Portugal, to our surprise, was a lot easier to navigate than other European countries. It was a great trip because the people were friendly and the prices were a lot kinder to the wallet - coffees were priced between 1 to 2 Euros, and when we got lost, strangers came up to us to help us get find our way - never mind that they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Portugese. From a superficial perspective, Porto and Lisbon appeared to be quieter, more laid back and on the whole a lot more pleasant than Paris or Frankfurt, and it was difficult to believe that Portugal was such a huge world power in the 1800s.
Porto was a city that we enjoyed immensely - it had a rich cultural and architectural heritage, and was walkable and easy to get around via subway (well, really a tram system running underground). 
But on to the food: we flew direct to Porto from Frankfurt, and landed on a nice brilliant warm sunny day. Being typical hungry Singaporeans, we went trooping around for a place for lunch immediately after checking in, and found a nice cafe near the Casa da Musica. Porto - or Oporto - is famous for various dishes, one of them being the Green Soup or Caldo Verde. Apparently it's a speciality of northern Portugal, and the colour comes from either kale or a dark green cabbage. It was interesting, but not my favourite dish. 
I ordered a chicken soup, which was heavenly. It was a bowl of solid thick rich chicken stock that must have been boiling for hours. 
The husband had read about the Francescina in various guidebooks, and immediately decided to order it - literally translated as the little French girl, it was almost like a Croque Monsieur, consisting of grilled meat between slices of toasted bread, topped with a fried egg and brown tomato/garlic sauce. That was the first and last time we had it - I found it too salty, and apart from the novelty of trying the dish, there was nothing much to look forward to after about 3 to 4 mouthfuls. 
The FIL and I were much more excited about the tripe stew. Apparently the Porto locals are also known as Triparos, or tripe eaters, and the legend is that when all the macho blokes went to war, the valiant womenfolk and other weaklings who stayed at home decided to give them all the good meat so that they could fight better, and ended up eating all the offal instead. This tripe stew was made with white beans, pork cuts and chorizo. It was absolutely yum. 
The MIL ordered a more conventional grilled pork, which was pretty good too. The Portugese seem to love carbo loading, because apart from the stacks of potatoes, we also had a huge plate of rice, which despite us being Chinese, could not be finished.
That meal, including drinks, set us back just over 20 Euros. And how could we go to Portugal and not eat Portugese egg tarts? These were quite different from the traditional Hong Kong egg tarts...a lot softer, although still sweet. Perhaps less gelatin was used.
Porto has a historic waterfront that is under UNESCO World Heritage protection. It consists of mostly (tourist trap) restaurants on one side of the River Duoro, and port houses (more on that in a later post) on the other.
Restored shophouses - the Portugese must have brought this design to Malacca with them.
The tripe was tender and chewy. This was perhaps my most enjoyable dish of the trip.
The MIL ordered a more conventional grilled pork, which was pretty good too. The Portugese seem to love carbo loading, because apart from the stacks of potatoes, we also had a huge plate of rice, which despite us being Chinese, could not be finished.
That meal, including drinks, set us back just over 20 Euros. And how could we go to Portugal and not eat Portugese egg tarts? These were quite different from the traditional Hong Kong egg tarts...a lot softer, although still sweet. Perhaps less gelatin was used.
Porto has a historic waterfront that is under UNESCO World Heritage protection. It consists of mostly (tourist trap) restaurants on one side of the River Duoro, and port houses (more on that in a later post) on the other.
Restored shophouses - the Portugese must have brought this design to Malacca with them.
Being good tourists, we decided to eat at one of the waterfront eateries. We had been warned in all the guidebooks that the Portugese restaurants bring all the starters to your table, and they're not free - even the bread. You can either choose to ask the waiters to take them back (more hygienic option in my opinion) or leave them uneaten on the table (to collect germs and saliva), and they'll be recycled for subsequent unsuspecting customers. 
View from our not-so-prime-waterfront table
Our tipple for the day - a very pleasant light red wine
Grilled cod with potatoes and salad. 
Grilled squid with potatoes and salad
Grilled sardines with (oh what a surprise) potatoes and salad
Grilled sardines with (oh what a surprise) potatoes and salad
The grilled sardines, however, were fabulous. They were warm, tasty, fresh and best of all, cheap. 
