PORTUGAL - LISBON - MOMA GRILL

MOMA GRILL

This little restaurant was the second traditional place we visited on our short trip to Lisbon.

You need to walk past all the aggressive street touts who stand with their menu with pictures of food in this street and find this restaurant, which is at the end of Rua dos Correeiros. It can be hard work, making your way up the Rua dos Correeiros, even if you avoid any eye contact, you will have a menu thrust under your nose. Fortunately, if you are coming from the Praça do Comércio end of the street, this is the first restaurant you will encounter.

Once there you will find a very classic small restaurant with arcades, stone walls and tiled floors with white linen covered tables. There are a few few tables on the busy street for when the weather allows.

All the waitresses seem to be very efficient multilingual young woman who speak good English amongst others. They will go through the menu for you if you do not understand it and describe the type of fish that is on offer.

The outside blackboards show todays specials in English as well as Portuguese.

Starters include:

Escabeche de perdiz (partridge conserve)

Ovos verdes (fried boiled eggs)

Camarao frito con mayonaise de alho e salsa (fried prawns with garlic and parsley mayonnaise)

For mains we chose fish from the blackboard list that included:

Groupa (grouper)

Linguado (sole)

Pregado (turbot, this was for a very small whole fish for €15 which, for us seemed to be too small and would not be served in the UK that size)

Besugo (sea bream)

Peixe-galo (Atlantic John Dory)

Corvine (croker, a fish found in the mostly tropical to temperate coastal waters of the south-eastern Pacific along Central and South America)

All the fish is simply grilled, brushed olive oil and served with spinach and small baked potatoes.

Meat dishes include:

Grilled beef fillet steak

Veal fillets

Pork loin

Iberian pork strips

To follow with dessert we had

Tarte De Framboesia (raspberry tart)

Tarte De Amêndoa (almond tart)

The wine list has a good local selection at reasonable prices

What's not to love about this place. Simple food cooked beautifully, impeccable service and glasses of good cheap wine. It always seems busy with well heeled locals in this mainly tourist Baixa area and there is a pleasant buzz about the place in the evening. It is certainly a level above any other in the street.