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Belem was a bit far out of Central Lisbon, almost like a city of its town, on the outskirts of hustling bustling Lisbon (Lisboa). But I was determined. Clutching the treasured Lonely Planet Europe Guide, I was still excited the idea of trying out every must eat they recommend. And Pasteis de Belem was said to be where the best Pateis de Nata (Custard Tart) in Portugal are manufactured. Notice I used the word manufactured. Like how RotiBoy started off in Suria KLCC, dozens being made by the seconds. Buyers literally come and request for the number right away without having to mention what they want.

People usually come, I am guessing for only 3 disticnt reasons:

It was striking indeed that visitors wanting to "visit" and tour around the coffee-shop cum restaurant cum "factory" can happily make their way through to the back and see through a clearly made for visitors to see, see through kitchen. Where aunties in plastic head caps efficiently pulls THOUSANDS of soft, crispy, hot from the oven pasteis de natas off of their baking trays. For a second I enjoyed them looking back at me with the usual puzzled look I was getting used to in Portugal (because of the headscarf) ;)



I wouldn't say it was disappointing. It was well, just normal. It was good. But normal good. Of course the first few bites were mind blowing. The texture, paste and physical appearance was exactly as I expected it to be- like the Portuguese egg tarts at King's Confectionary from Rawang. (I meant the fluff pastry instead of the heavy crust). This was however the very thing that made it... well sort of "safe" and unchallenging.
Retailing at EUR 0,90 each, it came with cinnamon and powdered icing.
Not bad for the effort of going all the way to Belem.

Many a time in my life, I had wished that I was able to travel with one of those travel guides that direct you to random places to eat. Of course, you can barely expect anything extraordinarily random and special and "local" because these guides will recommend you the typical "must-do's" and "must-eat's". Nevertheless, I was lucky to be able to experience O Muro- this little seafood pub that looked secluded enough from tourist attention, yet mentioned as one of a must try cheap eats along the Douro River.
The huge riverside/ bank promenade area, on which O Muro stands, was huge enough for even cars to park and get by. However huge the river was though, I would say that little pub is not very near to... well, "O Muro."
The friendly english speaking uncle (owner) made it clear that the seafood was fresh and that they indeed are a favourite amongst locals. Of course, he might be biased, but I thought "hey, even ordering is already good fun!" His Portuglish and our Engtuguese got us some really good stuff on the menu.


The starter bread soon came with a bowl of weird looking beans. These beans were kind of salty and sour-ish like they have been fermented for a bit. But the texture was very bean-y, a thin flaky yellow coating outside and soft potato-ish texture inside. These came with olives and the most peculiar bread I have ever seen (well it turns out its quite common but, I found this bread last week at Tesco's in London). The texture and physical attributes are that of a cake, but if you close your eyes and chew it slowly, you would think you were eating a plain, pound wheat bread.

We started of the night with a seafood salad, which really was SEAFOOD literally with hints of lettuce. Haha, of course that was what we came for, so I am not complaining! ;) A bed of prawns squid and mussels "melange" with some sort of creamy dressing- which in my opinion was a bit too generous.

Then came this delightful things in steel pots, hot thin almost clear broth with white rice cooked with white (possibly cray) fish and octopus. Of course, we didn't know what to expect since we merely ordered what was in the menu "Fish Rice" and "Octopus Rice". Haha leave it to them to be creative with names. It was however, such a particular taste, I reckon the broth was made the same except they each took the flavor from their respective meats and that flavor seeped through the soup beautifully. The tastes, in short, were very distinct. Need I also mention the fish had no signs of unfreshness whatsoever.

Ija's (my friend) fish came next and it didn't have much to say for itself. It was a nice flesh but it was too simply grilled. The fusion of burnt-grilled flavor and the fresh flesh was pleasing nevertheless. Although, I quite disliked the fact that it was somewhat overgrilled.


And so the star of the night (in my opinion at least) came!! My and Iman's Grilled Octopus. I went over the roof, biting into this thick and sturdy octopus meat that was so soft and easily bitten into unlike the usual very tangy squid textures I was used to. Drizzled with oil and a bit of sauteed onions, the squid was served with soft, steamy potatoes, that really had the texture and hints of sweet potatoes taste. Even the long tentacles were of soft meat and boy were they huge!

Downing nyummy seafood with Super Bock, a popular portuguese lager (non alcoholic, of course! I'd like to keep my believes intact, thanks.) was nothing short of a remarkable, remarkable experience. Definitely a good experience.