My second favourite dish of the trip was the Arroz Marisco, or seafood with rice. Two thumbs up for this beautifully rich seafood stock with rice, almost like a teochew porridge. The stock was flavoured with all sorts of shellfish and fish, with tomato and some white wine. It was heavenly. 
We also took an overnight trip to Lisbon by train. Lisbon was a little more busy than Porto, but still very pleasant. This was the view of Lisbon from Castelo de Sao Jorge, built around the 14th to 16th centuries and overlooking Lisbon. 
After a hard day of sightseeing and walking, all we wanted was some comfort food. Our trusty Rick Steves guidebook recommended a grilled chicken place called Bom Jardim (we still have no idea whether this is Portugese for a good garden - and what this good garden has to do with grilled chickens - or whether it's a typo in the sign). It's also known as Rei dos Frangos, and has acquired for itself the name the King of Chicken. With a reputation like that, it was difficult to pass up on this restaurant. It was easy to find, with the restaurant split between two sides of an alleyway connecting Restauradores Square (with its own subway station) with Rua das Portas de Santo Antão.
After a hard day of sightseeing and walking, all we wanted was some comfort food. Our trusty Rick Steves guidebook recommended a grilled chicken place called Bom Jardim (we still have no idea whether this is Portugese for a good garden - and what this good garden has to do with grilled chickens - or whether it's a typo in the sign). It's also known as Rei dos Frangos, and has acquired for itself the name the King of Chicken. With a reputation like that, it was difficult to pass up on this restaurant. It was easy to find, with the restaurant split between two sides of an alleyway connecting Restauradores Square (with its own subway station) with Rua das Portas de Santo Antão.
We tried the Vino Verde, or Green Wine. Also a Portugese speciality, it was wonderfully light, slightly sweetish, and easy to drink. 
Back in Porto, the FIL also insisted on trying a Churrascaria - which is roughly translated from the Portugese word for barbeque - restaurant near our hotel. Being Singaporean, we had always mistakenly identified Churrascaria-style grilled meats on skewers with Brazil - well, wrong! Brazil was colonised by the Portugese around the 16th century. So its origins were really Portugese.
Chicken soup as a starter. Almost all parts of the chicken were used to make this, I think, since it came with gizzards and other chicken bits. 
We ordered the spit roast chicken for 4 people. It was one of the best roast chicken dishes I have ever eaten.
It came with a deliciously hot and spicy piri piri sauce. Nandos - which is where I first tasted piri piri sauce - should go back to cooking school. They also had a great creamed spinach. 
Deliciously yummy roast chicken, which almost wasn't enough for me. This set us back around 60 Euros I think, including wine, coffees and desserts. Not that cheap according to our (ok, my) standards. 
We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Lisbon market, or the Mercado da Ribeira just across the subway station. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived it was almost 10am, and a lot of the action appeared to be over.
Still I was glad we made the trip, since there were was quite a lot of local produce still on sale. The melons were huge! And they had all sorts of lentils and veggies on sale.
I especially enjoyed looking at the seafood stalls. Not quite Tsukiji, but interesting nonetheless.
The Portugese national fish is the salted cod, or Bacalhau. Apparently it's done in 365 or more different ways, one for each day of the year. Sadly, we weren't adventurous enough, since we had been sodium overloaded at almost every meal - the Portugese really love their salt.
Sausage makers at the market - another local Portugese speciality is the blood sausage, which is almost black in colour. We passed on this too. 
There's a large Spanish supermarket chain in various parts of Portugal called El Corte Ingles which we throughly enjoyed browsing through. It sells practically everything anyone wants and needs under the sun, and while the FIL went through all the departments, the MIL and I spent about one and a half hours alone in the food department. Their seafood selection was amazing.
All sorts of weird and not-so-weird shellfish on display. They had a really interesting shellfish selection, with the weirdest thing being a finger-like thing that looked like a cross between mussels and barnacles
This was jamon iberico and cheese heaven too...all the cured meats on were display either in packaged or leg form, and frustratingly, we couldn't get any since it would have been impossible to guarantee refrigerated passage.
