Fish Market

There is a good place to eat seafood in Bogotá El Dorado / Salitre area – and that place is Fish Market. Don’t get me wrong, you can also go there for a very nice steak, but be forewarned that you can have delicious meat everywhere in Colombia – and only a handful of nice sea food ones.

Salitre area, close to the airport, is the home of several multinational businesses, as well as some very nice business oriented hotels. And when you have this combination, then, naturally, good restaurants will ensue. Fish Market is located in a small, locked square, with other restaurants as neighbours, and surrounded by a Marriott and a Sheraton. It’s decoration is dark and modern (but really guys, this is still a business restaurant, let’s make it clear – you know that for something to be modern doesn’t need to be dark, right? You could make it a bit brighter…), mainly functional, and “well behaved”. Predictable, in a way.

The big nasty point for whoever is reading this comes next – you better speak Spanish! Like in most of Colombia’s, English is seldom spoken and that means you will only have a Spanish language menu. Not a problem for me, but mind this small point, ok?

But if you have been able to pass through this language barrier, then, you can start preparing your senses. Sea food here is incredibly good (and I come from a sea food country, so, believe me when I say it). Forget about the sushi menu (yep, that is another advice I have on Colombia), but prepare to face difficult choices. Because the Peruvian ceviches are amazing, the oysters are fresh and tasty, they have a very good choice of shrimps, the lobsters are skilfully prepared, and they have a very good portfolio of fishes – all of them worth a good bite (or two… or ten, actually!). Also, if you are particularly fond of meat, you will find very good entrées combining sea food and steaks, good “surf and turf” kind like a steak with lobster chunks and shrimps – and I really like this one, believe me! As well as my Mid-Western friends (I think this was the only time ever I have seen them eat something that lived in water)…

Fish Market is a very good choice for a business dinner if you are in this area. The food is delicious, waiters are very helpful (though their English is also very limited), they have a very nice wine list (especially Chilean and Argentinian wines, of course). I have been there a handful of times, and it never failed – so, I would say, this is a pretty safe option as well. You just need to love sea food to enjoy it to the max!

Where: Bogota - Colombia

Address: Avenida El Dorado, 69C – 03L 204

Phone: +57 2108587

Website: http://www.lafragata.com/

Expensive: Around 60.000 COP per person (around €25 for a very good meal)

Last visit: September 2012

Baden Baden

Campos de Jordão is an exquisite town for an European. Built in the mountains between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, it promises Brazilians one thing most of them don’t have – cold! Yes, cold! The city sits at 1800m high and during winter time its temperatures can go around 0ºC – and sometimes it even snows there! And this also means we have a very picturesque town, with a variety of buildings resembling the typical alpine ones, a chair-lift just like the ones at ski resorts and a… German-like biergarten! And with great bier!

Baden Baden is located in the main shopping mall of the town, sprawling over the adjacent street. Its decoration is pretty much what you would expect in a biergarten, including the wooden walls, pointy clock tower, the nice area outside,… - it really resembles a Swiss or South German building.

Then, it is all about the beer! Baden Baden has a wide portfolio of their own bier, including a red one that I really liked! It also includes fine stouts, bocks and weisses, as well as more specific and seasonal biers. After you pick which you will have, then, it is time to pick up your food – and keep in mind that you will be faced with a mix of Brazilian and Bavarian choices. That means you will have to choose between several types of sausages, eisbein, trout, “abadejo” (a Brazilian fish), fondues, raclettes, steak,… The only thing that is mandatory here is that you wrap it up with an apfelstrudel! And that you enjoy the cold air around you in Winter time.

Baden Baden is not a gourmet restaurant. But it is a good place to anchor a “cold” weekend while in Brazil. The best way to enjoy this restaurant? With some good friends and stories flowing as freely as bier.

Where: Campos do Jordão - Brazil

Address: Rua Djalma Forjaz, 93, loja 10 - Vila Capivari

Phone: +55 12 3663 3610

Website: http://www.obadenbaden.com.br

Expensive: Around 90 BRR (40 euros) for 2 persons

Last visit: June 2012

Consulado Mineiro

Mineiro is a Brazilian born in Minas Gerais, a state right in the middle of this great country – and a state that is often stated as a traditional, deep inland cuisine heaven. So, now, just imagine a place that calls itself an embassy of Minas Gerais cuisine, right in the middle of São Paulo...

