Sitting on the dock of the bay...

Had a very good dinner with impeccable service at Ibo restaurante in Lisbon's Cais do Sodré last night. Although it opened three years ago it was the first time we had been, having only recently heard about it. The cooking is a blend of Portugal and Mozambique. We could have been outside but opted to sit upstairs, which both gives you a better view over the Tagus and keeps you away from the groups of smokers who regular leave their tables inside to have a quick fag outside.

Side of the restaurant with its view over the Tagus

View from upstairs dining room (above and below)

Three master (Principe Perfeito) approaches and passes

Nightime views from Ibo

including the diving Christ

Viewed through a glass on 2008 Meandro do Vale Meão

Douro white: 2009 Casa Amarela

Douro white: 2010 CARM

Highlights of the meal for me were the succulent breaded prawns with a variety of sauces and then the Mozambiquan crab curry. We started with a glass of white from the Douro – the 2010 Casa Amarela and the 2010 CARM Reserva. Both were good with the Casa Amarela a little richer and fuller than the CARM. Then we enjoyed a bottle of the excellent value and reliable Meandro, the second wine of Quinta do Vale Meão.

Ibo

Armazém A – Compartimento 2,

Cais do Sodré

1200-450 Lisboa

Tel: 21.342.36.11

geral@ibo-restaurante.pt

The botanical gardens in the centre of Lisbon is a tranquil haven from the bustle of Lisbon's streets. Although somewhat run down, the entrance fee is ridiculously cheap: just 1.80€ or for more frequent visits an investment of 8.50€ will provide you with an annual family card.

Anyway spent a quiet 40 minutes or so in the gardens late on Wednesday in the warm late February sunshine mainly watching a duck on a small pond swimming around and cleaning himself.

Filetting a sole@Adega do Teixeira

Tuesday night we had dinner at Adega do Teixeira, a traditional and unpretentious restaurant on the eastern edge of the Bairro Alta. Although they do appear to have a menu we have never been offered one. Instead you are shown what fish and meat they have and asked what you would like to eat. In reality, although there is a choice, the choice is often out of your hands as it is the boss waiter who often decides. Here that is fine by us as the food is always good, especially the fish.

On Tuesday night the four of us opted for grilled fish – a duo of groupa and very good Dover sole.

As for the wine – again we have never seen a wine list but the house wine is always drinkable and good value. On Tuesday it was the easy drinking, juicy:

2006 Terra de Galgos from the Alentejo

Pears poached in Port

Halving the pears

To finish with we had very good pears poached in Port – again we had no real choice here but they were very good. Along with the starters – soft cheese, ham, olives and excellent bubbling hot squid – the bill for four came to an extraordinarily reasonable 117€.

Sadly the restaurant was virtually empty Tuesday evening. Apparently business is very up and down at the moment. Anyway Terxeira is certainly recommended.

Adega do Teixeira

Rua do Teixeira 39
1200-459 Lisboa

Tel: 21-342 83 20

Looking south east: church dome and across Tagus Bay to Vasco da Gama Bridge

Have friends staying with us for a couple of days, so yesterday afternoon it was out to see some of the sites of Lisbon.

High speed ferries on the Tagus

Santa Engrãcia

View from part of the Castelo de S. Jorge

Evening light on trees@Castelo

Investment property near Castelo

Peacock in tree@Castelo

Part of his tail

Elevador Santa Justa

Looking northwards upstream along the Tejo. The block on the left hand side is being renovated and turned into an hotel

Despite a few menacing black clouds there was warm sunshine when we went for a walk along the Tejo this morning. The Vasco bridge is always eye-catching, especially when lit up by sunshine.

Photo by CRM

Estrella and the maze of tramwires

Early February in Lisbon can be magical – equally it can be wet and miserable. However, today it is warm and sunny with signs that spring is arriving.

 

Green parakeet

Oranges in the morning sunlight

Last night we went to the excellent and traditional restaurant O Painel de Alcântara and had the rich chicken dish – arroz de frango de cabidela – which is chicken cooked in its own blood rather in the same style as a jugged hare. With it we drank a bottle of 2007 Quinta do Côtto, a Douro red. Its generous, sweet ripe fruit was an ideal match with the richness of the chicken dish. I was delighted to see that it is closed with a screwcap, although I'm mildly surprised that their quinta hasn't been torched by supporters of the Portuguese cork industry!!

Quinta do Côtto is the domaine wine and the 2007 is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesca and Sousão. Part of the wine spends nine months in Portuguese oak barrels.

O Painel is open from Monday to Saturday and every day has two or three special traditional dishes. On Monday, for instance, it's our chicken plus pasteis de balalhau with arroz de grélos and a cabrito (goat) stew.

The portions are extremely generous – usually a feature of Portuguese restaurants – and , if you can, it is worth leaving some space for the desserts. We had an wonderfully opulent laite creme (créme brulée) and chocolate mousse with plenty of chocolate flavour and not too sweet, as is so often the case.

Certainly highly recommended if you want good wholesome, traditional Portuguese food with good, thoughtful service. Delicious samosas and ham to start.

O Paniel de Alcantara
Rue do Arco (a Alcantrara), 7-13
1350-019 Lisboa
Tel: 213-965 920, 213-964 706

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2009 EWBC all set for a tasting

There is a useful list of links to blogging posts on the 2009 European Wine Bloggers Conference here on a thread called Lisboa –Wine Bloggers Conference on a Portuguese forum called NovaCrítica-vinho.com

One of the links is to Danielle del Gresso's video that includes scenes of the conference and the trip to the Douro.

Discovered a new (new to us) Alentejo restaurant – O Magano in Campo d'Ourique, Lisbon. Had a very good and copious meal – lots of starters including presunto, octopus salad, chick pea salad, broad bean salad and stuffed mushrooms. These come as standard and you choose your main course. I had a very good rabbit in a rich gravy accompanied by a migas. Could just about have fed two people and certainly far too much for one person. No space for a dessert, so we just had a very good cup of coffee to finish.

On the way in I noticed a bottle of 2001 Quinta do Vale Meão (one of the Douro Boys) in the wine cabinet. Unfortunately the 2001 was 85€ on the wine list. Actually not an unreasonable price seeing as this wine retails at around 60€ but still more than we wanted to pay. Luckily they had the 2007 Meandro, the second wine of Quinta do Vale Meão. This was excellent – soft with mouthfilling fruit with well integrated tannins. This wine was in the Douro Boys tasting on 30th October when I thought it needed more time to soften. Just shows the influence of food.

O Magano is just across the road from Garrafeira de Campo d'Ourique a very good wine shop. Worth booking as it gets from busy from about 9pm, especially at the weekends. When we left a little after 10pm there was a queue for tables.

O Magano
52 Rua Tomas da Anunciação, Lisboa
Tel: 21 395 45 22