Lisbon Eats: Cervejaria Ramiro
I will always have a slightly melancholy view of Lisbon, because while the cityscape was spectacular and was a nice change of pace from Spain, in the 2 days I was there, I faced an attempted pickpocket head on (foiled!), while others in my family were also subjected to pickpocketing, sometimes successful. So many attempts in so few days. Do be careful if you visit, especially in and around the the famous Tram 28.
But one of the bright spots of the visit was lunch/dinner at Cervejaria Ramiro. We went at strange time in between lunch and dinner to avoid the crowds - it is a popular restaurant, and for good reason! All of the seafood here was extraordinarily fresh, and the service was quite good. Even at the time we went, there was still a bit of a wait.
We started with oysters.
Then had these magnificent gambas a la aguillo (shrimp with garlic). (The Spanish, Chinese, and apparently also the Portuguese, how is it that all of these people figured out that shrimp and garlic is just a great combination!)
Ameijoa a bulhao pato (clams with cilantro).
By the way, the bread and butter deserves special mention. The bread was just so light and airy!
Huge tiger prawns! Got a bit dry though...
And for dessert, filet mignon sandwich. Anthony Bourdain came for his "No Reservations" show, and mentioned that you have this for dessert. We weren't quite sure what he meant, but when we ordered it, indeed the waiter informed us that he would bring this at the end, like for dessert! The meat was so tender and flavorful, I would come here just for this sandwich. Imagine coming to a seafood restaurant just for a steak sandwich!