First of all, the location. Consulado Mineiro sits right in Benedito Calixto Square. And what’s special about Benedito Calixto Square? It is a small square that has a traditional flee market where you can buy and sell almost everything (specially antiques, though) and taste delicious street food. It is a buzzling and vivid place, full of people from all around São Paulo (and a few tourists that discovered it in Lonely Planet), with people selling, buying, walking around, eating, drinking. Just watch your pocket if you go there, ok?

Consulado Mineiro is right in the middle of this square – and you can easily say which restaurant it is by looking at the queue size. Consulado Mineiro is simply the one with the biggest number of persons drinking a beer and waiting outside. Especially during the weekends, the affluence is amazing! Which tells a lot about the food quality – and it’s price!

The dining room is big but normal – nothing special on that. The food, though, is a different story. First of all, a much needed clarification. When I talk about inland cuisine, I am not talking about some fancy small dish with one or two small appointments. I am talking about real food, that can feed a man working in the fields for a full day – but that feeds not only his stomach, but also its senses. That’s how good “mineira food” is! You have many (and delicious) options around, but just remember an individual ordering is actually large enough for 2 persons. Now, some options: “feijoada” (red beans and pork meat) is always a traditional and good choice (it is Wednesday’s traditional dish, so, it should be your order if you stop by there on such a day), “tutu à mineira”, “leitão à pururuca” (a kind of suckling pig), “mexidão” or “vale do Jequitinhonha” are very good examples of this meat rich and inland vegetables food tradition. Just remember to wash them down with some good local beer.

Consulado Mineiro is a great choice for a nice lazy Sunday lunch with some friends and good, delicious, meaty food. The kind of food that will taste great and then demand that you sit outside in the Sun and slowly digest it.

Where: São Paulo - Brazil

Address: Praça Benedito Calixto nº 74

Phone: +54 11 3088 6055

Website: http://www.consuladomineiro.com.br/

Expensive: Around 90 BRR (40 euros) for 2 persons

Last visit: June 2012

Cervejaria da Esquina

Tuna steak sandwich! This is the only thing I can actually tell you about this restaurant – because it was the only thing I have actually eaten there. And still, I am writing about it – it should tell you something…

I was having a late afternoon drink with a couple of friends in the beautifully classic Estrela Garden, right in the middle of Lisbon, when we decided to have dinner. Where to go, we don’t want to get the cars, lets walk, somewhere not too expensive but still interesting,.. – “let’s go to Cervejaria da Esquina and taste a tuna steak sandwich!” said one of us. So, we walked up to Campo de Ourique, one of the charmiest neighbourhoods in Lisbon, with its simple beginning of the XX century architecture, it’s small gardens and squares, its shops and a couple of good places to have dinner. There we would find Cervejaria da Esquina. “Cervejaria” is the Portuguese word of brewery – though, actually, many of those places don’t brew beer anymore. But you can expect good steaks and butter sauces in any cervejaria, as well as fresh shellfish. Now, what was setting this place apart from any of the others is that it is actually owned by one of the trendiest Portuguese chefs – Vitor Sobral – who aims at blending the traditional definition of cervejaria with a modern touch.

Now, I really can’t speak much about all of these. The dining room was bright and sober, with shellfish being exhibited, like it should be in a cervejaria. And I can’t speak much about the food because we went there with a clear objective – the tuna steak sandwich. And we focused on it. And that was a very good choice! It is quite simple – it basically is a tuna steak in a roll bread, no rocket science. But when the tuna is fresh, delicious, juicy, with that strong red-meaty fish taste that fills your mouth and leaves room for nothing else, in a typically rich and savoured Portuguese roll bread, than, you don’t need any other to know you will come again. And that is why I am recommending, more than a restaurant, a specific entrée, that is just actually a simple sandwich – because it is so good and mouth-watering!

You like tuna, you are in Lisbon looking for a quick and simple dinner – let me recommend you this place. Then, tell me if you agree with me!

Where: Lisboa - Portugal

Address: Rua Correia Teles, 56

Phone: +351 21 387 4644

Website: http://cervejariadaesquina.com/

Expensive: 1 tuna steak sandwich and a beer will cost you less than €10.

Last visit: May 2012

Koffmann's

Until a few years ago, I must say I had a bias against hotel restaurants – I usually saw them as part of the hotel and usually an alternative choice for someone who couldn’t actually go out for a dinner. And then I went to the US and everything changed.

