[Review] Perola Do Atlantico Snack Bar in Eastbourne

Perola Do Atlantico Snack Bar is located on Cavendish Place where the street used to thrive in the 1970s.

Decided to try it after going to Cavendish bakery.

I hadn't a clue what they served so just went anyway.

Upon entering I realized it was Portuguese and specifically from a town Madeira which makes sense as a few of my Eastbourne school friends are from Madeira.

The menu is in Portuguese so I had difficulty trying to suss out what to eat so just had tea and a Portuguese tart.

In the cabinet were other delicious treats such as coxinha de frango etc.

I never thought I would be having a Portuguese tart but the one here was so damn good compared to the oily crap in Hong Kong which are probably Hongkongized.

The one here served cold had a lovely thick custard filling with a sweetness that went well with the tea.

Definitely coming back for soup.

Perola Do Atlantico Snack Bar:

102 Cavendish Place

Eastbourne

[Review] Nandos in Eastbourne

Nandos has been in UK since 1992.
Although they serve Portuguese food, this big chain originates from South Africa.
They started off in West London as a takeaway and began to pop up as a restaurant everywhere in 2013.
You can now find Nandos in most modern gentrified malls, even at old fashioned Eastbourne which got a makeover.

Decided to try the Eastbourne branch so I could compare it to London.
Went there on a weekend evening around 7 before the dinner rush.
Ordered and waited for the food to arrive.

The wait was forever compared to London.
We could see lot of meals were ready at the counter but no one had time or were too busy to bring them over to the diners.
Apart from the wait, food was good with the usual choice of sauces at the bar.

The menu offers more healthy choices than before like vegetables and vegan milk.
For children they also offer Chilly Billy lollies as a dessert treat on the kids menu.

New Summer dishes at [Casa Lisboa Gastronomia Portuguesa]

It has been a while since I have been to Casa Lisboa.
Since my last visit, Casa Lisboa has relocated to Wyndham Street.

We had the new Summer menu that night and every dish was flawless.

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First was the [Cozido Soup], which is a popular soup that you will find in every Portuguese home. Just like Chinese soup, you will find lots of meat and vegetables which are eaten as well.
The chef has modernized it by wrapping the meat inside the cabbage parcel.
I really enjoyed the soup as it was smokey with the  saltiness from the salami.

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The next dish was the [Vegagna] which was a vegetable lasagna made with layers of courgettes filled with tomato and aubergine. It had a nice hint of cumin which gave it a Mediterranean twist.

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The [Bone Marrow] is definitely recommended because it is so different to the ones I have had.
There were lots of herbs in it and it tasted like Christmas Stuffing that goes with the Turkey.
Although it came with crispy slices, it tasted good with the bread on the table.

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[Guinea Fowl Cabidela]
Traditionally, this dish is made with chicken blood but it has been modified with beer and morel mushrooms for a healthier approach.
The risotto was definitely delicious infused with flavours from the beer and morel mushrooms but being adventurous I would still love to try the recipe with chicken blood.

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[Iberico Pork Chop with Apple Sauce]
Pork and apples always go well together in any cuisine so this dish was popular with all the guests.

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[Short Ribs with Alheira Migas]
The ribs were visually flawless as you can see how lean and moist it was that it doesn't need much explanation.
The side of Alheira Migas was also the star of the show as it was beans with kale.

I found it really comforting because it tasted similar Mexican refried beans.

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[Mango and Passion Fruit Burrata] 

Finished with the burrata which looked like burrata!
It was fluffy sweet cream cheese shaped like a burrata drizzled in mango and passion fruit sauce.

Overall, I was impressed with meat dishes that they serve especially the ribs and risotto.

[Casa Lisboa Gastronomia Portuguesa]

2/F Parekh House,

63 Wyndham Street,

Central

Portuguese food and wine pairing at [Mike’s Chicken Comida de Portugal Restaurant]

Recently went to a Portuguese food and wine pairing event at Mike's Chicken Comida de Portugal where they have this exclusive Lagrima White Port which is fragrant and sweet with a gorgeous caramel colour.

Lagrima White Port HK$580.00/Bottle or HK$65.00/Glass

Started off with this MC Dream cocktail (HK$280.00/Jar  HK$68.00/Glass) which was light and sweet.

It was a great drink to start with, fun and not too strong with the starters.

Bolinhos de Bacalhau:

Baby Sardines:

The Traditional Portuguese Grilled Chorizo (HK$180.00/Whole  HK$90.00/ Half) were really strong and smokey so when the Lagrima White Port was cooked with the Choriza the sweet and woody flavours went well with the saltiness of the Chorizo.

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Next was the Sea Bass San Antonio which was silky and flakey.

