O Velho e o Mar at Sesimbra Beach, Portugal

tytania
Sat, 25 Jul 2015 14:13:44 +0000
Lisbon, Restaurant Reviews, fishing village lisbon, Ovelhoeomar, sesimbra, sesimbra beach, sesimbra fish restaurant, sesimbra restaurants

Sesimbra is a beautiful little fishing village about an hour outside Lisbon. I highly recommend it for some simple beaches, excellent fresh seafood, and low key charm. There are only local tourists for the most part, and you get a real sense of a coastal beach town in Portugal. The rolling mountainous hills and ancient church perched high in the village add beauty and history to an otherwise normal beach weekend. All the food is good here, if you like seafood that is, as it is simply caught and prepared. But I chose to write about this restaurant in particular because it tends to have the most interesting variety of seafood…I think this place is considered sort of “the” nice restaurant in Sesimbra, and although it has the Portuguese style obligatory TV blaring sports in the background, you will mostly find smartly dressed couples and families enjoying a first class style pesceria. There are lots of fresh fish to choose from, showcased liberally in a little glass window as you walk in, and these are all sold by weight and paired with traditional style potatoes and the traditional style (really overcooked) vegetables. This place also has the usual Portuguese “amuse bouche” offer, but they mix things up and send out a bowl of incredibly fresh and fragrant bright pink prawns that taste of the ocean they were just caught in.

On this particular visit, I tried the lapas, as they are particular to Portugal and probably caught locally. They are funny little things, lapas, fascinating in their weirdness. They taste at once like a mussel and yet almost like an oyster, its package like a moss covered oyster shell. Very fresh here and a must try.

There is also an amazing sepia dish that is cooked in its own ink and sliced in thick rings. It has a fresh mineraliness that sounds terrifying perhaps, but it has a certain kind of umami to it.

Stay away from the seafood salad which is served “a la Miami Vice” in a carved out half pineapple with chunks of it’s insides cubed and paired with very standard tasting (questionably actually frozen?) shelled prawns. It’s a bit of an 80s party on a plate and unless you like kitschy food, avoid.

We also ordered some of these prehistoric crab prawn things that were not only interesting but incredibly good- tasting just like a mix of prawn and crab and maybe crayfish. Soft, firm, and delicate. Ours were pregnant, so there was this beautiful bright orange row, reminiscent of the Japanese “tobiko”, that sort of popped in your mouth with the meat.

Everything is served with a simple mayonnaise and some lemon, which is really all one needs when eating seafood this fresh. Anything more would be overdone.This place is great for trying very different seafoods you don’t normally see. I think that is what it does best. I had a look at what the Portuguese tourists were eating and it was all sort of standard baked cod with potatoes- so they do this too.

The staff is also, lets say, despondent and overworked, so your order is in spurts and its very difficult to get it all in without resorting to the waving arms technique. This place is awesome for the local seafood/fish experience and don’t be afraid order the exotic. But also don’t expect gourmet cooking or service, its just not what they do, even though I think it strives for it.