Lisbonese Food Porn: Tiger Prawns, Barnacles, and Sundry Wiggly Things

Rooftops in Lisbon, Portugal

The iconic Lisbon funicular

As I write this, I am sick in bed on a beautiful spring day. I had planned all manner of witty bon mots and profound thoughts about the beauty of Lisbon to share with you in this post  - how I am attracted to spaces that are grand yet crumbling, redolent of faded glory and elegant decay, somewhat melancholy, or (like Iceland) severe and other-worldly.

But I am too tired and instead I will let the photos above speak for themselves, and settle for sharing some food porn with you for a much-needed distraction at the end of a truly awful week in world news.

All of the goodies I am about to present to you come from Cervejaria Ramiro, a chaotic, always-packed restaurant which serves some of the freshest seafood I have ever had the pleasure to eat. Poppa Trix and I went there three times - except for Cantina La Mascota in Mexico City, that's an unprecedented return rate - unable to resist its siren call of simply and perfectly prepared dishes.

If you go, you will have to wait, but that's no big deal: Just sip on a beer to pass the time.

Early evening visit

Late visit

Seated at last!

I was in awe of the hustle displayed by the servers in such a crowded and busy space, and only wish more wait staff in my neck of the woods could feel a similar sense of ... urgency ... when it comes to getting food to the customer in a timely fashion:

Out of the way!!!

A brief pause to watch football (soccer)

A spiny lobster waiting to be someone's dinner 

We didn't eat this guy; rather, a waiter handed him to me to hold for a photo op. When he took it back, he rubbed its belly, which caused its tail to flip up and down violently.

If your Portugese is rusty, you can order from a tablet:

In no particular order, here are some things you must try:

Clams in a sauce of garlic, cilanto, & olive oil:

A whole crab to smash apart, including a body cavity full of innards and roe - not for the prissy:

 Shrimp and garlic. Sweet, tender, and oozing garlic butter ...

One of our favorite things, grilled tiger prawns. I love them so much that I cannot stop showing you photos of their gloriousness. Juicy, sweet, tender, a bit charred ... And yes! You eat the brains and the eyes. 

That buttery, buttery bread is for soaking up all of the sauces

Think all shrimp and prawns taste more or less alike? You won't if you follow a plate of tiger prawns with a whole mess of smoky grilled scarlet shrimp. It pains me that I can't have this every day.



Fresh percebes - barnacles - were on our list of must-try Lisbon foods. I liked, but did not love them. They taste a bit like mussels, and were a bit of work for just a tiny bite. Fun, though.

And for dessert? Not what you think. For Poppa, it was a prego - a steak sandwich with mustard, a traditional "dessert" after late night feasts such as these:

And for me? Scotch, of course.

Poppa and I cannot resist clowning around wherever we go ... Could this be Ramiro himself??

A fond goodbye to one of the excellent hosts ...

And if anyone can get their hands on some achingly fresh tiger prawns to overnight to me ... let's talk.