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

+++++++++++++++++++++++

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

++++++++++++++++++++++++

WINEBAR DO CASTELO

breakfast @ tartine

we had a long & fun day on 27.3.2016, waking up in the wee hours to catch a taxi to luton to board a flight from london to lisbon.

so we all had a restful sleep, and planned for a later breakfast on 28.3.2016. ^^

wife & daughter had done their yoga.

daughter read about tartine (a short walk from our apartment) so we decided to go there for breakfast. 🙂

tartine pastry

a tempting display of pastry…

tartine

we were seated on the inside next to the small outdoor section..

tartine

it was past 9am & not so many customers…

egg cream pastry – the best!

the pastry counter lady said this egg cream pastry was a popular item here.

i think it was the best, better than the natas & other portugese pastry we had & subsequently…

natas @ tartine

the natas here were good too.

i would say this was better than the natas we had at paradia portuguesa @Praça Luís de Camões.

& perhaps pasteis de belem’s was a bit better than this…

portugese sweet croissant

we ordered the portugese version of croissant just to try.

this however was disappointing. the french croissant is much better for my palate.

soft boiled egg with toast

son was hungry, so he ordered a soft boiled egg with toast. not my kind of food.

expresso with cream

wife took a expression with cream & i took my usual flat white.

the coffee here was good. 🙂

a nice relaxing breakfast before we start out to alfama district & castelo de sao jorge. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TARTINE PADARIA & RESTAURANTE

RUA SERPA PINTO, 15 – A

TEL: +351 21 342 91 08

MONDAY TO FRIDAY: 8AM TO 8PM

SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS: 10AM TO 8PM

grilled octopus split for 4pax

we had quite a full day on 27.3.2016-

• took the early 6.45am easyjet flight from luton & after some delays arrived lisbon at 10am & checked into our 3-bedroom apartment at chaido.
• had wonderful lunch at mercado da ribeira timeout market.
• tried the “best” natas at pasteis de belem.
• visited jeronimos monastery, discovery monuments & belem tower.
• walked around a bit

it’s time to have a nice dinner & relax! 🙂

sacramento restaurant

we didn’t have a restaurant in mind so i looked at the google map which showed the restaurants nearby as we walked along rue do carmo past saint justa elevator.

with luck on our side, we picked sacramento. not a promising name, certainly not portugese sounding. the deco was described as funky in one guide. seemed a bit cheesy to me, somehow reminded me of a certain jack’s place at havelock road in the early 1980s?

well, turned out to be the best restaurant & best meal we had in lisbon.

nice bread

we were served some nice bread & nice extra virgin olive oil.

it must be said that all bread at all meals we had were very nice here in lisbon, & also later porto.

chorizo & cheese

we had a chorizo & cheese to share.

all very nice, but not really better than mercado timeout market or comparable with the excellent chorizo, cheese & port we had at castelo winebar the next day…

for today we waited an inordinately long time (like 1 hr+) for our food.

(it was ok at our next visit for dinner the evening before we left for porto).

not acceptable really, and the restaurant probably knew it.

we ordered a grilled octopus to share, and the restaurant split into 4 plates for us.

each plate had really a huge portion, plus very nice spinach to boot as side (top photo)!

we all agreed this was the best octopurs we had, better than at lake como, at lake marggiore, at cinque terre & of course singapore!

entrecote steak

we ordered a main each, so 4 mains, & we shared the food anyway.

wife had the entrecote. it was very nice. the piece i had was quite marbled and very flavourful.

black pig with funghi risotto

son had a black pig with funghi risotto.

incredible is the word!

