SOLAR DOS NUNES

Lunch was at a little neighborhood restaurant - Solar dos Nunes, listed in the Michelin guide, which serves traditional Portuguese food. We had asked Kiko to take us to an authentic place and his choice was spot on. Specializing in cuisine from the Alentejo region of Portugal, the place was homey with wooden tables and chairs, white tablecloths and more importantly, lots of locals having long boozy lunches.

All the food we had for lunch

While we were perusing the menu, our drink order was taken and several traditional cold appetizers were laid on the table with a basket of home-made bread. There was a chunk of queijo da serra (fresh white goat's cheese) a small round cheese with the top rind cut-off to reveal the creamy interior, some flavoured olives, some ham from porco preto (black pig) the Portuguese equivalent of the Spanish Iberian pigs. Served last were two warm appetizers - a small bowl of warm sausage-looking things and the bolinhos de bacalhau (cod croquettes). Three items stood out - the melting queijinho de azeitao (sheep's-milk cheese) was ripe and perfect to spread on chunks of bread, the crunchy outside yet creamy inside cod croquettes and the farinheirinhas de serpa (crunchy sausages) were delicious and something completely new. These distinct sausages are traditionally made from pork, wine, garlic, orange juice, and flour which explains why they are sweet, salty and crispy at the same time.

We slowly made our way through the selection of little appetizers while waiting for the main courses to arrive. I let Kiko decide and he had ordered some fish for me - battered cherne (sea bass) served with a soupy shrimp rice while A had the traditional bacalhau (cod) "Tia Narcisa style" topped with onions and potatoes. Kiko had the cherne com molho de camarao (sea bass) in a creamy shrimp-flavoured sauce and Maria chose the Tornedo a Principe de Galles (a tournedos or beef fillet) served in a creamy sauce and surprisingly, a fried egg on the side. The portions are large and were hard to finish as we had already stuffed ourselves with the many different appetizers beforehand but we managed pretty well.

Strong espressos to end the meal

As we couldn't leave without having a bit of dessert to complete our Portuguese meal, we opted for a selection to share and were served six different desserts - 5 cakes and 1 portion of rice pudding which we somehow managed to finish anyway. Espressos were needed after all that food to end our lunch. Kiko and Maria then dropped us back in Belem where we had left our car and we said our goodbyes from there before setting off back into town to walk off our lunch in the center of Lisbon.

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Solar dos Nunes

Rua dos Lusiadas, 68-72, Lisboa

Tel: +35 21 364 73 59

Open for lunch and dinner, Closed on Sundays, Valet parking available

Portugal: Day 2 - Lisboa and PASTEIS DE BELEM

Another early start on our second day in Portugal - after a quick breakfast, we drove via the Marginal (coastal road) from Estoril to Belem in Lisboa to meet up with the brother of Antonio, a good friend of ours who is Brazilian/Portuguese and whose family live in Lisbon. His younger brother, Kiko, is another Cordon Bleu Paris graduate with his own restaurant, Masstige, in downtown Lisbon.

Scenes from Pasteis de Belem

We met in front of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, another UNESCO world heritage site. This Renaissance monument of Manueline architectural style was built in the early 1500's in what was then the entrance to the city of Lisbon from the Tagus river. The Religious Order of St. Jerome lived in the monastery until 1833 when religious communities were dissolved and the Monastery cleared. Prominent Portuguese, including poets, politicians and even famous explorer Vasco de Gama.


After meeting at the front of the monastery, we parked our car and followed Kiko and his fiancee, Maria, to the nearby Pasteis de Belem. For gourmet travellers like myself, this is an institution that shouldn't be missed. This pastry shop was founded in 1837 in what was once a sugarcane refinery alongside the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. The creation of a pastry shop was a result of the closing down of all monasteries in 1833 which led the clergy and monks with nothing to do so a business making pasteis (custard-filled pastry shells) was created. Today, the famous pasteis de Belem have become a national pastry available in all Portuguese bakeries but the original remains the most popular and is the only one allowed to use the name pasteis de Belem while all the rest are called pasteis de nata. I had first tried a variation of pasteis in Hong Kong many years ago. It was one of the traditional desserts in dim sum restaurants and are called "dan tarts". It was surely a remnant of Portuguese influence brought to Macao and adapted by the Cantonese.

The yummy pasteis fresh from the oven.

It was almost noon when we entered the bustling shop and it was packed with people. The original front room was extended with the acquisition of nearby buildings and has slowly grown over the years into a large maze of many rooms filled with tables and chairs and also the large a glassed-in area showing the freshly-made pasteis coming out of the oven. We found a bright table soon enough underneath a skylight and right beside the baking area and immediately ordered espressos and some pasteis. The pastry was crisp and layered and the custard cream was warm and delicious. It was the perfect snack before starting our whirlwind tour of Lisbon.

A view of city with the castle on top of one of the seven hills and the Tagus river below.

We left our car in Belem and Kiko drove us through the city starting out at the Baixa Chiado area just off the famous pedestrian street of Rua Augusta, then continued upwards through tiny cobble stoned roads all the way to the top where we had a bird's-eye view of the city, its' famous seven hills and the large Tagus river running through it. On the way up we saw the electric (Lisbon's efficient and historic tram) which is the best way to get to the top of the hill and back. They also showed us the shopping districts and the trendy Bairro Alto district. By this time we were ready for some lunch.

Facades and the smooth cobble stoned roads of the city