Restaurante Tronco in Lisbon

Here we are, back in Lisbon again.  We love Lisbon - weather is fantastic; still very hot at the end of August or early September with temperature anything between 27 - 31c but comes with lovely sea breaze; people are nice and food is just phenominal, especially if you are seafood lovers like we are!

Where do we go for our first dinner in this city?  It has to be Restaurante Tronco on Rue das Portas de Santo Antao, 147 Zona Rossio, Lisbon 1150.  This is a very unassuming place, away from the south end of the same street where there are many touristy restaurants with hard-selling. We found this place last year when we were walking toward another restaurant, Solar dos Presuntos (Please see my earlier blog, You gotta eat fish in Lisbon http://mwhe.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/you-gotta-eat-fish-in-lisbon.html).

Last year we went to this restaurant few times and we enjoyed having their grilled king prawns, grilled cuttlefish with a big heap of fresh mixed salad.  So, this time we ordered exactly the same.

My favourite - grilled king prawns
Just eat them with lemon juice

My husband's favourite - grilled cuttlefish

Big heap of freshly prepared cold salad,
eat it with simple dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar and rock salt

It was still hot outside, and also quite hot inside without air-con apart from semi coolish air created by the big fan hanging from the ceiling above our heads, so the salad, which is perfectly cold, was just so refreshing.

We also ordered 1/2 bottle of Portuguese Vinho Verde ('green' white wine), which is a slightly sparkling wine made from immature grapes, hence being called Verde or green. We love Vinho Verde. We notice that you can buy this at supermarket now back home although limited selection, such as at Tesco but we found some of them a bit sweet so we need to look out for drier ones.

Of course, great meal has to end with Portugal's wee cup of bica, strong coffee which is a bit like Italian's espresso; you offset the bitterness (if you wish) with sugar. I don't add sugar in coffee but I do love uma bica whilst being in Lisbon. By the way, umai (which is an adjective form of umami) means delicious in Japanese, so uma bica is umai coffee indeed, hahaha.

So, all these (i.e. 1/2 vinho verde, a chilled bottle of still water, 2 x main course of grilled king prawns and grilled cuttlefish, a big heap of freshly made cold mixed salad and 2 x bica) came to only 26.60 Euro!!!  Yes, it's very good money for value, but that's not the main reason why we keep coming back to this restaurant.  

I must tell you, this place is nothing like Solar dos Presuntos. It's a very small and narrow, family-run restaurant with small menu with no air-con but big fan hanging from the ceiling. When it's really busy with full tables and people whilst the big fan hanging from the ceiling does not do much to cool you down, I suggest you wear something comfortable and loose to help you feel cool down. Prepare to be patient until your order comes as service can be slow.  The owner (?) is doing everything by himself except cooking, i.e taking orders, kitchen portering, barista, cleaning up dishes away and setting tables, etc.  But the food they serve is very honest, tasty home cooking using fresh ingredients, and off course, cheaper that any other fancy or touristy restaurants nearby.

Inside of the restaurant. 

TV is always on with a black mark on the middle of screen but no one seems to care if it's slightly broken.  Last time there were some Portuguese soap and also some show that looked like an equivalent of Voice on. This time it was a football match.

Outside, they display menus in different languages and also some promotion of sardines.

Very unassuming place

Looking left, toward the south end of the same street where most of touristy restaurants are located.

See, I told you. It's a quiet part of the same street, away from the tourists and other restaurants. You could almost ignore or not notice and just pass by.  There is also a wee lane near by with lots of graffiti and you would probably just keep going till you get to the other end of the street.

Don't judge by the look of the cover, just go in and try their traditional Portuguese food, and if you don't like it, at least it does not break you bank.

That's all forks!