Skip to main content

Lisbon - food, the heart to happiness. 


Lisbon - food, the heart to happiness.  


Travelling through Lisbon, my boyfriend and I were on a food mission to find Ponto Final after seeing it in a documentary called "Somebody Feed Phil". We were dying to eat the sea food, particularly a dish called Arroz de Marisco. Arroz de Marisco is similar to Paella but more soupy. Those who haven't tried this, it’s a mixture of rice, broth and seafood served in a ricotta coloured clay pot.

Ponto Final is one of those restaurants that you would usually only know about if you know someone who knows about it who knows someone who knows about it...you get me. To get there we took a short boat ride across the river for only $2.60 return and after 10 minutes of walking along the river, we turned a corner and arrived at a homely picturesque restaurant with elegant tables outside that went up a little peer. It reminded me of a mixture between San Fransisco, Italy, Amsterdam and Brazil. The tables filled up quickly and we could hear the sound of mainly Portuguese speakers and the soft sound of the sea beside our table. We looked at each other with that baffled look of gratitude that without words said "how did we even get here?". 

Without exaggerating, the flavours of Arroz de Marisco took us to a beautiful place. There was a vivid and inviting taste of tomato, garlic and red wine broth. The seafood was clearly fresh and it was the perfect warm dish to have as a chilly wind passed by. There is nothing as gratifying as watching the person you’re with smile with each bite they take. Before we ordered this dish we were going to order grilled sardines as well but the waiter shared that it would be too much food and that sardine season starts in May and since it's February now, it's not the best time. We were grateful for his simple honesty. If the service is special, it can make the experience one to remember and a destination that is well worth coming back to. 

After our main course, my boyfriend told the restaurant that it was my birthday, so out came a piece of cake with a little candle. This was a cake like none I've ever tried, called Serica. If I was to relate Serica to any other sweet food I'd say it was a mixture between a Créme brûlée, Pastéis de nata or a more sophisticated cake like pancake, but more dense. It had a dark brown base made from caramelised sweet egg. The inside is soft, melts in your mouth and you can taste the layers of sweet custard, egg and the cinnamon which is lightly sprinkled on top. On the side was a caramelised plum coated in sugar, which was perhaps a bit too sweet for someone with sensitive tastebuds. The waiter told us that Serica is a speciality from the South of Portugal, fairly hard to find in Lisbon. My boyfriend who denies having a sweet tooth, stated with a big grin on his face that he could happily eat this cake every day... So, we went back the next day just to eat Serica. 

Ponto Final is a must go to restaurant not only for its beautifully homely feel and honest service, but because of the food, the fresh, simple and delicious food. To top it off we had an espresso, with a cinnamon stick, a great way to finish the meal. The coffee lead me to have a discussion with myself about which clothes to not bring back with me so I can stuff my suitcase with fresh coffee beans from Lisbon. I don't even drink coffee... 

To end this post, I gotta give thanks to Phil Rosenthal for inspiring me to let go, talk to people, try new food and...keep trying new food because food in my food fanatic opinion is the heart to happiness. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oman, nostalgia and Paratha

Oman, nostalgi and Paratha  My ex boyfriend was from Oman, a country bordering Saudi and Yemen. With many Indians migrating to Oman to find work, his family too moved over from India. We met at an open mic in London and I was so excited to have met another fellow human who was just as passionate about food. He didn’t turn out to be a very pleasant partner, but he did introduce me to something very special... Paratha , and that is how we immediately connected.   Paratha is a flat bread, originating from the Indian subcontinent and ranges from one region to the other. There are a million different types of Paratha but my favourite is the South Indian paratha. ‘Parat’ and ‘atta’ literally means ‘layers of cooked dough’. I had my first bite of Paratha when I went to visit him in Oman. Paratha was the foundation for most of our meals. We ate it with curries, Biryanis, Daal, spiced scrambled eggs… everything. I couldn’t get enough of it. The flakiness. How the bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chang Mai - A voyage of culinary discovery.

A few years back I moved to Leeds, West Yorkshire, and was in search for people to live with. I posted an advert on gumtree and received a heartfelt response from Fern, from Thailand, expressing her love for food and desire to experiment in the kitchen together. So that’s what we did. We found a house, along with a girl from Iran, and we spent long periods of time procrastinating in the warmth of our kitchen where we’d put all our creativity into making bizarre dishes and sharing stories about the food that we ate growing up. It was timeless. I knew nothing about Thai food at this point, so Fern would often go to the Thai supermarket where she’d attempt to explain what everything was. I like to call this our visit to the food museum. We galavanted around the city with the hope of finding a decent Thai restaurant and a particular Thai desert which Fern insisted I should try. Mango sticky rice, made with sticky rice, mango and coconut milk, sometimes topped with crispy y...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maria from Genoa

Maria from Genoa   Painting of Maria by my sister, Amy Perlin. “I was 7 when the war finished. I remember hearing the bombs dropping down and we’d run into the bomb shelter, my family and neighbours. I didn’t fully understuntand what was going on. Food was rationed. My dad was a shoe maker and would exchange sh oes for food with the local farmers, who would give him bread, cheese, salami, milk, rabbits and chickens for everyone to share. Although the war was a terrible time, I had so much fun in that bomb shelter, it brought the community together.”   A face with a unique and untold story, Maria Rossi ran the Green Gate Cafe with her husband, John, on Hanbury Street in East London for 54 years, from 1946 to 2000. In the late 70’s the cafe was renamed “Rossi’s”. I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon chatting with Maria at her charming home in North London. It was my first time meeting Maria and I didn't know what to expect. I felt welcomed into her home l...
Post a Comment
Read more