Adegga's 50 best takeaway restaurants in Portugal

From the Adegga site:

'50 Restaurantes para Comer em Casa

Do melhor hambúrguer de Lisboa ao melhor leitão da Bairrada, apresentamos sugestões imperdíveis para encomendar e partilhar com os amigos e a família

Diz o ditado que ‘mudam-se os tempos, mudam-se as vontades’, mas nós temos de discordar. Se há coisa que não dispensamos à mesa é boa comida, capaz de despertar os sentidos e confortar a alma e, à volta dela, a melhor companhia.

Por isso preparámos uma seleção de alguns dos melhores Restaurantes para Comer em Casa, que não pode deixar de consultar da próxima vez que encomendar comida para partilhar com amigos ou em família.

A lista é tão diversificada quanto tentadora: da Feijoada à Transmontana da Taberna das Flores, ao Arroz de Polvo do Gaveto, sem esquecer o Leitão à Bairrada – porque há desvios de Rota impossíveis de contornar-, difícil vai ser decidir por onde começar.'

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Responding the closure of restaurants in Portugal due to Coronavirus, Adegga has produced a very useful guide to the 50 best restaurants in Portugal now offering takeaways. The selection doesn't cover the whole country instead it concentrates on restaurants in Lisbon and Porto and those within an hour of each of these cities.

As the entry for Tasca Da Esquina in Lisbon's Campo d'Ourique shows each of the 50 entries lists some of the available dishes, an indication of price, whether they also sell takeaway wine, the delivery zone, contact details and whether you can order through UberEats and Glovo. 

Unfortunately there are some minor drawbacks to this guide. Firstly, it could be financially crippling as I discover more interesting and tempting restaurants in Lisbon, in particular, that I should try. Secondly due to current air-traffic restrictions you can't order from these restaurants from outside Portugal.......

From yesterday (18th May) restaurants in Portugal have been allowed to reopen. This is an indication of Portugal's success in dealing with coronavirus.  As of Sunday 17th May Portugal had recorded 29,036 cases with 1218 deaths. This compares very favourably with its nearby countries – Spain, France, Italy and the UK.

The Portuguese love to eat out, so it will be interesting to see how they react to restaurants reopening. Will they be scared/ reluctant to go back? A question I put yesterday to André Ribeirinho, the CEO of Adegga: 

'Only time will tell. Lots of questions at the moment. Restaurants can open today at maximum 50% capacity, mandatory 2 meter distance between clients and strict cleaning measures.
'Taberna da Rua das Flores opens today and have said they will do takeaway/ delivery until 2021 at least.

'I think many people will continue to order from home for fear of eating out but also because they got used to to it. Uber Eats and Glovo have grown tremendously in the number of registered restaurants in the last two months. Some people will start this phase by staying at home and eating with friends. We will be updating the takeaway guide once a month at least until September.

Tourism is out until god knows when. Looming in the horizon is a massive crisis which is probably the biggest question for many of the restaurants. '

Although takeaways help a restaurant to keep going and retain at least some if not all of their staff, it does mean a significant cut in profits. Restaurants tend to make more of their money on drinks and extras sold than their food. People ordering takeaways will have whatever they intend to drink with their meal already at home. No possibility of customers' after thoughts – a dessert, some cheese, a fancy coffee or any after-dinner drink.

Coming out of lockdown is likely to be a particular challenge for small restaurants like Taberna, who for the first time are taking bookings  for specified times. Previously you queued outside in the street for a table.  

Porto

Great to see O Gaveto, one of Portugal's restaurants heading the Porto selection. As they have a very good wine list it is unsurprising that they are also offering to sell customers wine to go with their takeaway meal.

Bom apetite!

Various from Portugal & France

Portugal

Adegga Wine Market on Saturday 1st December 2018 – a date for your diary

This year the winter Adegga Wine Market has a new venue at Armazém 16, Marvila, Lisboa with 70 Produtores Adegga, 500 Vinhos, 5 Chefs, 1 Sala Premium (Premium Room). Scenes from the 2015 Wine Market in Lisbon

There will be a special 'Rising Stars' section with Álvaro Martinho (Douro), Arribas Wine Company (Trás-os-Montes), Herdade da Anta da Cima (Alentejo), Portugal Boutique Winery (Douro), Rosa da Mata (Dão), Titan of Douro (Douro) already confirmed.