Koffmann’s is located in the Berkeley Hotel, a posh hotel in the very centre of London, in Knightsbridge. And, let me tell you, this is actually a very good choice if a posh night is what you want. First, the hotel entrance, the atmosphere, the decoration as you move through the Blue Bar to the restaurant, the ambience in Koffmann’s itself. It involves you. It wraps you in a posh 70’s atmosphere, a classic modernism that is not decadent (but could almost be).

Then, the food. And this is a Pierre Koffmann restaurant. So, prepare for some good food – informal, but still French style. So, and from a Portuguese perspective (and I bet an American as well), just remember the food will be good… but small…  The menu has very good starters listed, including scallops, Spanish ham and a vegetarian combination of artichokes and green beans. Entrees include codfish with herb-sauce (yes, of course that being Portuguese one of my friends ordered it… and it was good! But my mom does it better…), a great honey glazed duckling (that seemed to actually dissolve slowly in your mouth) and beef cheeks in red wine. Just remember to order some nice red wine (French?) to make sure you rhythm your choice with sweet flavours and tones. Ah! Desserts! I am very conservative in this area – I went for a fresh and delicious pineapple carpaccio (that I strongly recommend), but you may also choose a lemon tart with sorbet or a vanilla pannacotta with rhubarb.

Koffmann’s is a very good choice for your dinner on a posh night out. The food is great, the atmosphere excellent and at the end you can slip to the next room to the famous Blue Bar with its blue decoration (what a surprise…) and exquisite cocktails. What to impress your new stylish girlfriend in London? I would take her here!

Where: London – United Kingdom

Address: The Berkeley – Wilton Place – Knightsbridge SW1X 7RL

Phone: +44 20 7235 6000

Expensive: Around €80

Last visit: May 2012

Belcanto

Once in a while, you have to go to a really posh restaurant! And, let me tell you, to go to a molecular cuisine one that is aiming to its first Michelin star might be a really good experience. And least, that’s what I felt from Belcanto.

Belcanto is the new restaurant from José de Avillez, one of Portugal’s prime (and younger) chefs. The restaurant exists since 1958, just next to the house where the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa was born and São Carlos Opera House – hence its name. The building is a classical one – both out and indoors. The exception is the small corner, where you can read one of Pessoa’s most famous quotes – “Para ser grade sê inteiro”, “To be big, be whole” (the translate is a bit lose, as it always is in poetry). As always, in Portugal, don’t even think in going there before 20h30 – we went there at 20h as we had tickets for a play…. And we were the only ones there for quite a while.

Now, as soon as you sit down, you will start to be served starters or amuse-bouches – molecular style. First the traditional bread and butter (but actually, part of the butter assortment includes a walnut one), then a cod and grain crisp (yes, it really tastes like cod and grain, the traditional Portuguese way), then something else weird and with an unexpected flavour. Looking at the menu, you can also have a glimpse of some out-of-the-ordinary starters and entrees: a “Horta da Galinha dos Ovos de Ouro” (can be loosely translated as “The Goose that laid the golden eggs small farm”, a delicious entrée made of egg, mushrooms and bread – but just keep in mind that in Portuguese the story in about a chicken and not a goose), a “Paisagem Alentejana” (a special way to prepare pig hands), a “Mergulho no Mar” (a seabass with seaweeds and clams), “Ovos à Professor” (a special type of eggs and sausage that actually seems quite fatty) or a “Strogonoff” (that seems to actually be a sinderloin steak and scrambled eggs entrée). And believe me, the textures, the flavours, are absolutely as surprising as the names!

Just make sure you do two things – you pick up a nice Portuguese wine to ignite the flavours, tastes and smells in your mouth. And you choose a nice dessert to round up your meal – and believe me, the names of those dessert dishes are as surprising as of the starters and entrees… and equally delicious!

When we were in Belcanto, we had a terrific experience – part of it trying to guess what was behind each amuse-bouche or name in the menu. We were also trying to guess if the woman behind us, dining by herself and always taking notes on her moleskin was from the “tyre company guide” (the Michelin one). If you want a dinner to impress in Lisbon, just before going to watch a play or an opera, I would strongly recommend Belcanto

Where: Lisboa - Portugal

Address: Largo de São Carlos, 10

Phone: +351 21 342 0607

Website: www.joseavillez.pt

Expensive: Yes! Quite, for Portugal! Think of a dinner to be over €70.

