Restaurant Atira-te-ao-rio, Almada, Lisbon

View from the window across the Tagus

The April 25th Bridge across the Tagus

The dining room with open view kitchen

Atira-te-ao-rio 

A real waterside restaurant, quite quirky but very good, Atira-te-ao-rio can only be easily reached by a ten minute walk along the waterside from the Cacilhas ferry terminal. It can be off-putting at night if it is your first visit as you walk along the unlit quayside past abandoned warehouses. It is, however, well worth the walk. Try to get the table by the small window, which has a great view across the Tagus. You can also eat outside on the terrace but best avoided during the winter nights even though they promised us a heater and blankets! 

We were very impressed with the food – a much more homely style than Rabo d'Pêxe Lisboa where we had eaten the night before but equally enjoyable. 

We limbered up nicely with a bottle of the deep coloured 2014 Rosé Barranco Longo (15€) from the Algarve. This is a blend of Aragonez (Tempranillo) and Touriga Nacional.

I started with a rich, flavoursome shellfish soup while CRM went for the scrambled eggs, while our friends Jane and John chose two different salads. 

     

For the main course the brilliantly cooked fresh cod was easily the majority choice leaving me to opt for the black linguine with prawns. Winewise we went for a powerful, rich but well balanced Douro red – 2013 vinha dos Santos, which is a blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional made by that man Anselmo Mendes.  

One negative point – the fairly short wine list is out of date: vintages wrong and out of stock bottles are still listed. These days it is not difficult to keep your wine list up to date, especially if you have a short selection.  

 Instructive sign in the WC

WC sign indicator – which is for whom? 

How do you decide? 

 atirateaorio.pt/

reservas@atirateaorio.pt | 21 275 13 80 

Although as you walk along the deserted quayside you think that Atira-te-ao-rio is way out on a limb, there is one restaurant a little further on – Restaurante Ponto Final, which we haven't tried yet. 

Belém – a few photos from the waterfront on a cloudless Saturday

 Around the Vasco da Gama memorial 

 

 .... forming an orderly queue

 sailing classes on the Tagus ....

 Belém's jewel – Torre de Belém 

 in the pink...!

 

 

shady...

Santarém: a day out

We decided to take the train from Santa Apolonia to Santarém, which is a town we have never explored before. Initially things didn't go at all to plan. There was no problem getting tickets for the 9.48am stopping train from Santa Apolonia, which sets us back just over 5.50€ each for a journey of just over an hour. Nor, after a coffee and a cake in a station bar, finding the platorm and getting on the train.

9.48 came and went, so 9.58, 10.08, 10.18 – and still we sat in the train on Platform 5 at Santa Apolonia. No announcement as to what was happening. From time to time those of us remaining on the train opened the electric train doors and peered out but returned clearly none the wiser. Finally the train left at 10.48am – clearly the 9.48 was cancelled but no-one thought to say.

The station at Santarém is on the flat valley floor of the Tagus, while the main part of the city is up on a bluff high above. We decided to get a taxi to take us up to the centre. It was certainly a wise move and, as usual, the fare was not expensive.

Lower Santarém, the station is out of photo to left

Lower Santarém

Battlements of the Porta do Sol (old fortress) and the Tagus below

The old bridge over the Tagus at Santarém, which is now under repair (above and below)

Vines on the flat valley floor (from Porta do Sol)

The old centre of the city has many narrow old streets with a number of churches plus attractive buildings.

Some fine buildings

More photos to follow in another post.