Sometimes in food searching you get concerned. When the supposed national dish (and reputedly one of the best) is not available in town and noone seems to be able to tell you where to get it, that is concerning. To be fair, the locals all said they eat it at home and not out. Nonetheless you'd think a cunning restauranteur would do it well and advertise it and be known for the tourists wanting to try? Seems not in this case.
Bacalhau a Braz is supposed to be salted cod, mixed with matchstick fries and salted up and served. My hostel staff suggested a place that was good for bacalhau and since it wasn't far I thought I'd go venture. Joao do Grao is located along the Lisbon city restaurant street, which is always foreboding, but sometimes you don't have a choice if you've made up your mind.
Sadly the menu didn't have bacalhau a Braz. When I asked about it, they gave me bacalhau assado na Brasa. I'd like to think they weren't trying to trick me, but just assumed that is what I meant. Who knows...
Bacalhau Assado na Brasa - a very simple dish of boiled potato, sliced vegetables and a piece of grilled fish on top. The fish was reasonably well cooked and quite firm in texture. The flavour was a mildly salty, but I think that's how cod tends to be here.
The food itself was ok, but certainly not what I was hoping for. Maybe the reason I wouldn't go back is more that than anything else.