We arrived in Sintra around 7pm to a cute place called Chalet Saudade. It was a very old house where we had a big room and was basically walkable to the city center. I say “basically” because everything in Sintra is uphill, so even though the city center was a 15 minute walk, it seemed to be all uphill. But there was this very pretty building just down the block from us.
Chris wasn’t very hungry but I insisted on eating so we made a 9pm reservation at a restaurant recommended by his Portuguese friend as the “best restaurant in Sintra”. The service was very good and we enjoyed some nice red wines from Alentejo which were served at cellar temperature (warm red wine is something I cannot accept).
Octopus is a super popular dish in Portugal. This item was listed as “Octopus and Japanese tempura”, so we inquired if it was fried in tempura batter or came with tempura vegetables. She kept saying “not fried” and something about a flower. But turns out she meant “flour” not “flower”, so yes, it very much was tempura battered octopus. It was good, it not quite what we had wanted.
The next dish said “Portuguese sausage in a puff pastry” which sounds a lot nicer than “pigs in a blanket” but that’s what it was. I mean, I love pigs in a blanket but I guess again, it wasn’t quite what I expected.
Finally, we ordered a black ink rice dish which came with shrimp, mussels, and cuttlefish. This was much better than I expected. I was nervous about it being fishy like the cataplana but it was very yummy and definitely my favorite thing we ordered here. Also it made my lips black…
It was a cool quiet night before our final day of vacation in Sintra. I would return to Romaria de Baco for the last dish but would probably choose other appetizers to start.
