Lisboa, Portugal
July 12, 2013 § 1 Comment
It feels like a long time since I flew back from Lisbon and our last meal there is now starting to feel distant, as I’m clearing out cupboards of baking pans and cookbooks at home in anticipation of packing boxes. There are a lot of things I could say about our (very brief) time in Lisbon, starting with that, for us, it was the city of second chances. We spent only two nights, one before taking off to Morocco and one upon returning and experienced the city in entirely different ways between the two. Blurry-eyed from the cross-Atlantic flight, I took in the shuttered storefronts, torn-up cobblestones, and dark, empty pastelerias, and each passing whiff of urine and thought surely I was missing something. We walked part of the route of the Tram 28, ducking into a nondescript restaurant just as the rain began, ordering a plate of oily, garlicy shrimps with their heads on and thick french fries, washed down with a pretty terrible table wine.
And indeed, we were missing something. The second time around was like exploring an entirely new city, a city of white stone and street-side bars, where we stumbled upon majestic statues and cozy steps where friends settled in with drinks to watch the ocean shore below them. We ducked into the Taberna da Rua das Flores at the recommendation of a friend of my mother’s and it was hands-down the best meal of our entire week. Starting with a ceviche de corvina, which came cutely accompanied by popcorn and potato chips, followed by a seared fish (the foreign names of fish escape me, even when I understand the language, as they often don’t even exist at home, but we got that “half cooked, half raw” as it was described by the waitress meant seared) served with a seaweed salad and a kick of spicy orange relish. Our third dish was a squid ink udon with charred squid, and, since we wanted to linger a little longer, we finished with an aged goat cheese served alongside a guava paste. The service was wonderfully attentive and caring, ending with some recommendations for the rest of the night from the man with the curled ‘stache. All in all a wonderful meal, and (thanks to Dan!) a lovely graduation present tucked into a small corner in Lisbon.
An aside because you know I love my sugar – the sortidos amendoa from the Confeitaria Nacional on the Praça da Figueira were divine and started off my afternoon with a huge smile (pictured above!).
Soufflé Days 
Your writting is so lovely, so do your pictures. Loved when you say that Lisbon is “a city of white stone and street-side bars”, which is exactly what I see in my so recent arrival. Keep going 😉