Posted on 06/15/2025 8:14:51 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Hours after our rather hectic arrival in Portugal we finally got settled down in the Moov Hotel in the Oeiras district of the greater Lisbon area. I asked the person at the hotel desk if there were any restaurants within walking distance and he told us there was a pizza place and a restaurant called Casa Da Silva. Naturally we chose the latter in order to experience Portuguese food. Annnnnd WOW!!!
It knocked my socks off including the fantastic house wine. Casa Da Silva would be a big hit in any city in the USA and yet Portugal, as we found out, had many such restaurants. Food excellence there is the norm, not the exception. For us Casa Da Silva it will always linger as a fond memory of our very first restaurant we experienced in Portugal. Our first entry into food and wine heaven!
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PING!
Sounds like fun...
I love Portugal, Spain and of course the Italian coasr
One thing I learned on this trip is NOT to overplan. Just go with the flow and improvise as you go along. The Casa Da Silva was certainly not planned but an incredibly pleasant discovery.
What was the per person cost of that meal ?
Thanks so much for sharing! We spent 2 weeks in Thailand last November and a week in Athens Greece in April. Both places are foodie heaven lol. I loved Athens and could go back happily in a heart beat. Rome is on the agenda this year, but we would also love to do a week in Spain if possible. I want to go back to the the far east though. For some reason, that captures my spirit. After Rome, we’re hoping to revisit Thailand, but also include visits to Da Nang Vietnam and Malaysia.
If you go to the more touristy areas the prices would be higher but this was in a working industrial district of Lisbon. Oh, and it sort of surprised me to see friendly people walking around at night in an urban area but crime in Portugal (with the exception of a few streets in central Lisbon) is near ZERO.
Spain is much bigger than Portugal so doing a week in Spain would have to leave a lot of places out. We are planning a full two weeks in Spain next year and I was thinking that we could easily spend a month there since there are so many places to see.
Was in Lisbon one year ago, loved it, food was outstanding, people great, wine good, tourist spots okay, Church buildings very nice.
I'll have video of that incident in a future episode of My Portugal Trip.
We were in Lisbon for a couple days and the Douro Valley for a wine tour early Oct ‘23. We ate extremely well, many times with special dinners at small family owned wineries.
The best octopus I have ever had was at a big group (2 dozen or so of us) dinner at the boutique hotel we were at in wine country.
Also, I found Portugal very English-friendly. Which is not surprising, as the Portuguese have been commercial and military allies with the English for a few hundred years.
I liked Portugal quite well, would go back.
If you liked it so much why come back?
I’m heading out to SE Thailand, Malaysia and Lake Toba later this year. Planning on basing in one country and travelling around in retirement. It might take me a decade to travel thru all the islands in Thailand. No complaint.
Lisbon is great. Portugal has great food (although like with anyplace, you are likely to get tired of the cuisine after a while if that’s all you eat). Very interesting mix of old and new—many buildings built in the 17th and 18th century with absolutely derelict units next to newly modernized living places and businesses), great weather, history and culture. We visited Coimbra—Portugal’s university town—right during graduation, which was quite the party.
Travelling to not yet fully modernized places in Europe can be quite interesting. For example, the best restaurant I ever ate at was in May 2019 at an absolute hole in the wall kind of place in Lvov, Ukraine. To find it, you had to find a totally unmarked building apparently occupied by another business, walk down an unmarked set of stairs, through a dark hallway, until you stumbled on it’s entrance. Very simple, yet absolutely fantastic, Galician food, made apparently by someone’s grandma. Dirt cheap. We went back several times during our stay.
Looking it up just now, it seems like it has since gone substantially downhill. But I will never forget it.
https://tomato.ua/en/lviv/restaurants/trapeznayaidey
In May 2019, before the second Russian invasion, Lvov had a real “wild west” air about it. And it was far and away the cheapest place I have ever been to in Europe (with Portugal being in 2nd place).
https://tomato.ua/en/lviv/restaurants/trapeznayaidey
Lots more to see. Next year headed to east Europe, Prauge, Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Straussbourg, Munich. Then in 2028 England, Scotland and Ireland.
Just in case that might be of interest. Of course I can't promise clear skies.
I visited Krakow, Warsaw and Budapest in June, 1978 for soccer matches when I was in middle school. We did “change money” dollars for zloties. Best rate I got was 1:130. Polish ice cream, Lodi, was like .15c. Amazing and fun trip.
You takes your chances and lives your life.
I remember when the Islamabad Marriott was bombed. Having done 3.5 years in Iraq prior at that time I volunteered to take the trip for a co-worker. No one bombs the same place twice... right? It’d be helping ppl out and I’d have gotten great deals. Alas, the Command cancelled the trip.
The best tea I ever had was in Warsaw in June, 1978. We’d finished soccer game (got our butts kicked) and were very thirsty. Me and two teammates seached the rooms under the stadium for something to drink. In a windowless room we encountered 3 old ladies around a big tub of tea, cooking and stirring it. They gave us each a ceramic mug of their. Freaking best tasting tea I’d ever had.
As for the Middle East, 1v1 I’ve never had problems with Muslims. They have that “if I’m gonna pull some S I want it done right and honorably so I can be credited/take the glory” thing going on. Not so Westerners and Africans.
Budapest is a great visit I can’t wait to go back.
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