Breakfast at Goji Cafe, Lunch at A Petisqueira, and Dinner at Luca’s Rooftop

Jun 4

Jun 4 Breakfast at Goji Cafe, Lunch at A Petisqueira, and Dinner at Luca’s Rooftop

Yes, it was a full day of eating.

But all small bites and I don’t think we overate. We woke up and started the day at Goji Lounge Cafe which is downstairs from where we are staying. This is a tried and true cafe where I have enjoyed the food on all occasions. We shared just plate of mini pancakes with fruit while we had coffees. The fruit is so fresh! Perfect small plate to start the day.

After breakfast we walked to the beach which is about 10 minutes from the hotel. It was a bit warm and sunny already so we were warm upon arrival to the beach. The tide was high (insert song) so we couldn’t get through the little cave to my favorite beach. The water was aggressive and splashing like crazy. It wasn’t absolutely freezing cold but it was pretty chilly. As the tide rose, we had to move three times. It was fun to see the beach at high tide.

We stayed at the beach for a few hours before we both needed to use the bathroom and I decided I could eat again. I had read about a few places but it is a bit difficult to separate touristy and authentic and enjoyable since the whole town is touristy. A Petisqueira was a great choice on the main road. We started with a sea bass ceviche which Chris didn’t love because of heavy pineapple flavor but I loved it. The Viognier was from this area, a bit more acidic than I had expected but it’s a good thing because it paired really well.

Whenever we go out, I ask them to serve our food one course at a time so we don’t sit down and eat three appetizers in 20 minutes. This place really paced the courses super nicely so that we could enjoy a long relaxing meal :)

Next course was an octopus carpaccio. I never had this before but I love octopus and it was fun to see it shaved super thin like that. The salad on top had a nice acidic dressing as well.

Final dish was a grilled squid, always one of my favorite seafood by the sea options. I was impressed at the nice charred flavor that was not overdone.

We wandered the streets a bit after lunch, stopped into the hotel to rest and shower and we were supposed to go for a sunset cruise at 7pm. But around 6 when we were just about to leave, the cruise place texted and said that the waters were too rough. We rescheduled to Thursday but that left us without a plan for the evening.

I’m highly rattled by plans changing so it took quite a bit for me to relax and adjust to this change. We spent some time researching places for a cocktail with a view and finally came across Lucas Rooftop. It took another 20 minutes for us to figure out how to try and call them and ask if they were open (somehow I couldn’t call through WhatsApp?) and then another 20 minutes to find our car once we decided to go there.

The view was worth it. I couldn’t sit on the balcony because I got a little dizzy.

We ordered a delicious bottle of rose and the regional dish of Cataplana. This is sort of a fish stew with shrimp and mussels and clams and white fish like eel and monkfish and flounder. The guy said they were all the freshest fish they found that day…we couldn’t tell which fish were which. I had a feeling I wouldn’t love it, and I was correct. It was good but not my favorite. Chris loved it at least. And the bread with butter and olive oil was really good :)