grilled scallops – €21

cantinho do avillez

we read that jose avillez is one of the most respected chef in portugal, has 4 restaurants in the chiado, and belcanto has earned 2 michelin stars, the first in 2012.

so we made reservation at the next best thing, cantinho do avillez, his canteen on the next road, for more casual dining & easy on the wallet evening outing on 28.3.2016. ^^

daughter wasn’t keen so we went with son for 3pax dinner. 🙂

restaurant was like fully booked & people were waiting at the bar area drinking & then brought to the tables.

bread & dip

bread

there was a cover charge of €2.85pax.

quite ok as we were served nice bread with something like a bearnaise buttery dip.

dip

bread & dip

can’t remember what it was, but it was good with the bread.

tuna tartare – €11.85

tuna tartare – €11.85

tuna tartare was with asian sauce.

tasted ok to me, but a far cry from what we had the day before at mercado timeout market la…

heavy & earth i should say both in taste & even in presentation.

wife was totally unimpressed.

scallop cerviche – €8.45

scallop ceviche was better. but again quite ordinary.

scallop cerviche

of course it’s still cheaper than an equivalent dish in a good restaurant in singapore. anyway, so so la…

veal trotters? with chick peas – €6.50

veal trotters? with chick peas – €6.50

pretty good dish for me. the trotters were like deboned, so only left the gelatinous gummy skin etc.

i should say a tasty dish & something i liked & easy to eat…

lamb with cous cous – tagine codeiro – €18.45

lamb with cous cous – tagine codeiro – €18.45

son had the lamb.

he certainly liked it. i didn’t mind it too.

but it was like just ok-ish.

for example, the likewise middle-eastern braised lamb shoulder preparation at honey & co london was WAY better than this la…

black pig with black beans – €19

black pig & black bean sauce – €19

i wanted the alentejano black pig this time. it was good too, charred & flavourful.

but we just had the black pig risotto at scaramento the evening before, & that was considerably better, and came with a very good standard mushroom risotto to boot.

average food ???

wife had the grilled scallops for main (top photo),

clearly competent, and a fair portion. a good main nothing to complain about.

damage = 3pax euro115

the bill came to €115 for 3pax including bottle of wine.

it’s about same price as what we paid for 4pax at sacramento.

ok maybe we were too critical..to be fair food was competent & not really mediocre but just overrated & underwhelming…basically better & cheaper elsewhere la..

quality, quantity, price, overall experience not 1/2 as good as at Sacramento last evening la.

overall, it was still a good meal for me only unimpressed, unlike say at scaramento, mercado ribeira timeout market, & later at DOP in porto.

c.h.e.f andy

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Cantinho do Avillez
+ 351 21 199 23 69
Rua dos Duques de Bragança, 7
1200-162 Lisboa

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 12.30-15.00 and 19.00-00.00
Saturday and Sunday: 12.30-00.00
Closed on public holidays: For dinner 24 December and all day 25 December

3 port, 3 proscuitto, 4 cheese, 3 chorizo

this winebar was recommended by son. he came with a friend some years back. 🙂

it’s a nice place. we saw it on the way to castelo de sao jorge, so after the castle we stopped by & enjoyed the port & cheese on 28.3.2016. ^^

wine bar do castelo

it’s a cosy little place, with limited seating. 🙂

wine bar do castelo

good recommendations also by tripadvisor. 🙂

ruby port & tawny port

we were introduced to white port, ruby port & tawny port.

port are wine produced from red grapes grown in the duoro valley & fortified by addition of garpe neutral spirit (brandy) to stop fermentation, & so sweeter. tawny port has prolonged slow oxidation in wooden casks. it turns amber brown colour & is smoother, nutty & taste like brandy.

We picked 2 ruby port €6 each & a tawny port €9

we picked 3 port – 2 ruby port €6 each & a tawny port €9.

& a platter comprising 3 proscuitto, 4 cheese, 3 chorizo to share among 4pax. 🙂

olives & bread

the bread as always were very good.

the olives here also good quality, not the bery cheap salty type eg we had at a porto market

extra virgin olive oil & compote

very good extra virgin olive oil.

& with the cheese & chorizo we also had very good fruit jam & compote.

3 proscuitto, 4 cheese, 3 chorizo

the platter was really something.

3 very good quality 24mths & 36mths proscuitto (or aged ham) including alentejan black pig, 3 different chorizo & 4 cheese.

proscuitto & chorizo were so flavourful. i enjoyed all of them & the cheese. they were especially good when taken together with the port, though i can’t take much wine or liquor.

this was the best wine & cheese experience i had. service was excellent, with very good introduction & explanation of the port, proscuitto, chorizo & cheese.

c.h.e.f andy

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WINEBAR DO CASTELO