Tag: portugal

Postcard from Porto: Parting Shots

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The mood of Porto varies in accordance with the sun and the rain. On days when the sun is absent, the gray granite tinges the city with sadness. I take on the color of Porto each day. When there is sun, Porto awakes as cheerful as a teenager. The light of Porto is a warm yellow that penetrates the bodies of those who stand at the window. I was born and still live close to the sea. I don’t know how else to live. At the moment, I am living in Foz Velha, at the mouth of the river. There is a broad promenade facing the sea and lower, close to the beach, esplanades are open all year round. My life consists of rocks, sand, sea, and gulls. There I am, and the image of myself that I carry with me wherever I go.

Rosa Alice Branco

interviewed by Nathalie Handal on Words Without Borders

The weather in Porto is noted for being moody. Mercurial. Dictated by whatever the Atlantic sends its way.

As someone whose spirits are affected by dreary weather, the maritime gods bestowed their mercy upon me while we were there. In fact, the climate during our two-week stay was so sunny and temperate, I felt I could live there forever. Sometimes in the late afternoon, we would see semi-threatening gray clouds accumulating along the Atlantic shoreline. But the ridge stopped there, never rounding the bend into the mouth of the Douro River.

So we walked and we walked. Wending our way through layers of history built up over centuries. Up and down. Along both sides of the Douro. Crossing a bridge and even taking a ferry across. Here are some parting shots from our stay.

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Postcard from Porto: Exploring beyond the traditional fare

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Pizza always beckons us at some point no matter where we roam. And, perched over the Douro River, the glass-walled Casa d’Oro boasts both a wood-burning oven and almost the best view in town. The pizzas were pretty good, and the arancini made up for missing Central Market’s Passaporto Italia. The  arugula and parmigiano salad was perfect, and even better when combined with the pear and goat cheese salad – a mountain of cubes of both those key ingredients.

With almost an equally prime view on the opposite side of the river from Porto in Vila Nova de Gaia, Real Indiana gave us a burst of flavors totally different from the traditional  dishes of Porto. Texas tastebuds had begun yearning for an infusion of spicy flavors, so the sauces were welcome. The mixed grilled meats as an appetizer were plentiful; each one – chicken, lamb, beef, gyro – had such wonderfully distinctive seasoning. The vegetable biryani was pleasing as well, and all the dishes seemed to pack more punch than Indian restaurants at home.

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Book Restaurante is among the restaurants updating traditional Portuguese dishes well. Located in a former book store in a downtown neighborhood with several others still surviving, the restaurant keeps shelves of books on the wall and delivers menus and checks in pages of (seemingly) random books. We ate there twice, our first experience being so positive – a lunch special of luscious carrot soup followed by a large timbal of potatoes, greens and crusty codfish. Our second visit was minus the lunch special, so had a painful pinch to it. But, aside from that, the tender tentacle of octopus twisted into a pot layered with roasted slices of sweet potatoes and greens was truly a remarkable dish.

Amazingly, our other contemporary-take experiences were right in our neighborhood. This past March, an enthusiastic new manager making a career change took over a traditional restaurant located in an old post office – O Carteiro. The results were both pleasing and geographically convenient. He introduced us to the refreshing drink of white port, tonic and mint. The kitchen makes a wonderful mixed-game sausage, which was a flavorful appetizer and wonderful as a stuffing for chicken, and the grilled sardines were the best we have had so far….

Postcard from Porto: A port naturally noted for seafood

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Grills grace the sidewalks in front of many mom-and-pop restaurants throughout Porto, filling the air with the aroma of smoking fresh dorado and sardines, a flavorful distance from oily canned ones. Porto is heavenly for seafood lovers.

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Our introduction to food in Porto was a basic riverside café, perfect for the jet-weary travelers. We opted for the classic starters – pastel balcahau, or codfish balls – surprisingly good. The garbanzo salad was great, and the seafood stew was flavorful. Can’t remember the restaurant name; the inclusion of krab in the stew seemed absurd in a port city and made the spot memorable only for its view.

At first I thought the owner of Adega Vila Mela disliked tourists, but, as regulars continued to pour in for lunch, I realize he was a tiny gruff with everyone. As observations continued throughout our stay in Porto, I realized increasingly why: often owners are the sole person managing the front of the house. Owners are seating patrons, taking orders, busing tables, cashing out customers and keeping an eye on how things emerge from the kitchen. Waiters make their money primarily from salary in Portugal; tips are meager. This means few are hired to cover the tables, which leads to stretched-to-the-max owners. But owners make sure everything is right.

Adega Vila Mela restaurant is tricky to find, so most of the customers are regulars – always a welcome sign. An abundance of flavorful olive oil was wonderful on the swordfish and the grilled calamari served with generous helpings of vegetables, but a couple of the squid were extremely sand-filled, ruining that dish. Reading reviews by others, I think that was a fluke. So I still would recommend Adega Vila Mela.

We were owner-served again, more cheerfully though, at Papavinhos, with large windows overlooking the Douro River. Here, we enjoyed a traditional vegetable soup and an artfully presented beet soup. The mussels topped with cheese and drenched in olive oil were a little rich for our taste, the cheese overwhelming the flavor of the underlying mussels. The grilled pork tenderloin was perfect. And, again, we would recommend this restaurant for traditional fare.

Located on a picturesque street that angles directly off the riverfront, Cozzza Rio looks appears way too touristy but we had surprisingly good meals there – grilled dorado, grilled sardines and a goat cheese and tomato salad. The Mister thought the dorado the best he tried anywhere, and the house green wine was refreshing and better than elsewhere. It’s best to steer clear of the frozen desserts, though.

We crossed the river via a one-euro ferry boat to sample the grilled seafood  of Casa do Pescador in Afurada. Tasted my first barnacle here, salty and tender. My father grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean and never could believe people ate mussels; can’t imagine what his disgust would have been over barnacles. A cup of seafood stew was mildly spicy and good; the bones were easy to avoid. We went again with the sweet, white dorado, surrounded by mountains of vegetables.

The ultimate bargain seafood was right in our neighborhood – about 15 euros for a dinner for two of vegetable soup, a huge serving dish of octopus rice and a liter of house wine at Tia Aninhas. The octopus was perfectly tender at this spot filled with locals.

More tastes from Porto ahead….