Portugal By Any Other Name Would Be "Maravilhoso"

“I've got two places I like to be. Portugal is one.” -- Cliff Richard

  

Castello Alfama as seen from the Topo Restaurant

It is quite simple really, no matter what locations you may have on your travel "bucket list", Portugal should be moved up. After our trip there this month (July 2017), we would argue that Portugal should be in your top 4. Why an oddly unexpected yet even number 4? Combined together, Brooke and I have visited over 100 countries and our undisputed top 4 include 1) Italy, 2) Czech Republic, 3) England and, 4) Portugal.

Portugal is truly "Maravilhoso" (Portuguese for Wonderful). It possesses ALL of the required components to assure an amazing and satisfying vacation, sabbatical, last minute getaway, or even, future retirement destination.

• Affordability in accommodations, transportation, food, and visitor activities

Panorama of our $60 per night flat in Lisbon

•  Great food including worldwide cuisines (seafood is the biggest star) 

 

• Fabulous weather

• A full spectrum of experiences (all in a small package) including, beaches, mountains, lakes, forests, camping, biking, hiking and touring

• Medieval history everywhere - monuments, castles, palaces, churches, museums, parks, plazas, ports     

 

As a nice bonus, my daughter Tahni (who currently lives in Brussels, Belgium) joined us in the beautiful city of Porto. She loves Porto and was an amazing tour guide for our 4 days there.

 A few random pictures from our trip:

Sadly, we witnessed the circle of life while in Porto. A few days before our arrival these two baby seagulls were born in their nest, which was directly outside the hallway window in our flat. Both eventually fell to their deaths 3 stories below before we departed. The mother seagull was very sad and actually "cried" over her loss for several days. Not the best ending to a wonderful trip, but a unavoidable fact of life.

Obrigado (Thanks) Portugal! In the paraphrased words of both Gen. MacArthur and Arnold Schwarzenegger, "We'll be BACK!"

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Houston Restaurant Weeks: Hearsay Gastro Lounge

Continuing the Houston Restaurant Week marathon, we made a return visit to Hearsay Gastro Lounge after a very long absence. It's not that we don't adore this place - it's just that there are too many other choices. We were SO happy we went - the place was packed, and the food was outstanding. 

First, the building. Lots of history dating back to 1852. Three fires, a few hotels, a factory and a couple of restaurants later, this place has a few stories to tell. And the way it's designed, you could absolutely be right in the middle of New York. 

Then, there's the food. The taste and portions were both amazing. Here we have crispy calamari, which was light and non-oily - just how it should be.

The beet salad with feta was dressed perfectly, and the beets were delectable. 

The salmon was seasoned and cooked perfectly, as was the asparagus (really crunchy and bright-tasting). That sauce - wow. Decadent! The risotto was super-creamy and provided perfectly flavored forkfuls along with the salmon. 

The massive burger and huge mound of fries looked a bit daunting to me, but Capri reports that it was perfectly done. While not the best fries I've ever had, they were perfectly respectable and made more interesting by the addition of Parmesan and rosemary.

As chicken picatta goes, this was a fine specimen with chicken that actually tasted like chicken, fairly pleasant mashed potatoes and an excellently lemon-y sauce. The spinach was the unfortunate victim of over-salting.

While I'm not a dessert person, this massive slab of cheesecake was one of the best I can recall. That perfectly light texture and a complete lack of graininess are key to this deliciousness, as is a crust of the exact right thickness. YUM! Greg enjoyed a gorgeous chocolate cake layered with mousse. 

This lunch experience reminded us that we need to visit Hearsay more often, and that it's a good thing Houston Restaurant Weeks is only for one month. My workouts can't keep up with the lunches!

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Houston Restaurant Weeks: RDG + Bar Annie

August is beastly hot in Houston. Fortunately, there's something in H'town that makes the sizzle month bearable: Houston Restaurant Weeks! Instead of just one week, we get to enjoy amazing restaurants throughout the whole month. This year, our strategy is to seek out the restaurants with outstanding lunch menus. By focusing on lunch instead of dinner, we get to enjoy more restaurants for the same budget, and often the portions are the same as they are at dinner. 

Best of all, this benefits the Houston Food Bank since a donation goes to them with every meal. Last year set a new record, with more than $1.2 million raised. Wowza. We Houstonians sure love our restaurants. 

We hit Eleven XI first, and I must say it was nothing short of outstanding. Every morsel of food was thoughtful, soulful and artful. I even went outside my usual parameters to enjoy a petite braised pork shank atop the best coleslaw I've ever had (it tasted almost like there were both fennel and mustard seeds mixed in). Greg mooned over his grilled oysters with heirloom tomatoes, pecan pesto, Parmesan and bacon. In total, we enjoyed three courses for a mere $20 each.  

This week, we enjoyed a very pleasant meal at RDG+Bar Annie. It's been ages since we've been there, partly since we have so many great restaurants closer to home and partly since there are just too many top-notch places to hit. We both started with the pea and mint soup finished with creme fraiche. The pea flavor was super-fresh, and the mint was obvious enough to really map to what you'd imagine as the classic British summer flavor. The watercress was a little unnecessary as the garnish, and the mouth feel was a tiny bit oily (maybe some ham protein in there? or maybe olive oil?). 

Greg opted for the hanger steak, a perfect medium-rare with an amazing demi-glace. I adored the striped bass with artichoke pesto, tomato butter sauce, shaved fennel and lemon. The fish was cooked perfectly, the fennel was wonderfully thin and the tomato butter sauce was frankly decadent. It almost tasted like the younger version of a remoulade. Who wouldn't love that? 

Greg finished with chocolate bread pudding (moist, pleasantly dense, not overly rich) and I enjoyed pecan pie topped with ice cream (balanced flavor with a nice sturdy crust). 

 

All I can say is that if you're going to be a foodie, this is one of the best places to do it!

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