It will be interesting to see how the empty space above will be transformed for the Wine Market. If you happen to be in Lisbon on Saturday 1st December then a few hours spent at the Wine Market is highly recommended – a brilliant opportunity to meet some of Portugal's most interesting wine producers, taste their wines and then buy at a discounted price.

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Lisbon is booming – a week last Sunday morning we travelled back into Lisbon where we had again had a great meal at Terroso and the streets were mobbed at 1.15 am with traffic jams – true it was the weekend before the Web Summit ...... but even so. Sadly Terroso is now closed on Sundays and Mondays, so long Sunday lunches are now out, so will just have to have long Saturday lunches or even long Tuesday lunches instead.

It is more than a full-time job trying to keep up with all the new bars and restaurant openings in Central Lisbon. During our brief Lisbon visit we did try one new restaurant – Picamiolos, where the influence is very much from the Alentejo. We were very impressed.

There were some very creative dishes like the above very crispy rabbit chops – so crispy that you eat the bone and all.

Acorda is very much a traditional Portuguese recipe – a recipe based on bread and including fish or shellfish often prawns or monkfish. Acorda is a little like a bread porridge. Although well done acorda can be very good, here at Picamiolos the approach was decidedly different. Their acorda of guinea fowl was more akin to a bread and butter pudding without the sweetness – the bread lightly toasted. With this we drank the fascinating and lightly spicy 2013 Mayor from José da Sousa, which is vinified in ceramic amphora that has a very long tradition in the Alentejo dating back to Roman times.

I do hope that Lisbon will ride the boom and continue to offer quality food and drink at a reasonable price wherever you go – one of the big reasons for the the city's current popularity. If it doesn't then there is always a danger that boom can turn rapidly to bust.

France

Make Mine a Pouilly-Fumé!

On Friday night we opened the stunning 2014 Barre à Mine, Blanc Fumé de Pouilly from Michel Redde – a combination of lovely rich texture citric fruits edging towards more exotic fruits matching by great clean mineral length. Drinking brilliantly now but clearly capable of aging much longer.

Barre à Mine comes from a special relatively recently created vineyard planted in very flinty ground just off the D4 close to La Roche in the northern end of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. The Reddes cleared some huge boulders (see below) from ground around an old quarry – hence the name.

 

Vines struggling through pure flint....

Two fine Boxing Day wines

2006 The Standish Single Vineyard Shiraz, Barossa Valley, 

The Standish Wine Company 

(above and below)

Being away for Christmas has meant that I haven't been choosing all the wines, so there hasn't been a great emphasis on the Loire. For Boxing Day dinner we had a magnum of 2006 The Standish, a single vineyard Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. It was very well balanced – concentration of black fruits but not a head banging Ozzie Shiraz with some freshness in the finish. Decidedly impressive and at 11 years old this still has plenty of life left in it – although it was a magnum. The Standish is a 7.6 hectare vineyard planted in 1912 on its own roots.     

1970 Vintage Port, C. da Silva 

We opened a bottle of this 1970 Port from C da Silva a few weeks back. It was relatively light and I thought it was time to drink up any other bottle we have over the next couple of years or so. The bottle we opened yesterday was considerably more concentrated, more complex with a long finish. A fine bottle indeed. Interesting that even with vintage Port there appears to be considerable bottle variation. 

Vinho Verde: a greta value trio from Pingo Doce

Branco, Loureiro and Alvarinho

Here are three bargain Vinho Verde own label wines from the Pingo Doce supermarket.

Let's start with the Branco at just 1.59€ made by Carlos Teixeira. Cleanly made the Branco has 10% of alcohol with the spritz in the finish that is typical of a certain popular style of Vinho Verde. Perfectly OK without being exciting but at the price.....

The Loureiro is also made by Teixeira. This is more full-bodied than the Branco and costs just 1.99€ a bottle. Amazing value. 

