Marisqueira Cervejaria Ramiro on Wednesday night
Marisqueira Cervejaria Ramiro was one of our must-visit restaurants in Lisbon! We first heard about on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations when he was in Lisbon to taste an array of local seafood ending with a prego, or steak sandwich, for “dessert”. It was so delicious we went back again – normally we never repeat restaurants on vacation! But we just had to have those scarlet shrimp again!!
View of the city of Azenhas do Mar – taken by our Tuk Tuk driver 🙂
Portugal is famous for its seafood and Sintra is no exception. So to conclude our day trip, after researching and asking friends, we decided on Azenhas do Mar. To our surprise this is the name of both the restaurant and the city! So when we asked our Tuk Tuk driver to take us here he looked at us very weirdly and said it’s two towns away. But luckily he lives closeby and we negotiated a price and off we went! He happily let us know that after dropping us off he could just go home and not work the evening shift.
Belcanto by José Avillez
Koen and I are married 10 years today! Where better to celebrate than the 75th Best Restaurant in the World, Belcanto by Chef José Avillez? We really had such a wonderful evening discovering Portuguese cuisine. The food and service were outstanding. We also loved how the food was served in riddles and poems!
The Time Out Market in Lisbon
I don’t think anyone goes to Lisbon without visiting the Time Out Market. To quote their site:
Have you ever heard of curated burgers? Curated nigiri? Curated pizzas, sandwiches or even curated cod? Probably not. After all, Time Out Market is the first market in the world where everything has been chosen, tasted and tested (with four or five stars, and not one star less) by an independent panel of city experts: Time Out’s own journalists and critics. More than 40 spaces with the leading representatives in all the food categories that help make Lisbon what it is – and tastes – all together under one roof. Find out everything you need to taste – and what Time Out had to say about it.
A Ginjinha
I read that in Porto you have Port wine and in Lisbon you have ginja, so of course we needed to try this sweet cherry liquor! Like most of the people waiting in line for a shot at A Ginjinha, we first heard about it by watching Anthony Bourdain in Lisbon. Located on Rossio Square, you can try ginja for only a couple of euros – with or without cherries (we preferred with). It was delicious enough for us to drink 4 each, but when it came to bring back a bottle we passed. And be careful – the sweetness makes it easy to go down and then hits when you once you start walking to your next destination 🙂
Our orange house
Sometimes things just work out. While planning for our trip to Portugal, it can get overwhelming try to decide on where to stay in each city. For Lisbon I had debated between Alfama – the eastern part of the city – or a central neighborhood like Chiado or Baixa. Luckily in the end I chose Alfama! What a romantic, beautiful neighborhood!
Arrived in Cadzand
For my birthday, I wanted to spend a quiet day with Koen in Zeeland. I know about Cadzand because of Sergio Herman. He has two 1 Michelin starred restaurants, Pure C and Air Republic, both located in Cadzand and I was curious to see the appeal!
Vrijmoed
For my birthday lunch we headed to Gent to eat at the 2 Michelin star Vrijmoed. Koen and I were both really excited to try the vegetarian menu, which was awarded Best Veggie Menu Benelux 2016 and 2017 by Gault Millau. And of course we ordered an extra dessert – the Stilton “sorbet” which was awarded dessert of the year 2017 by Gault Millau. So many award winning dishes to taste!
As I mentioned in the Dishoom and Ghymkhana posts, this trip to London is all about Indian food! A few months ago I was at a lunch with an Indian family living in London and I asked for her list of best Indian restaurants. She gave me a list of 10 and I couldn’t wait for my next trip to London! Second to check off the list – Indian Accent!
Our starters at Gymkhana
As I mentioned in the Dishoom post, this trip to London is all about Indian food! A few months ago I was at a lunch with an Indian family living in London and I asked for her list of best Indian restaurants. She gave me a list of 10 and I couldn’t wait for my next trip to London! First to check off the list – Gymkhana!
An American in Antwerp 