(we had dinner at cantinho do avillez the next day. this is the “canteen” of 2 michelin star chef jose avillez who helms belcanto on the next street from cantinho. 

by comparison with sacramento, cantinho was overrated & the dinner entirely underwhelming, unfortunately…)

black pig with funghi risotto

the black pig was a really huge serving, very well charred, very flavourful & marbled. a really excellent meat!

black pig with funghi risotto

& the funghi risotto was excellent on its own, equal or better than a very good italian restaurant in singapore, and its only a side!

salt cod

daughter had a salt cod.

poultry chorizo with rice

& i had a poultry chorizo with rice. 🙂

both these dishes would have been very good restaurant standard dishes standalone.

salt cod is not a favourite for all for us. still it was very well done.

the poultry chorizo was not quite what i expected. i though it might be a chicken breast fillet which could be very tender & flavourful done in a good restaurant. it as instead a croquette deep-fried item. not my favourite preparation. still it was done well & tasty.

like the salt cod, this was more robust than fine food, and we already shared very good entrecote & black pig.

the rice was also very good. it’s different from the risotto, not as creamy, but tasted very good as well. of course we did not take most of it, just too much carbs la…

sacramento restaurant

dinner was like €130 for 4pax, really excellent for the price! maybe we were just hungry la…

only complaint was the long wait…fortunately that was not repeated at our next visit.

restaurant largo

on the way back to our apartment we passed by restaurant largo, with very tempting display of seafood & crustaceans!

well there were too many eating places we wanted to go, so in the end we did not go this one la…

c.h.e.f andy

tuna tartare

one of the exciting places, a major food destination, we read about was mercado da ribeira.

so after putting our bags in our chiado apartment, we walked down to cais de sorde & a short distance to mercado.

mercado da ribeira timeout market

this was lisbon’s main market since 1894. time out lisboa magazine took over management in 2014. the market stalls selling fresh produce are open 6am to 2pm.

the food court on the western side of the building, opened in may 2014, has canteen styled community tables, opens everyday 10am to midnight sun-wed & 10am to 2am thurs – sat.

what is exciting is that it features many many brand/chefs from portugal’s top restaurants & shops.

mercado da ribeira timeout market

lisbonlux also provided a comprehensive listing of the boutique stalls at the market, selling food “from seafood to steak sandwiches, hamburgers, sushi and ice cream, among other specialties”.

€10 prosciutto, cheese from manteigaria silva + wine

we started with a €10 prosciutto & cheese plate from manteigaria silva. the white wine was costly at €6 but very good. the extra virgin olive oil was another €1.50 but it was very good indeed.

prosciutto was average, not specially “pang”, cheese was good.

prosciutto, cheese, wine from manteigaria silva

the platter didn’t look like a lot but was pretty ok to share, and the bread was very good (portugese bread everywhere we go in lisbon & porto were very good) & fantastic with the olive oil.

tartar-ia @ mercado timeout market

next we had tuna tartare from tartar-ia.

€18.75 tuna tartare

not only it looked exquisite.

it was the best tune tartare i ever had. but it came expensive though, €18.75 for 150g.

€18.75 tuna tartare

you can call it explosion of flavours. don’t know what were the condiments but everything combined fabulously, fromt eh fragrant extra virgin olive oil to the truffle oil, wasabi mayo? etc…

just wonderful!

€13.50 steak tartare

tuna tartare was so good we decided to try the steak tartare.

€13.50 steak tartare

it was excellent too, though nothing so wow like the tuna tartare, and cheaper.

we also had a white & then a red from tartar-ia…white was not as good as the one from manteigaria silva. red was very good. 🙂

cakes from Nós é Mais Bolos

we rounded off with some cakes from Nós é Mais Bolos

not know what to order we asked for recommendations, and got the chocolate cake & egg cream cakes.

€4.50 gigi’s chocolate cake

both were quite unsatisfactory!

gigi’s chocolate cake was too sweet, very so-so, somethin i would not take in singapore.

