Belmiro Restaurante

Portuguese traditional food and old-school service, Belmiro is a local favourite, tucked in a charming street.Belmiro de Jesus has a legion of fans from a time when families used to come out all dressed up on Sundays to hit the old traditional restaurants, the type of places that are a step up from rustic tascas, with white cotton tablecloths and gentlemen's service.He is known in the city for his work at A Charcutaria – now closed – Adega Tia Matilde – one of the oldest restaurants in town – and the infamous institution Salsa & Coentros. A few years back, Belmiro opened his restaurant to focus on one specific delight he was famous for, empadas, the savoury, mouth-watering meat pies. Later, he moved to a bigger place in a very charming street near Campo Mártires da Pátria garden, with a small terrace al fresco and a menu full of classic Portuguese recipes made the old-school way but nicely presented to please the more conservative diners. The set of small starters impresses – a pair of small chicken empadas made with a thin pastry that shames all the empadas in town. The secret, the experts say, is adding lard to the dough. The poultry liver patê is also balanced and indulgent, but make sure never, never, never to miss the Migas the Batatas com Ovos, a dish Belmiro created and that one can only find here or at Salsa & Coentros because of the legacy he left behind. It may appear simple, but this dish, made with scrambled eggs and potatoes, is a creamy gift from heaven that keeps on giving each time we taste it.Moving on. Portuguese cuisine is much more than Pastel de Nata and Codfish; it's the result of poverty and hunger, filled with people that used to cook with few ingredients in a nose-to-tail approach. Besides the best Portuguese cheese and cold meats range, Belmiro oversees his cooks doing quintessential recipes, such as the Codfish Sames with Beans, the mandatory Cabidela – a Portuguese chicken blood rice – Veal Cheeks Stew, or Veal Feet Stew with Chickpeas; amongst several game pot dishes, such as the Hare Rice.