Last visit: April 2012

Ton Hoi

It is neither in the nicest location (on the side of a heavy traffic road) nor the prettiest building (from the outside, it looks like an adapted garage) but, if you like Chinese food, this is a place to go in São Paulo!

Ton Hoi has been open for the past 40 years – and started from a small shack to an established restaurant for oriental descendants and Chinese food lovers. It is usual to see long queues at its door (my friend, book it beforehand, believe me!), trying to get a table in the small 2 floors simply decorated dining room. And this restaurant owns it to its food!

The chop sueys, the shrimp tza tsi ra, the Beijing duck, the egg macaroni, the wan-tan soups – everything is delicious, with the right mix between tenderness and “biteness” and with the rich Chinese taste. Believe me, it is a pleasure for your senses! I was lucky enough to go there with long-time customers that really know the menu and were able to drive me through the richness of it – directing me to their favourite entrees. But you can’t get it wrong in this place – everything seems delicious!

Ton Hoi is for Chinese food lovers – but only for the ones that know how to move around São Paulo. The restaurant is not exactly in the centre of the city or in an usual tourist path. But the food… believe me, it is worthy!

Where: São Paulo - Brasil

Address: Avenida Professo Francisco Morato, 1484 – Jardins Guedala

Phone: +55 11 3721 3268

Website: http://www.tonhoi.com.br/

Expensive: For São Paulo, believe me, it is not expensive at all!

Last visit: February 2012

Brunello de Montalcino

The first I met Brunello was almost 10 years ago. Me and my friends were staying near San Gimigniano for a week, bathing in Tuscan culture (Florence, Siena, Lucca, Pisa…). We had reserved a couple of days to car tour along some small vineyards and villages, to taste a few Chianti and ham and cheese, to feel the flavour of the country side. Montalcino was a surprise – and it’s wine a wonder. We decided to buy out a few cases from the old cellar – getting them through customs and the plane was a funny challenge.

But, now, every time I see it in the menu of a nice Italian restaurant, I think of those days, under a shy February Sun, enjoying this wine in a rock, old, cellar. And when I taste it, though in such a different place, I marvel myself at the tender, sensitive fumes of this great wine, how it is sweet and delicate but still able to leave a strong imprint and signature in my mount. This is my first choice for a fine and delicate pasta entrée. Will you agree with me?

La Taverna dei Fori Imperiale

I was lucky! A friend of mine introduced me to this restaurant - a small, almost hidden in a back street restaurant, with a warmth feel and great food! A definitive and easy choice if you are in Rome and want to taste the real deal. 

La Taverna dei Fori Imperiale is exactly where it's name points out - right next to the Imperial Forum in the center of Rome. It is in a small, cobblestone, windy street that runs kind of parallel to Via Cavour. You have to look and find a small wooden door, and then to get inside, to a small, cramped dining room, that clearly has too many tables and seats. But the warmth and the nice waiters make up for that. 

Ah! And the food! The food is authentically Roman and, let me tell you, delicious! Even someone (me) who doesn't like pate cheered for the "crostini di fegattini alla Toscana" (it involves liver paté...) . Another good anti-pasto is the "guarciale amatriciano con brsuchetta" (combining a typical roman bacon with a bruschetta) or the simple and typical Parma ham with mozzarella or melon. For the "primo" (your first entrée), I would suggest that you ask the waiter for what's not in the menu - many times, you'll have great surprises, believe me! Still, you will find the raviolli with pesto of the canello with truffes to be amazing choices - and, if they are not available, I can easily endorse any pasta entrée in the menu. Ah! And don't forget a nice wine to go along your meal - it will make you feel even better, believe me!

This is a great place to get a real taste of Rome and Roman food! It is not too touristical, but the waiters speak very good English and are extremely nice. And the food my friends, the food is amazing!

Where: Roma - Italy
Address: Via Madonna dei Monti, 9
Phone: +39 06 6798643
Website: http://www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com/english.htm
Expensive: Around €35 per person
Last visit: April 2012

Felice a Testaccio

I was in Rome for 2 weeks of work – and you know how Italian food is, absolutely incredible! The only problem is to actually pick the right places, which, being a foreign, are not necessarily the ones that will come across you on a high street. But I was luck – and this second week I was introduced to a couple of great Italian cuisine restaurants by two local friends. Felice is one of those marvellous restaurants that will make you crave for more.

