Piriquita

Portugal, Part VII: This cafe is perpetually packed with customers craving the sweet stuff that has long been a specialty of Sintra, which Lord Byron once called the world's most beautiful village.

Queijadas _ basically cakes made of cheese, eggs, flour, sugar & cinnamon. The recipe seems simple, but these are intoxicatingly good; we gobbled up six within minutes (and they're not that small!).

Also loved the travesseiros, puffy treats filled with almond cream. Crisp and fluffy, with every bite informing us how fresh pastries can be the closest thing to heaven.

We needed all that energy (and then some) to hike up Sintra's hills and wander through this U.N. World Heritage Site's Pena National Palace ...

... the Quinta da Regaleira gardens ...

... and the Castle of the Moors.

But with this, we wrap up our Portugal series. Adeus!

Piriquita,

Sintra, Portugal.

Restaurante Cabo da Roca

Portugal, Part VI: An eatery with a view of the Atlantic that seems to stretch forever.

Cabo da Roca is the cape that forms the westernmost tip of mainland Europe. It's a worthwhile stop, an hour's drive from Lisbon, with strong winds that threatened to blow us away.

The no-frills cafe here provides a wide range of Portuguese snacks, including "pastel de bacalhau," a cod fish-& potato croquette. Nicely battered comfort food.

The closest thing to a Portuguese cupcake. Sweet, moist and fresh-tasting.

Even the most humble outlet in Portugal serves wine. Gotta love it.

Restaurante Cabo da Roca,

Sintra, Portugal.

Tavares

Portugal, Part V: Lisbon's oldest restaurant, opened in 1784, is also the city's most opulent, reminiscent of a palace room.

This Michelin-starred outlet serves Portuguese cuisine that radiates creativity.

An amuse bouche of olives, but like none we've ever seen before. One was a "molecular cuisine" sort that burst open for a liquid explosion on our tongues, while the other was a lightly battered variety similar to fluffy tempura.

Celery cream with smoked ham & truffle oil. First impression: if the complimentary starters were this unabashedly decadent, we could scarcely imagine how the main courses would turn out.

Marinated mackerel in roasted pepper gel & oregano. Not foul or fishy at all, this boasted a briny freshness that put us in the perfect mood for seafood.

"The Garden of the Hen That Laid Golden Eggs." A long-winded name for an elaborate egg recipe with earthy aromas emanating from a complex combo of mushrooms & veggies.

Fruits, veggies, edible flowers, leaves, mushrooms & sprouts _ roasted, fried, sauteed & raw, with Azeitao cheese whey, hazelnut oil & Iberian ham. It's difficult to describe how this tasted, since its complicated flavors evolved miraculously with every bite.

Pig trotters with coriander gelatin & bread from Alentejo. Mushy and boneless; virtually like eating baby food, but with a beguilingly intense porky flavor.

Cod fish Bras style. Essentially salted cod, with potatoes, veggies & Iberian ham. Moist, delicate, and captivatingly presented _ but unmemorable, taste-wise.

Roasted pigeon with Swiss chard, hazelnuts & cinnamon. Terrifically tender and flavorsome meat, but what made this a stupendous standout was the foie gras & black truffle "ferrero rocher" _ a brilliant creation that we'd happily eat all night.

Clams "Bulhao Pato" style. A hugely popular Portuguese recipe, cooked with garlic, white wine, olive oil & cilantro. Deceptively simple, indelibly delicious.

Steak with egg yolk & roasted lettuce heart. This impeccably prepared (impeccable!) medium-rare beef with a runny, creamy yolk left us sighing with satisfaction.

Another intriguingly named dish: "On the beach, on a fire" (visually, we could see why they named it so). Basically roasted red mullet & cuttlefish with squid ink migas & liver sauce. Each mouthful was a cauldron of savory oceanic flavors.

Carla Ferreira Unipessoal, Lda. Portuguese wines? Delectable.

Tavares,

Lisbon.

Confeitaria de Belém

Portugal, Part IV: A constantly crowded cafe where Portugal's renowned egg tarts were reputedly born, nearly 200 years ago.

Customers from around the world flock here for the shop's tarts, made according to a special recipe that only three people know (that's what they claim, but of course, various versions of egg tarts are available across Portugal and other countries).

Perfectly crisp pastry with luscious, cinnamon-scented custard. Each tart is served fresh and warm, but there's never any fear that they'll turn cold. We took scarcely a few seconds to gobble up every heavenly piece.

Other sweet treats here have delicious-sounding names like 'folhado de chocolate,' 'mil fohas doce de ovo' & 'pastel de feijao.'

Even though we don't particularly have a sweet tooth, we couldn't resist these confections, so devilishly sugary and creamy.

The cafe stands beside a monastery, where many might be tempted to pray for forgiveness after committing the sin of gluttony.

Dessert wines go wonderfully with the food ...

... as do steaming-hot coffee and milk.

Antiga Confeitaria de Belem,

Rue de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal.

Confeitaria Nacional

Portugal, Part III: This bustling bakery, founded in Lisbon in 1829, has belonged to the same family for five generations. It's like a Dynasty of Dough!

We stopped here for a tea-time pastry snack to sample the "pastel de nata." Astonishing egg tarts, perfectly blending a crispy, warm feel with a creamy cinnamon flavor. Numerous notches above the mass-market versions in Malaysia.

Confeitaria Nacional,

Lisbon.

100 Maneiras

Portugal, Part II: One of Lisbon's most heavily hyped restaurants, for good reason. Service is sparkling, the setting is unpretentiously cozy and the food is impressive.

A la carte menus aren't available at this dinner-only outlet; every customer has no choice but to savor the same multi-course set, which 100 Maneiras changes each night _ reminiscent of KL's own Millesime.

Cod fish "clothes line." A playfully presented conversation-starter, comprising petite pieces of fish crackers. Crisp, very light and not oily at all.

Melon soup & foie gras bonbon. Ideal for whetting the appetite; the soup was cool and tangy, while the bonbon was a creamy, melt-in-the-mouth pleasure.

Marinated scallop with walnut oil, celery puree & truffle vinaigrette. The nuttiness of the oil was a superb foil for the smooth, fresh-tasting scallops.

Salmon tartar with elderberry flower cream, sesame pesto & pineapple mash. A luscious recipe with complicated flavors that linger long and lovingly on the tongue. Who says salmon has to be boring (even though it usually is)?

Squid ink vermicelli with baby squid. Boasted a slick brininess. Black is beautiful!

Sauteed meagre (a type of sea bass) with crushed potatoes & basil oil. A little less inspiring than the earlier courses; nothing wrong with this fish, but there was nothing revelatory in its taste and texture.

Palate-cleanser of mint & lime sorbet with champagne.

Rump cut beef with black beans, rice cake & Brazilian cabbage. Not the best cut of meat, but the alchemists in the kitchen managed to make this tender and flavorsome enough to enjoy.

Desserts comprised serra cheese ice cream with quince jelly & peach cheesecake. Forgot to upload those photos with the rest of this entry.

100 Maneiras,

Lisbon, Portugal.