candy). It was probably my favorite of the tour.

Now the Port wine...it tasted like jäger, but maybe even worse. I don't think anyone on the tour could really drink it all. Very strong and very acquired taste. I fortunately won't see it again because it's only made in Portugal.

A Ginjinha-a small restaraunt that has way more happening on the outside, with a folk street band gathering the locals together to enjoy the night with drinks in hand (we didn't even go inside).

Drink: Cherry liquor

Can ya trust a monk? Back in the day, monks would say that this cherry liquor would help all coughs. When the tour guide told me this I got excited because as luck would have it, I had a bad cough...But then she quickly negated this theory explaining that after six cups of any alcoholic drink your bad cough will be "healed." Get the drift?

Casa de Alentejo-It looks like nothing on the outside, but once having stepped foot inside, this former casino could take anyone by surprise: high ceilings, a gift shop and a spacious, loud restaraunt with separate rooms off to every side.

Eat: Sausage, scrambled eggs and grilled mushrooms

Drink: Portuguese red wine

Breakfast for dinner. Well that's what it felt like, but I don't think that's what they were going for. The sausage was very delicious though, reminding me of a really good hot dog. And all the scrambled eggs I tried in Portugal were pretty damn good.

After the tour, Leigh and I felt that we were pretty well-informed in the food and wine area when it comes to Portugal; but we hadn't really had enough time with the Portuguese cheese and cod. So, during our day trip in Sintra, I had a "cod and cream" dish which was pretty much like a cod lasagna? It was amazing. Leigh had a seafood soup with cod and shrimp in a bread bowl.

Then, Sunday night, Leigh and I ventured back over to the top of the Alfama district to try out a hip restaraunt called, "Chapito," which was voted as having the 7th best view of Portugal. Hugo recommended this restaraunt during our tour, explaining that it's actually a school for street performers as well as a restaraunt. People go there to learn to juggle or play an instrument before hitting the streets. I wonder if there's a certificate for street performer graduates...

The restaraunt had such a cool vibe, and the cheese board was DIVINE.

Portuguese food is very unique, tying in its own flavors, ingredients and even ways of serving certain plates. I can easily say that Leigh and I were very satisfied.

#fooddrink #travel