It is a nice and quiet area of Rome, next to Piazza Testaccio – hence the name. It is has two small dining rooms, including the hall and bar. Sober decoration, but cosy, nothing that actually will make you ready for the full flavour of its food. It really let me yumming for more.

Claudio picked the wine and guided us through our choices. Prosciutto with mozzarella, a salad as anti-pasti / starters. Then, it was time to actually move on to the main courses – I must forewarn you that nobody picked a secondi / second entrée, a second dish, though the roasted lamb actually looked and sounded amazing (we were saving our stomachs for dessert…). But, the primi / first entrees were amazing. I went on to spaghetti with clams that was absolutely delicious. Claudio went for a gricia (a delicious traditional Roman entrée that I have no idea what was made off, but was great). The carbonara a friend of mine ordered also tasted divinely. Food was delicious! And specially with a great Brunello de Montalcino! Marvellous!

Dessert was simply amazing. I already told you I judge Italian restaurants for their tiramisu – and, under that definition, this would probably be the best I ever tasted!

Felice is a nice, cosy and friendly place, perfect for a good dinner that flavours Italian tastes! It has that authentic Roman ambience that only good food is able to bring – and, did I already told you, Roberto Benigni was there next to us? How could it be more authentic and enjoyable?

Where: Roma - Italy

Address: Via Mastro Giorgio, 29

Phone: +39 06 5746800

Website: http://www.feliceatestaccio.it/

Expensive: Around €30 per person, for the menu .described above

Last visit: April 2012

Caxemira

It is in a small apartment. This is the only way to describe that place. A small apartment right in the centre of Lisbon. That is actually one of the best and most genuine Indian restaurants in Lisbon.

Caxemira is located on the first floor of a building near "Praça da Figueira" in the very heart of the town. You pass the building door (there is no indication a restaurant operates there), go up a flight of narrow stairs, move through the regular and small door and then suddenly you are in a small living room, packed with tables and chairs for 45 very squeezed in people... The ambience is typically indian - the place is crapped, the kitchen is right there in a side of the room, there is lots of noise and strong smells. But it turns out to be cozy and authentic... and then, the food makes it up for anything you don't like.

Because the truth is, the smells and the tastes around you are incredibly rich. The food is spicy (and you can fine tune to your preference, just tell the waiter what you want) and rich. Nans, lambs, rice, shrimps, goat, vegetables, cooked in all the greatness of Indian cuisine. Just don't forget to wash it down with Mastani wine for a Cobra beer, and to wrap your meal up with a bebinka.

This isn't the place to take your in-laws. But if you want an Indian food experience in Portugal, Caxemira is probably as real as it gets!

Where: Lisbon - Portugal

Address: Rua Condes de Monsanto, 4, 1º direito - Praça da Figueira

Phone: +351 21 886 54 86

Expensive: Around €15

Last visit: January 2012

Confraria

This is the place to go for sushi in Cascais. A small sushi house, really in the center of the town, in a very quite spot, with a nice balcony outside and yummy food!

Confraria is right in the centre of Cascais, just a few meters away from my choice for an Italian – Caffe Italia (http://allthegoodrestaurants.blogspot.com/2011/10/caffe-italia.html ). It is in small, traditional Cascais house, with white walls, a small and nice balcony, on a white-stone quiet street. The dining room is not exactly very big – you can count on maybe 40 sits, but is dark and beautiful… and just like 90% of sushi restaurants…

Confraria is a good choice for a sushi dinner, with a couple of good friends and just before you hit the streets for some drinks and fun (though let me tell you that Cascais has lost some of its steam on this department…). The miso soup is a good way to start your meal – even if you don’t love tofu, like I don’t. And then the sushi is quite good. I usually choose a sushi to sashimi mix, with all the right salmon and tuna and and hossomaki and uramaki. And I always make sure I have some hot sushi (yes, I love it!!!) in there – I would go for a shake cheese hot, but there are also other good choices in the menu. But you can also order off the menu – just ask the waiter what is the sushi chef doing that is not in the book (and sometimes you will have a very good surprise!).

If you like sushi and are in Cascais, this would be my recommendation (with some sake along the meal as well…).

Where: Cascais - Portugal

Address: Rua Luis Xavier Palmeirim, 14 – Cascais

Phone: +351 21 483 4614

Website: http://www.confrariasushi.com/

Expensive: Around €40.