€3.50 egg sponge cake

the egg sponge cake, they claimed best in the world. what can i say, non-descript, forgettable…

the next day i had an excellent egg cream cake at tartine. that was memorable.

portugal (both lisbon & porto) had excellent nata, the portugese egg tarts (& i didn’t know how good they were until i try a random one in singapore few days back, and that was literally unedible by comparison), and many other great pastry, so we don’t really need this.

mercado da ribeira timeout market

we left mercado & took the tram 15e to belem. this photo from across the road as we walked to the tram station nearer cais de sorde.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

rice paper rolls

a very enjoyable morning at maltby market, but enough of sandwiches. ^^

i thought of having vietnamese food.

son’s favourite, banh mi bay was closed for easter weekend.

we found the next most convenient, sen viet, which was within walking distance from son’s apartment. still it was quite far maybe 15mins when we walked, and after dinner it was raining quite a bit, luckily we could call uber cab, & cost us very little to get back.

sen viet

place was quite well patronised.

google reviews

& much as summarised in google reviews.

bun cha

the bun cha was very good. excellent bbq flavours for the meat & prawns which was fresh & succulent.

bun cha

we ordered a second helping. ^^

duck curry

we tried the duck curry.

i didn’t think much of it..i thought curry was not “pang” ie flavourful & duck was soft no texture, but wife & children all liked it.

fish in claypot

i liked the claypot fish dish, maybe it was mackerel. anyway i like the fish & taste of the dish.

after dinner, rain was too heavy for us to walk back. luckily we were avle to call an uber cab quite easily.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++

Sen Viet

maltby market

son brought us to maltby market on saturday 26.3.2016. ^^

i have been to several street markets already, namely –

• borough market
• camden markets
• bricklane market

for me, maltby market is clearly the best. 🙂

chicken & waffle, cheese & waffle

we started with southern fried chicken on waffle & goat cheese & fresh figs on waffle.

waffle on

the stall is waffle on.

waffle on

we were early at 11am, the place was still not crowded.

chicken & waffle, cheese & waffle

first time i tried savoury dishes on waffle, and they were very good. o guess it’s similar to duck & waffle, which son had mentioned many times but i have yet to try.

cheese & fig & waffle

the combination was quite new to me.

cheese & fig & waffle

goat cheese, pungent & slight salty, with fresh figs & blueberries actually went very nicely with the waffle. a favourite for me here.

chicken & waffle

the southern fried chicken was done very nicely, well marinated & tasted great! 🙂

chicken & waffle, cheese & waffle

the combination was new. chicken while good not so special for me.

blue cheese & ham grilled cheese sandwich

we had wanted the chorizo, but the stallholder told my son the blue cheese was the best, so he got us a blue cheese & ham grilled cheese sandwich.

blue cheese & ham grilled cheese sandwich

& it was superb! really so good, hard fight for me between this & the cheese fig waffle.

grilled cheese sandwich

this supposed to be one of london’s best grilled cheese sandwich, the cheese truck.

there is another stall kappacasein at borough market (which i have not tried yet).

sub cult gourmet sandwiches

what can i say?

it’s one good eat after another…

sub cult gourmet sandwiches

sub cult’s gourmet sandwiches were just as enjoyable, and the crowd testified to that.

sub cult gourmet sandwiches

looked so good…

pork & seafood sandwich

son & daughter bought a pork & seafood sandwich.

rather unusual combination i would have thought, except that it was very good. a lot of fresh & plump scallops & prawns, and grilled pork collar? anyhow it was very good.

hanger steak – 180g

wife remembered she had very good hanger steak here.

we all love hanger steaks.

steak & chips

we enjoyed the first steak.

steak & chips

and ended up getting a second serving.

hanger steak – 180g

hanger steak must be done rare, is tender & very flavourful. 🙂

smoked salmon

hansen & lydersen seems to be a quite notable seller of smoke salmon. we didn’t really want smoke salmon though.

lemon tarts

the lemon tarts were great.

lemon tarts

not too sweet & just nice texture of custard. very good tart base.

doughnuts

& very good doughnuts, but that really not my kind of food.

maltby market

maltby market

maltby market

maltby market is very small by comparison with borough, so if you are going just for street eats, this a really compact place just a single street with so many good eats. borough market of course has a lot more stalls to buy fruits, jam, produce, also ice cream & good coffee.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Maltby Street Market can be found at LASCCO Ropewalk, 41 Maltby Street, London, SE1 3PA

