Sorry for the gap at the end. Two reasons: I was getting ready to travel, and I was feeling pretty lame that I missed my plan to go to Zuari that last evening. I could not reach them for a reservation, and it felt dicey to me to arrive without one (couldn’t even tell if one would be necessary honestly), so I flaked out and just went and had a (very good) pizza when I got hungry. (More on that later.)
On my penultimate night, I did manage to book and go to Jesus é Goês. I don’t know what possessed me, but I decided to walk there (an apparent half hour trek) from my hotel. One thing I never understood until my last day there (in conversation with the extremely helpful concierge-et-al at my B&B) is that Google Maps will show you several ways of walking to a place, and although I was always keen to pick the shortest one, this was not a good strategy, if one wanted to avoid walking up all possible hills and down sketchy hidden pathways. Still, I have to admit that I found these adventures part of what I really enjoyed about Lisbon (call me “weird”), and the walk to Jesus é Goês was no exception (I did take an Uber back to the hotel).
As a solo diner, I was greeted and treated the whole meal as though I was “family.” Although my table (the only open one in the place when I arrived) was set for me, the waitress had set an ice bucket and glasses on the table that eventually made its way to another table. She was extremely warm and friendly to me (despite some language difficulties) throughout the meal, especially when she learned that I had had Goan food before and was open to her suggestions. It was a very delicious meal (maybe evidenced by my yellow fingers upon leaving!) that I enjoyed with gusto, being quite hungry after the hike there.
I started with something they called “Boges” (I would call them maybe fritters, and they were made with chickpeas and onions) with a coriander chutney. The chutney became layered spicy as I ate, and I really liked that. The Boges themselves were well fried, not greasy at all and very tasty.
I then had a second appetizer of “Bhajipuri” which was a potato curry of some kind with mini puris. (I think this was the yellow finger culprit.) Also very tasty.
I had “Xacuti de Cabrito” with rice and bread for my main. Goatling with 11 spices, their translation; a complex spicy curry. I didn’t quite finish the rice, and she wanted to send that home with me, but I demurred and passed on dessert also after eating every bit of the tender and delicious goat dish.
I had lunch on my last day at Cervejaria Ramiro, and it was as exceptional as I had been led to believe by pretty much everyone on H.O. who weighed in with suggestions for my trip (especially given my stated love of shellfish/seafood). They didn’t have the langoustine I had ordered, but substituted a “giant shrimp,” which followed my “red shrimp,” which followed my clams. The cover was as stack of toasted white rolls with salty butter that were addictive with the meal.
I ate upstairs (they were not seating anyone downstairs for lunch), but I quite liked eating up there. They sat me right by the window, and the room was also air conditioned. It was not just a place for tourists (at least not at the lunchtime I was there), and the service was professional and friendly. No complaints from me! Overall, I ate my way through Portugal eating shrimp, clams, crabs, langoustine, etc. and could not have enjoyed the experience more, I reckon!
Pizza that night was down the hill from my hotel, and I thought quite good. Place was called Lupita. (Sometimes you just want something different, and that was my feeling that last night. A pepperoni pizza hit the spot.)
Thanks so very much to everyone who offered suggestions, helping me to plan the eating portions (as well as the other parts) of my trip. There were definitely places on my list culled from all of your suggestions that I had to miss, so that means to me that I will have to plan a return visit sooner rather than later! Obrigados/as!