Last visit: December 2011

Castas e Pratos

Peso da Régua is at the heart of Douro’s wine district – probably, Portugal’s most famous wine area. So, good wine was guaranteed. But what about good food?

Castas e Pratos is set up in an old railway warehouse – next to the train station and a few dozens of meters from the Douro River. It is big 2 storeys house, the first one being a wine bar (of course) and then the second one being the restaurant.

The cuisine is a balance between the traditional flavours of the region (a heavy, tasteful exploitation of beef with some occasional pork dishes) with some modern and even fusion like appointments that blend different tastes and invite to be tried. Starters like “Alheira cannelloni with egg and rappini” (alheira is a specific type of Portuguese blood sausage) or “Grilled aspargus with Iberian pork ham with a string of honey” or entrees like “Codfish with corn bread”, “Duck maigret with rum caramelized pineapple”, “Calf medallion au Roquefort sauce with mushrooms risotto” or “Traditional beef (“posta”) on a toast with olive oil, grilled potato and salted rappini” promise a lustful and delicious dinner. There are also pasta options (more regular) and veggie options. And, as a concession to Southern tastes, a rice dish and an “açorda” (a typical bread, garlic, eggs and olive oil entrée from South of Portugal). And please, pick one of the nice Douro wines in the menu and make the meal even more tasteful!

Castas e Pratos is a fresh alternative to the heavier options of traditional North Portugal cuisine – without actually renouncing to them. It introduces a different blend in an already quite taste appealing region (did I already mention the wine?).

Where: Peso da Régua - Portugal

Address: Rua José Vasques Osório

Phone: +351 254 323 290

Website: http://www.castasepratos.com/

Expensive: Around €25 per person.

Last visit: December 2011

White Port

One of the good surprises of my recent trip through Portugal inland regions, was actually the discovery of white port wine. I had no idea it existed! Which I know it is a huge shame when you consider that I am actually Portuguese… But I discovered a smooth, mildly sweet wine, that begs to be drank fresh (maybe with a bit of ice?) under the Sun, while enjoying a nice chat with friends. I actually picture myself in Lisbon, looking at the river and the white houses while sipping it… I think I probably discovered my drink for this summer – which is particularly awkward if you think we are in January – oh, well…

P.S- I might also try to blend some red fruits in it as part of a cocktail. It seems a good experiment.

Dom Sancho

Nobody goes to Sortelha – unless you know the village. It is an incredible medieval village, deep in Portugal, next to the Spanish border. It is a really off the beaten path place – and a magical one. Imagine an old village at the top of a granite block, surrounded by old and well preserved walls, its houses mad of grey stone and moss, under an amazing blue sky. My girlfriend was amazed at the place and the pureness of the air! And, if you go to this fairy tale village – make sure you stop by the restaurant!

Dom Sancho is in the first square of the village, right after you drive your car through a narrow wall gate. It is a two storey wall building, like any other in the village – the first floor is a small bar and the top one being the dining room. Once you step inside, you feel the outdoor magic flows indoor as well. The sober room, decorated with some game motives on the walls, the wood chairs and tables, the kitchen at the end – it all seems authentic. And some small details, like the menu being just a brown paper sheet nailed to a wooden piece just reinforce it.

For food, ask for the traditional starters – Iberian ham, Serra cheese, salami,… It is all non processed, organic, from the region that surrounds this village. Don’t forget to order a good Dão red wine, with a strong taste that goes well with the flavours you will put in your mouth in just a couple of minutes. For entrees you have a couple of options. You have game, like wild boar stew (that was delicious) or an assortment of deer. You may also order rabbit or hare, cooked the traditional way – “à caçadora”, meaning “hunter style”. Or then, you can try one of the oven cooked fish, like cod or octopus “à lagareiro”, with a tasty olive oil and soaked potatoes. Whatever the option, let me tell you that will make you really consider the possibility of walking down to the square and take a nap under the sun, lying against an old tree and looking at the ever-standing city walls. And will make you wish to come back to this village and restaurant.

Sortelha and Dom Sancho restaurant are out of the way. It is not a place to go in a fancy night out. But is a great place for a dinner in a romantic weekend, or a good lunch when you go on a family trip and want to show your kids a medieval village. Dom Sancho has the right ingredients to help make this a memorable part of an amazing day

Where: Sortelha - Portugal

Address: Largo Corro

Phone: +351 271 388 267

Expensive: Around €20

Last visit: December 2011