Estremadura and the Ribatejo Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Estremadura and the Ribatejo - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Estremadura and the Ribatejo - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
The dishes of the day at this bustling second-floor restaurant are excellent value, and the house wine—from a local producers' cooperative—goes down well, too. Some tables in the main dining room have views of the monastery, but at peak times you may be seated on the covered terrace in back. Try the house bacalhau (fried with onions and tomato), roast octopus, barbecued squid, or lamb chops.
This bustling restaurant is one of several overlooking the Praia da Areia Branca, the area's prettiest beach, but stands out in terms of its view (due to its elevated position) and the quality of its food, above all the expertly grilled fish. If you want something more elaborate, try the polvo panado (battered octopus, served with bean rice), bacalhau com broa (with a cornbread gratin), or monkfish rice.
This family-run restaurant opposite the Vila Galé draws a crowd for its fresh seafood and fish—the latter grilled over charcoal by the owner. The two dozen seats in the original dining room weren't nearly enough space, so the place added a second dining room that's decorated in smart beach-house style.
With fishing nets and baskets hang from walls, this Portuguese fisherman's tavern has a genuine feel, and the loud service adds to its character. Seafood is the only option, but it is renowned here—such as spider crab or rock lobster—and many diners come for the feijoada de marisco (shellfish and bean stew).
One of Fátima's longest-established restaurants (open since 1968), this place just outside the inner ring road is above all known for the quality of its grilled meat and fish. The vine-shaded esplanade is another big draw, creating a real family ambience. Leisurely lunches—either outside or in the wood-and-stone dining room—are made possible by the fact that the kitchen keeps going throughout the afternoon. Top sellers include tender vitela Mirandesa steak and bacalhau à lagareiro (cod baked with onions, potatoes, and olives).
Just across from the Palácio Nacional de Mafra, the Pastelaria Fradinho is a welcome respite from the rigors of sightseeing. Light, cheerful, and adorned with tiles, the café is famed for its delicious homemade pastries including the little egg-and-almond tarts called, predictably, fradinhos (little friars).
A big brick fireplace, wood paneling, and stone walls set the mood in this cozy hunter's lodge, where the food is simple, but portions are hearty and the flavors are tantalizing. This is the best place in town for fresh game, especially codorniz and coelho (rabbit), which comes casserole-style with rice or potatoes.
In this warren of stone-flagged rooms, authentic regional dishes are served with flair to well-heeled patrons. Specialties at the old town spot include churrasquinho de porco preto com migas de alheira de caça (grilled meats from the acorn-fed Iberian black pig, served with a bread-crumb-and-garlic-sausage mixture flavored with game sausage) and partridge rice. Braver diners might try cabidela de galo (chicken cooked in blood) or lamprey, when it is in season.
This renowned Thai restaurant near Bombarral is just down the road from the gardens at Buddha Eden. In a spacious former winery, the smiling staff serve the real deal: prawn or beef salad brimming with fruit, and specialties such as tom yan kung (spicy soup with shrimp, lemongrass and mushrooms) and gaeng kiaw wan kai (green curry with chicken and coconut).
Photos of satisfied patrons testify to the popularity of this rustic restaurant run by the great-grandson of the original owner, offering hearty traditional fare at low prices. Specialties—in servings large enough for two—include toiro bravo (wild bull) and entrecosto com arroz de feijoca (spareribs with red beans and rice), but the menu is overhauled daily. The restaurant now has several offshoots in the region, one of them in the Santarém Hotel.
Gourmets come from far and wide to the village of Negrais, 15 km (9 miles) south of Mafra, to sample the suckling pig served there and wash it down with frisante (lightly sparkling wine). There are several local specialists, but "Aunt Alice" has led the herd for more than 25 years. Climb the stairs to the airy second-floor dining room, with its artsy decor, for a perfectly crisped roast, usually accompanied by round potato fries, orange slices, and salad. Fans of nose-to-tail eating can instead opt for arroz de miúdos (rice made with offal). There are also non-pork alternatives, such as bacalhau and steak.
Live seafood crawling around in an aquarium shaped like a blue-and-white fisherman's boat gives you an idea of what you'll find on the menu. Pick out the fish or shellfish of your choice to be prepared especially for you, such as a sapateira recheada (stuffed crab) brought to the table in its shell.
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