There are few food experiences that I dream I could go back to. My tastes have changed over the years, but high quality fresh seafood is one that will always remain, and the general focus of my food adventures through Europe (since London is average and expensive for this). Ramiro in Lisbon (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/cervejaria-ramiro-lisbon-10-2013) is certainly the high praise of seafood restaurant I have even known and told anyone who would listen. The world has certainly caught up and now they have a ticketing system to stop them from being bothered by the throngs of tourists waiting outside. A work colleague from (near) Lisbon had given me advice in advance - a restaurant 200m down the road is as good in his opinion.
Of course I wanted to go back to Ramiro preferentially, but with the wait being about 50-100 people (even though the staff member said "it's Sunday. It moves fast. 30mins maximum" - I don't know why tourists would eat faster on a Sunday...), I ended up at Marisqueira do Lis. There's an immediate similarity - large quantities of seafood on display both on the window and in tanks, but a more stark difference - no waits, tables available, locals all around, men drinking beer at the counter watching the football. It's a truly different experience.
I'll assume that the seafood quality is mostly the same. This may not be true (they wouldn't have as much turnover), but hopefully the Portuguese waters are kind to all. MDL is also a bit more expensive overall than Ramiro. Part of it may have been that they marked up the weights of some of the items - I can't prove this but I think it's feasible...
- Percebes 300g €18 - sweet, salty, squirty, delicious fun;
- Giant tiger prawn 400g €25 - the biggest prawn I've ever seen in my life. The texture is quite firm and chewy, maybe because it had been slightly overcooked or maybe that's just what happens with these large versions.
- Carabinero 200g €16- a large prawn with the characteristic red colour, more subtle flavour but sweet and with wonderful soft delicate but biting texture. Was it really 200g?;
- "Big crab" sapateira 1.5kg €40 - I wanted the hairy crab served with hot blended crab goodness. Instead I ended up with the very large crab instead, which to be fair was cold but delicious. The crab meat chunks in the claws and legs were excellent. Not the sweetest (that honour is the Alaskan crabs in Scandanavia) but still good. The middle mess was a bright colour that looked and tasted like egg. I assume it had been mixed with egg yolks/mayonnaise. Not exactly what I hoped for, but it was ok.
A delicious meal and one I've missed for a while. It certainly isn't cheap and works out (when I eat these) to be about €50pp. That's also without lobster which I would really like to splurge on next time. I'll be older and hopefully richer by then...