Trading hours:

Saturday 9am-4pm

Sunday 11am-4pm

cappuccino @ monmouth

monmouth was nearby & they close at 630pm, so we walked over after burger & lobster.

we had a cappuccino but this time it was not good.

coffee @ monmouth

flat white was a whole lot better. the milk w/o foam blended perfectly with the c0ffee, so silky smooth!

flat white @ monmouth

there are many places in singapore with equally good coffee or better these days though.

truffle chocolate @ monmouth

son bought 2 truffle chocolates. they were quite good too.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Moumouth Coffee

£20 lobster

it’s kind of inevitable that every time we visit london, we would frequent burger & lobster if we can. it is very much a go to place for singaporeans & everyone else. 🙂

i was here 8.5.2016 during my last london visit.

burger & lobster

we were there before 5pm, and there was already a good crowd. 🙂

burger & lobster

but no queue, so we got seated immediately.

£20 lobster3

it was a simple & great concept. they only sell 3 things here – whole lobster (steamed or grilled), lobster roll, a very nice brioche with lots of lobster meat, and a burger, all priced at £20. never tried the burger.

so it menu is very simple, they only have to source the lobster cheaply & priced them competitively at £20.

£20 lobster3

the maine lobster was a standard one and a 1/4 pounder = 680g, basically between 650g and 700g.

it was fresh and tasty, the bearnaise sauce was good, and fries were good too.

the grilled lobster was steamed then grilled. this time we tried a steamed lobster, an we all agreed the steamed lobster was better. 🙂

£20 lobster roll

lobster roll was very good too.

£20 lobster roll

the advantage is you don’t have to shell the lobster, dirty your hands etc, and in any case they have a fair helping if lobster.

we finished about 5.45pm & decided to walk over to monmouth to have a cuppa.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Burger & Lobster

Address –

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread

had a great 4pax family brunch at sunday cafe & restaurant the next day on 25.3.2016. ^^

it’s a place that gets my daughter excited, brunch, bread etc…

sunday restaurant london

we slept late to recover from the jetlag the day before, but was early to arrive at sunday at 10.30am. the location at Hemingford Rd is just a 10mins walk form my son’s apartment. 🙂

this a chill place, obviously popular.

queue at sunday

by the time we left 1130am -ish, there was a long queue outside.

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread

we ordered a plate each.

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread was pretty nice.

corn fritters

& a corn fritters to share.

corn fritters

the plates were all nicely presented. corn fritters was ok.

courgette fritters, lots of avocado

daughter had a courgette fritters.

courgette fritters, lots of avocado

decent, nothing special, too much avocado.

crispy spiced lamb, flat bread

for me the crispy fried minced lamb was the best.

crispy spiced lamb, flat bread

i am the meat person, & not much excited about all day breakfast & brunches really.

smoked chicken, black beans

wife had a smoked chicken, pretty good too, too much black beans.

smoked chicken, black beans

i didn’t mind the smoked chicken.

flat white

we finished off with a cuppa.

not quite my kind of food, but i am learning to enjoy it with my children, and they were not bad really & none too expensive. i guess the london folks voted with their feet too.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sunday Cafe & Restaurant

dishoom bar area

our first meal in london was early dinner at dishoom on 24.3.2016.

this a hugely popular place, and top in many reviews, and rightfully so.

the last time we were here on 15.5.2015 our queue was 1.5hrs.

cocktail

this time we went early at 530pm. still the queue was 45mins. but it was quite ok since they have a bar area which is a rather pleasant watering hole.

my family not short of drinkers just that i am not one.

cocktail

wife & son enjoyed their cocktail.

mocktail

i had some non alcoholic. i didn’t remember what it was, but it was ok. the environment of dim lighting & high ambient noise didn’t encourage me to try to read the menu nor hear what the server said.

still, while i won’t go myself for a drink it was quite pleasant in the company of wife & son. daughter had not arrived yet, & son went to fetch her at king’s cross after our dinner.

dishoom

noce place really.

