Cervejaria Luzmar, Cascais

I went travelling from 18 Nov – 18 Dec. I’m now blogging about some of the places I went to… posts are not written in chronological order.

One of the best meals we had on this trip was at Cervejaria Luzmar, situated in sunny Cascais – a short distance away from Lisboa, Portugal.

It was indeed a fantastic meal.

This place was red, neat and so inviting. It also did not have the annoying waiters standing outside shoving menus in our faces (the reason we did not step into the other restaurants nearby).

We felt welcome from the moment we stepped in. The service was flawless, delivered with smiles and finesse. The menu was extensive and delicious… it was so hard to pick what to order! In the end, we settled for one platter of grilled fish and squid and vegetables to share, and some shellfish soup.

We were served baskets of bread, cheese and olives before our meal came. (Here is where we learned the Europe Bread Lesson the hard way: if you eat the bread, you pay.)

The waiter taught us how to eat this unique cheese – slice it into wedges, spread it on bread with salt and pepper, and eat. Oh my word, I am not the type to eat blocks of cheese in one sitting – but I really couldn’t resist this. I ate my entire pudding of cheese with much delight. Tender, beautiful and nicely complemented by the salt and pepper.

They were SO generous with the bread… (ok, I am not resentful about the price of this meal, I am not!) The bread was good. We ate most of the three baskets they served us – both the fresh and toasted varieties were perfect.

While waiting for our food to arrive, I looked behind me and took in the sight of the fresh seafood with a big smile on my face. Yum!

The shellfish soup tasted of the sea, and of love. That is all I can say.

We eagerly tucked into our grilled and salted fish and squid, and softly cooked vegetables. It is impossible to describe the meal in terms of taste – it seemed to be sweet, salty, sour and bitter all at once, coating the tongue like a well-made carpet. The seafood was impeccable, mostly because it was so fresh and salted just enough to bring out its freshness. Also, I didn’t see the chefs, but I think they are happy people… such is the food that happy people produce.

In short, this meal emptied our lunch pockets and filled our hearts. We were all quite surprised when we saw the bill. 112 Euros for one main platter, one bowl of soup – and the extras we did not know we would be charged so much for.

We stumbled into the sunshine after lunch, and eventually forgot about the bill (well, until now) as we continued to discover the joys of Portugal…

Cervejaria Luzmar – Avenida Marginal, 48, Cascais 2750-427 – Phone: +351 21 484 5704