éLeBê Baixa

On our first night in Porto we tried a restaurant not far from our flat called éLeBê Baixa. They had some very exciting options and everything was delicious and unusual in our experience of Portuguese food.

First, Jason ordered a port sour, which was pretty and delicious.

Alice started with a dish called The Bird’s Nest, a portobello mushroom stuffed with caramelised bacon and quail egg.

Jason got the éLeBê Salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese, nuts, tropical fruits, smoked salmon, and drizzled with a blend of red Port wine and balsamic vinegar. It was a very impressive combination of textures and flavors that somehow really worked.

My scallops with lemon and garlic were also pretty and delicious and I wish now that I had asked where they were from.

Among the mains was a dish called “Hunter’s Partridge.” I love game birds and how could I resist the one with my name on it? The meat had a wonderful flavor and the oven baked rice with it was intense and delicious, but the best part was the crispy bread soaked in the pan juices. Somehow that was the one dish that I forgot to photograph.

Perhaps I was distracted by Jason's slow-roasted young goat served with roasted potatoes and turnip greens.

Like most of the goat I've eaten, it had a lot of bones, but the flavor was rich and very tasty.

But Alice got the real showstopper: octopus tentacle with garlic, served with a baked potato stuffed with garlic mayonnaise and wild turnip greens.

It was perfectly cooked and very tender, but also very filling, and it had been a long day, so we skipped dessert and headed back to our lodgings for the night.

What a fabulous welcome to Porto!