EATING OUT IN LISBON

MONTE MAR

As much as our goal was to relax we did manage to get out to explore but not a whole lot farther than our hotel's neighborhood. I'm sure Lisbon has much more to offer than what we could manage to tackle in the few days we were there but we were by this time a bit travel weary and glad to stick by the hotel for the majority of our stay.
We did manage to get out for two great meals. On our first night it was way to late for us to even think about food but on the second night we were ready. Lisbon means fish and fish is what we were looking for. Rick's usual process is to do a ton of research on restaurants in the cities we're going to; this trip for whatever reasons, not so much. In Lisbon we laid ourselves at the feet of our hotel staff to direct us to local restaurants where we could eat as the locals eat. There were times in the past where this worked and other times when we were directed to restaurants where a kickback was involved. We trusted Julie so we asked her for a good fish recommendation; this time it worked.

The restaurant she recommended was located right on the water and came with a view of Lisbon's Golden Gate Bridge.  The bridge is an exact replica of San Francisco's iconic landmark minus a few hundred feet.

At the Monte Mar Lisboa we were seated at a table right on the water. The waiter placed menus in front of us before he retreated to give us time to look at their offerings for the evening.  The menu was exactly what we had hoped for, a fish menu that sent us on a sailing ship of oceanic sized appreciation.

I started out with melon and prosciutto. A pretty simple dish but one that can be pretty mundane if the melon isn't at that precise point of sweetness. This rendition of prosciutto and melon was pitch perfect. Rick chose the calamari. It was the only disappointment of the evening.

For the main course there was no way we weren't going for the fish, but I need to qualify this. I'm not a real fish eater. I'm a one bone and I'm done kind of guy but I really wanted to try while in Lisbon. Rick wanted Branzino and the only way to get it was to order it for two. We went for it. We asked to have it prepared with a salt crust the same way we had it done at Nana in Rome.

We waited and waited almost coming to the edge of being upset with the length of time between courses when the branzini finally showed up. It came out in a blaze of flames. They flambéed the whole the fish and then paraded it out to our table in a head turning moment., forks dropped and diners at adjoining tables stopped eating and talking to stare at the presentation. It was a wow moment!

Our waiter than deboned the fish and plated the fillets.

It was served with boiled potatoes and steamed spinach.

Our verdict: It was a tie with Nana for best Branzino ever. I doubt we'll be able to match this experience back in the United States but we're ready to lay down the gauntlet. Did you hear that America? Look at Rick's face if you need a clue as to our seriousness. The challenge is on.

And you thought we were done. No. We both decided we weren't getting up from that table without doing dessert. I had a caramel meringue topped with berries that was served warm. It was both lite and smooth

Rick is normally out of the restaurant before dessert but he's always deferential to my sweet tooth. This time he ordered as well and chose a chocolate mousse. He licked the bowl before we left.

Sated and tired we had the staff call us a cab and we were back in our bed before the next day began.
















SANTELMO

On our last night we really wanted to find something that would seem local and particular to Portugal. We also wanted an early dinner and something close by since we still needed to pack and get ready for our flight back home. We asked the hotel and they gave us a suggestion that was just down the hill but still required us to get out our GPS to talk us through the streets and alleys we'd need to walk to get to the restaurant. Lisbon was not our favorite city. Maybe we never gave it a real chance. It's a huge city and we were restricted by the amount of time we were going to be there and the fact that we weren't really willing to travel much beyond our hotel. Lisbon reminded us of New York in the eighties. It always felt as if there was a layer of dust and graffiti over everything.

Once we got to the restaurant we started to wish Julie had been behind the concierge desk when we asked for a recommendation. It looked more like a Dallas BBQ joint than someplace that was going to serve traditional Portuguese fair. Besides it was seven and it wasn't going to open until eight. We decided to chance our culinary divining rod and hit the off streets.

That's how we found Santelmo, a tiny little restaurant with no more than a dozen tables, dimly lit with the quintessential Portuguese tiles lining the walls.

By the time we arrived they had only one table left at the back of the room. Our table sat in front of a small garden housing one lonely table. A set of French doors that could be closed separated the garden from the rest of the restaurant.  The table in the garden was reserved for smokers, the French doors closing preventing their smoke from disturbing the rest of the diners.

The menu was varied and definitely Portuguese. Our waitress spoke perfect English and knew what to order and what we might not find satisfying. She suggested the wine then disappeared saying she'd return for our order.

When she returned she not only had our wine but the Portuguese version of a muse bouche: marinated Portuguese olives, pickled carrots, a cheese board with several local choices, a plum gelee, prosciutto and melon bites, bread and crackers and an amazing soft cheese with a pumpkin jam. This would have been more than enough to qualify as an appetizer but we weren't about to stop there, at least not on our last holiday meal.

It's called Pica-Pau that translates literally into "woodpecker" because traditionally you are to use a little spear to pick out the pieces of beef and pickled vegetables. The version of Pica-Pau from Santelmo added parsley and olives all swimming in a delicious sauce. We wanted regional and we got it and it was worth the wait.

We weren't about to veer from what we knew was Lisbon's forte. It was going to be fish again and we weren't disappointed. I went for the Sea-Bream. It earned me my badge in fish filleting and I conquered my fear of tiny bones. With a little guidance from the master I filleted this one on my own. I still eat fish really slowly and I chew each bite a minimum of fifty times. It may not make me the best dining partner especially if you're in a hurry to move on to dessert but it works for me.

In our meager meandering around Lisbon it became visually obvious that octopus was as typical to the Portuguese as fried chicken is to the South. It was an important part of most menus and there were restaurants that specialized in the Jules Verne giant of the sea.

Rick, the most adventurous and diverse eater in our family had been dying for the tentacled delicacy and he finally got the reward at Santelmo. At Santelmo it came roasted in a buttery sauce and laced with pea shoots and surrounded in a ring of a balsamic reduction. It was sweet and meaty like lobster but without the work involved to dig the meat out of a shell or a claw. It wasn't fibrous or chewy but had more the texture of a scallop. There are certain dishes that one should only eat in the area they come from. For Rick octopus was one of those dishes. That night Rick was very content that I was a slow fish eater. It gave him the time to savor his Portuguese octopus.

By the time we finished our dinner a line had formed outside the restaurant. It was after ten in the evening, a time when many American restaurants have already closed their kitchens. Not in Lisbon on a Monday night.