dishoom dining area

i was just mentioning to my son that we had past the 45mins waiting when a server came to inform us the table was ready so we went to level 2.

egg plant, calamari, prawns

we ordered 3 appetisers – deepfried egg plants, calamari, & chilli prawns.

a server came to inform us that as they made us waited a bit longer, all the appertiser were on them.

such excellent service philosophy! the 45mins was just an estimaet & we probably waited 5mins longer. very wonderful of them indeed!

egg plants

egg plants were very good, their popular dish.

calamari

calamari were pretty good, but i had better. prawns ok.

rack of lamb

the rack of lamb was excellent, another popular dish, very tender & flavourful not so lamby…

chicken curry

the curry was very good. the chicken dices were not that great this time, not so tender.

chicken bryanni

we had lamb bryanni last time. this time we had chicken bryanni. the rice was very good, and the chicken were moist & tender.

the last time i said tops. this time i think not as good but still a very nice bryanni.

garlic naan

& garlic naan was good especially to mop up the curry.

we had a very good dinner. i was a bit less wowed than the first time, but still it was very good food for the palate, very enjoyable & more so because they did not charge the 3 appetisers. so a wonderful gesture.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dishoom @ King’s Cross

5 Stable Street, London N1C 4AB
Tel: 020 7420 9321

OPENING HOURS

Monday to Wednesday: 8am to 11pm
Thursday to Friday: 8am to midnight
Saturday: 9am to midnight
Sunday: 9am to 11pm

Bank Holidays: Open as usual
Christmas Eve: Closed from 4pm
Christmas & Boxing Day, January 1st & 2nd: Closed

laksa

we planned a family holiday, visiting son in london then traveling together to lisbon & porto 24mar-4apr2016. ^^

wife & i left on morning 9am flight to london on 24.3.2016. daughter travelled on a later flight.

SQ 1st class lounge

i have not been to SQ 1st class lounge for a very long time.

for long flights i usually redeem business class using my credit card miles. & generally i used the asia treasure lounge which is smaller, quieter & more private.

SQ 1st class lounge

the food at the 1st class lounge was very good though.

the laksa, other than not having cockles, was the standard of any good laksa, very tasty.

jui kueh

jui kueh was pretty good too.

jui kueh

not the chinatown jui kueh standard, but pretty good.

roti prata

& roti prata was very good.

dimsum

dimsum was competent, ok.

pancake

i also tried the pancake. ok but normally i would skip dimsum & pancake, this time just to try.

expresso

coffee & the twg tea bags always good la. 🙂

breakfast

on board business class, i order a beef burger for the light meal & a chilean seabass for lunch.

croissant

i picked a croissant off the bread basket, it was pretty good. there were other rolls & bread, only so much you can eat.

fruits

a plate of fruits.

fruit yogurt

after that there was a choice of cereal etc i picked the fruit yogurt.

beef burger

the beef burger was very good. i am not a burger guy so i don’t take many but this one would rate very high up, the patty, bun, salad, all good.

chilean seabass

chilean seabass my favoruite fish for western preparation.

chilean seabass

this was good, firm, tasty. on par with good restaurant standard.

chilean seabass

mussels were good too.

cheese & fruits

after the main, there was cheese & fruits.

i guess overall, the onflight food on SQ biz class was a pretty good dining experience.

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

on the return flight on 4.4.2016, for book the cook i picked lobster thermidor.

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

they served a whole lobster, i think a whole 1 & 1/4 pounder 680g typewith the meat + 2 pincers on the 1/2 shell.

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

meat was fresh & tasty, sauce was good, just right.

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

the dish was competent, no wow (like the chilean seabass on my onward flight). can’t expect too much on board so i guess that was pretty good already.

mango jelly  – return flight 4apr2016

didn’t want ice cream. tried the mango jelly…very so-so.

pakthai – return flight 4apr2016

pakthai was ok, again competent. anyway pakthai not my favourite, & i only picked it on return flight as the other options were the western food which i had more than fair share over the almost 2weeks travel.

c.h.e.f andy