Finally a a firm favourite – the Alvarinho made by Anselmo Mendes for just 3.98€. OK it is not as fine or exciting as some of Anselmo's other Vinho Verdes but this is a very decent example with some concentration. Having tried this, it is well worth exploring the rest of Anselmo's remarkable range of wines both from the Vinho Verde but also from other parts of Portugal.         

Portugal still a treasure trove of old wines

 

1992 Encostas da Nave

Vinho Tinto 

It is good to see that Portuguese wines are now getting the attention they deserve. Doubtless this is, in part, due to the huge popularity of Lisbon and Porto as tourist destinations. 

Much of the Portuguese wines drunk, both within Portugal and outside, are recent vintages. However, Portugal remains a treasure trove of old vintages. It is, of course, well known that Port, Madeira and other of this country's fortified wines age for decades and more. Less well known is the capacity of their white and red table wines to age brilliantly. Fortunately it is still possible to find old fine bottles at a very reasonable price if you know where to look.

Take this 1992 Encostas da Nave from the Távora Co-operative in Moimenta da Beira bought from a traditional grocery shop in a northern suburb of Lisbon for just 12 euros. Still quite youthful, although the colour shows some signs of age – not surprising after 25 years. It has lovely, softly textured fruit. Drunk without food the acidity in the finish shows but this disappeared with our duck dish.  A delight!  

Who needs a cork? 1979 Serradayres, Tejo

 1979 Serradayres, Tejo

 

Last evening I opened a bottle of the 1979 Serradayres from the Tejo, or Ribatejo as it was probably called back in that epoch. To my surprise when I cut off the top of the foil I found that the cork had fallen into the wine. I immediately assumed that the wine would be past it, especially as the level was around high shoulder.

Naturally before considering pouring it down the sink, I tasted it. The wine was fine with good texture and remarkably youthful for a 1979. Served blind no-one among the ten of us guessed that it was a 1979. Most placed it sometime in the 1990s. 

I don't know when the cork fell into the wine but it must have been a while ago as the the exterior of the bottle was sticky from dried wine and there were also traces of dried wine where the bottle had been stored.

Raises the question of whether we really need a stopper – or is some foil sufficient? Also this wouldn't have happened with a screwcap. It is also a testimony to how resilient wine can be.     

 Cork fallen in 

Allo Allo ....

2016 Allo, Vinho Regional Minho

Allo is a delicious, crisp white made from a blend of Alvarinho and Loureiro from Soalheiro, specialising in making a range of fine Vinho Verdes. This is not a Vinhoi Verde but a Vinho Regional Minho. Lowish in alcohol – 11% – it is a good apéro and working very well this evening with some grilled prawns. The name – Allo – is a blend of the initial letters from Alvarinho and Loureiro. Just under six euros from the Garrafeira Campo d'Ourique.

#winelover in the Douro – pics from two great days

 Line up of a remarkable and brilliant tutored tasting 

at the Niepoort quinta in the Douro

(24th September 2016)

Niepoort VV – main constituent 1863 

Very old tawny Port

 

Demijohn of 1948 Port very generously opened by

Dirk Niepoort for #winelover seminar

 Douro at sunset

 

 

Mouchão: Portugal’s Tondonia

Scenes from the winery 

(This post was originally published on Les 5 du Vin on 12th July 2016)

Last Thursday (7th July 2016) we headed out from Lisbon to the Alentejo for a day visit to the fabled Mouchão estate. Normally the Alentejo in summer is hot and dry. Instead on Thursday we were met with heavy rain lit up by impressive flashes of lightning. We were shown round by David Marques Ferreira, who has been estate manager for the past three years. CRM and I had met David at last December's Adegga Wine Market in Lisbon.

 
David Marques Ferreira

Established in the 19th century Mouchão is the oldest estate in the Alentejo – the other side of the River Tejo. The 1000 hectare estate is owned by the Reynolds family, who in the 19th century, were the leading producers of cork. At the end of the 19th century they decided to diversify  into wine and in 1890 planted their vines – they have 38 hectares with no intention to increase the area under vine. They chose to major on Alicante Bouschet, a teinturier  variety, which remains Mouchão's signature grape variety. David Ferreira –Alicante Bouschet is "our body and soul". The winery was built in 1901.