We found a bakery on Rua Augusta in downtown Lisbon called Sao Nicolau just along the pedestrian mall, which sold what must be the best egg tarts in Portugal. Soft flaky pastry, with a sweet soft eggy centre. We loved them so much that we tar paued them back to Porto.
Back in Porto, the FIL also insisted on trying a Churrascaria - which is roughly translated from the Portugese word for barbeque - restaurant near our hotel. Being Singaporean, we had always mistakenly identified Churrascaria-style grilled meats on skewers with Brazil - well, wrong! Brazil was colonised by the Portugese around the 16th century. So its origins were really Portugese.
For this meal, we tried the Super Bock - their national beer. It was very light.
All the meats on display. 
The 4 of us shared various meats. We had a grilled chicken which was good, but still could not beat the Lisbon Chicken King. 
Grilled pork ribs. Yummy finger and bone licking good
We ordered a lovely grilled veal cutlet. Which was HUGE. The metal tray was not a small one! And struggled to finish all the food. This set us back around 40-odd Euros.
One of our most memorable side trips out of Porto was to a seaside town called Matosinhos, about 30 to 40 mins from Porto on the subway. 
Located about 100m on the left side of the main shopping street was a side street full of seafood shops with marquees on one side of the road. The air was filled with the smoky aroma of grilled fish and shellfish at lunchtime.
The seafood selection at the restaurant we eventually decided on
Located about 100m on the left side of the main shopping street was a side street full of seafood shops with marquees on one side of the road. The air was filled with the smoky aroma of grilled fish and shellfish at lunchtime.
The seafood selection at the restaurant we eventually decided on
Preparing the orders - again, with huge amounts of salt 
We had roasted capsicum to start with - doused with olive oil
Grilled prawns
Baby potatoes with herb and garlic
Grilled sardines. Lovely!
Sardines waiting to be grilled
The grilling set up - now imagine an entire street full of these grills.
We had roasted capsicum to start with - doused with olive oil
Grilled prawns
Baby potatoes with herb and garlic
Grilled sardines. Lovely!
Grilled squid with potatoes
Grilled fish - can't remember the name but it's also known as poor man's lobster. The flesh was lovely and firm.
This was perhaps the most expensive meal of the trip - I can't recall the exact figure but it was probably around 80 Euros. But it was certainly the most memorable and off-the-beaten track meal - we must have been the only tourists in the precinct, which was filled with locals having long lunches with copious amounts of alcohol.
Grilled fish - can't remember the name but it's also known as poor man's lobster. The flesh was lovely and firm.
This was perhaps the most expensive meal of the trip - I can't recall the exact figure but it was probably around 80 Euros. But it was certainly the most memorable and off-the-beaten track meal - we must have been the only tourists in the precinct, which was filled with locals having long lunches with copious amounts of alcohol.Other touristy sightseeing shots: Casa da Musica by Rem Koolhaas
View of Porto's downtown district looking towards the Duoro
The Duoro at sunset
View of Porto's downtown district looking towards the Duoro
The Duoro at sunset
Lisbon's Praca do Comercio - with a view of Castelo de Sao Jorge in the background and the statue of King Jose I in the foreground
Downtown Lisbon at dusk with Castelo de Sao Jorge in the background
The Duoro in Porto at sunset
Downtown Lisbon at dusk with Castelo de Sao Jorge in the background
The Duoro in Porto at sunset
Another view of Porto's heritage waterfront from the Dom Luis bridge
The Sanctuaria da Santa Lucia, just 5 mins drive from Viana do Castelo (about 45 mins from Porto). Built to resemble Mortmarte's Sacre Coeur, and one of the best views of the sea can be seen from the top of the dome.
Santuario do Bom Jesus about 5km from Braga, about one and a half hours' drive from Porto. Each step has a Biblical figure that conveys a different message.
The Sanctuaria da Santa Lucia, just 5 mins drive from Viana do Castelo (about 45 mins from Porto). Built to resemble Mortmarte's Sacre Coeur, and one of the best views of the sea can be seen from the top of the dome.
Santuario do Bom Jesus about 5km from Braga, about one and a half hours' drive from Porto. Each step has a Biblical figure that conveys a different message.
Next up: Port vs Champage.
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