Clark R.
Yelp
I won't be able to come up with superlatives that are more interesting than anyone else's, but I do have to tell this story...I got hopelessly lost in a downpour, like for a couple hours, & I must have asked for directions a dozen times, & no taxi would pick me up, so by the grace of God I finally found the river & somehow managed to turn the right way, & then I found a street that looked familiar, & I slogged back up the hill to the hostel, by now completely soaked to the skin.
This place down the block I'd noticed before, it's a Sunday afternoon & empty because of the crazy weather, & even though they have 800-euro bottles of wine on the menu, I sit down in my sweatshirt & flip-flops & proceed to have the classiest traditional Portuguese meal you could imagine, & a flight of local wine that probably earned me secret college credits. I had a cheese plate from another planet, & then a really tasteful house salad & some cornbread-encrusted bacalhau with potatoes.
I was joking with the waiter early on, like, "Anybody ever come in here & order a beer?" Because they have an encyclopedic wine list & all the walls are covered in bottles everywhere, right, & we got a good laugh about it, but then the day drifted on, & after a couple hours some other people finally showed up, & it was a couple speaking French, & sure enough...two beers! xD
It was a gorgeous afternoon, & at nite when I'd walk by the place was always hopping with a great variety of people, live music sometimes, definitely a great destination in a neighborhood already dizzy with spectacular food options. I hope this was mostly correct, but I told the guy at one point when I was rhapsodizing about the meal, ""Finalmente eu entendo por que o casal do filme Casablanca queriam fugir e vir para cá." Finally I understand why the couple from the movie Casablanca wanted to escape & come here. Hahaha. :-] CR