"Alicante Bouschet gives us more than just colour," David Ferreira explained. "We get big tannins and freshness. Our vines are at 200 metres altitude, which is high for the Alentejo. Some of our vines are at 300 to 400 metres, so we get freshness and acidity. This helps our wines to age well – the 1954 is still good".

"Although we have a variable geology, sand and clay is the basis, so we retain moisture during the hot summers," Ferreira continued. "The estate is between two rivers – hence the name Mouchão. We are very much in the middle of nowhere".

"We work very traditionally here – limiting production, hand picking, no destemming, wholebunch  fermentation, foot treading in lagars and a manual press etc.We mainly use old vats of 5000 litres and prefer French oak with malo in barrel but also use some Brazilian wood. "

A barrel from the time when the estate was confiscated 
and run by the local cooperative 

The estate remains in the Reynolds family, which is now into the seventh generation. However, there was a ten-year interruption of ownership following the 1974 Revolution. The estate was confiscated and the wines were made by the local cooperative and sold under the co-op's name. It was returned to family ownership in 1985.

"The vineyards were in a poor state," explained Ferreira. "Nothing had been planted and existing vines had not been maintained. We nearly lost our Alicante Bouschet!"

We tasted five wines:

2015 Dom Rafael Branco – blend of Antão Vaz and Arinto 7.69€
Still very youthful and tight in the finish but with attractive pineapple and grapefruit notes. Good value.

2013 Dom Rafael Tinto – blend of Alicante Bouschet, Trincadeira and Aragonez 8.99€
This spends one year in a mix of large vats and small barrels and then a further year in bottle. As Mouchão's entry level red, I think this elegant wine is stunning value! It has lovely velvety texture, herbal and spicy notes, structure and acidity. Really a steal at 8.99€ and will clearly age well over the next few years.

2012 Ponte de Canas – Alicante Bouschet (40%), Touriga Nacional,Touriga Franca, Syrah 16€
Unlike the other Mouchão wines this has a small percentage of Syrah that gives this wine additional freshness and edge. The 2012 already has attractive texture and powerful fruit but ideally it needs several more years in bottle to show its best.

Over lunch we had an interesting discussion with David over Ponte de Canas  as he indicated that the current name used on the label may not make it sufficiently clear that Ponte de Canas was actually a wine from Mouchã0.

We suggested that Mouchão ought to be part of the Ponte Canas name and suggested Ponte Canas de Mouchão or Ponte de Mouchão citing that. for instance, Château Latour uses Les Forts de Latour. Clearly the name is under discussion, so we may see a change in the future.

2011 Mouchão – 85% Alicante Bouschet, 15% Trincadeira 35€
We were privileged to be the first to taste the 2011 grand vin, which will be released soon.  Naturally this deep coloured wine is still very young and tight in the finish but it has a lovely warm spicy aromas and an opulent texture.

2011 Vinho Licoroso – 100% Alicante Bouschet 19€
This is Mouchão's version of Port – made in the same way using grape spirit distilled at the winery to stop the fermentation and fortify the wine. Very concentrated with long rich cherry and prune fruit.

The still 

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A Taberna do Paulo
Rua 1 de Maio, 28 | Santo Antonio de Alcorrego

After the tasting we all drove to nearby small town of Santo Antonio de Alcorrego to the brightly decorated A Taberna do Paulo where we had a very enjoyable lunch featuring three different types of migas – plain, with tomato, and with coriander – accompanied by small lamb chops.

Our visit to Mouchão reminded me of Tondonia in Haro (Rioja). It has the same sense of calm and great respect for tradition.

Ferreira summed up – "We say Mouchão is Mouchão!"

An update: 29th July 2016
Following our visit we found a bottle of 2007 Ponte de Canas Mouchão in a local restaurant on the edge of Campo d'Ourique for 29€. The staff had a little trouble finding it but it proved to be worth the hunt as it was delicious – good concentration, spice and with good acidity to balance. Ready to drink now but clearly has a number of years ahead.    

 

Jim Budd