It paired nicely with Quinta do Carmo 2014 White Wine because of the natural acidity that gives it a unique freshness.

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The next course was Mozambique Prawns with Garlic Bread paired with Baco Harvest Rose Vinho.
The rose gold colour of the wine and golden prawn were colourfully matched.

 With Baco Harvest Rose Vinho HK$380/Bottle  HK$85.00/Glass

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The last course was Portuguese Striploin with Herb Butter Sauce HK$325.00 which always calls for red wine with red meat hence the pairing With LBV Vintage Port 2010.

With LBV Vintage Port 2010 HK$580/Bottle   HK$125/Glass

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As well as fine food paired with wine, the MC Summer Tea Set with Coffee or Tea at $198.00 is a good way to sample their Bacalhaus and prawn with chocolate sauce in the afternoon.

On the bottom plate, we have the sweet treats.

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I liked the Macanese Pork Chop Bun which is a classic, especially the crisp bun with a soft and chewy centre

The new Apple / Pear Salad Roll is great for summer and vegetarians with salad leaves and sweet pear slices in a wrap.

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Dessert was a delight especially the White Port Ice Cream infused with fragrant White Port.
The ingredients are simply condensed milk, cream and White Port so I am going to try making this at home one day!

White Port Ice Cream  HK$68.00

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The White Wine Poached Pear in Chocolate Sauce was another wine inspired dessert but personally I liked the ice cream because of the creaminess.

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Mike’s Chicken Comida de Portugal Restaurant 葡匯咪走雞葡國餐廳
Shop 167 , L1 Mira Place Two, 118-130 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui,
地址: 九龍尖沙咀彌敦道118-130號美麗華廣場二期1樓167號舖
Tel: (852) 2392 3328
Opening Hours: 12:00 – 23:00

Pick your cuisine of fancy at Mezza9 Macau

At Mezza 9, they have a good variety of cuisines which are cooked in different counters.
That night we had Portuguese cuisine headed by Chef Ricardo and sat on the corner with a lovely view of the pool.


The staffs were friendly and spoke really good English.

Here was what we had:
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Portuguese platter:

We started with the Portuguese platter which was great for sharing.
There was Alavao cheese, Portuguese sausage, salad, ham and melon, bruschetta with salsa, crab cake and bacalhau.
My favourite was the strong tasting cheese, crab cakes and bacalhau.
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Codfish, green pea cream, tomatoes, confit garlics:

This was my favourite because the codfish was firm and flaky with a nice saltiness paired with thick green pea cream.
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Roasted baby chicken, tomatoes, bacon, oregano:

The roast chicken looks different and not the typical roast chicken because it is chopped up and surrounded in delicious vegetables and herbs sauce.
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Pork neck, clams, bell pepper paste:

In the pot were chunky pieces of pork and clams.
The clams were sweet and springy.
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Portuguese style pan fried USA beef sirloin, coffee sauce:

The beef sirloin was meaty which went well with the buttery coffee sauce that had a hint of bitterness.
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Charcoal grilled sea bass, traditional portuguese butter sauce:

Compared to the bacalhau, the sea bass had a softer texture with a nice buttery taste.
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Portuguese green soup:

The green pea soup was very creamy with a nice grassy bean taste which resembles a mix of snow peas and peas.
It is nice to come across a green pea soup that tastes quite different to the usual green pea soup.
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Portuguese pork sausages, fried egg, french fries:

The pork sausages were a surprise because they are made from mashed potatoes with pieces of meat shaped into a big burger patty topped with a fried egg.
The chips were nice and crispy and the runny egg yolk was just perfect when it was mixed into the sausage.
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I will have to come here again and try their other cuisines.

Address:

Mezza9 Macau
Estrada do Istmo e da Universidade de Ciencia e Tecnologia de Macau, 4 Andar (piso L03) do Hotel "Grand Hyatt Macau", COTAI ("City of Dreams"), Macau

[Casa Lisboa Portuguese Restaurant & Bar] Goose barnacles delight

Having been impressed on the first visit, I knew the food was going to be good again.

The stars of the show were goose barnacles, which are prized and rare. I know you can get them in Hong Kong once in a blue moon but Chinese restaurants probably don’t clean them as thoroughly as they should.

We first started off with this new seafood platter with seafood flown from Portugal followed by other Portuguese dishes.
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Portuguese seafood Platter:
The seafood platter comes with a bottle of wine for $1980 that is sufficient for four people.

There were:
Portuguese Small tiger shrimps
Portuguese White shrimps
Portuguese Giant red prawns
Portuguese scampi
Portuguese spider crabs
Portuguese goose barnacles

It was really good because I liked all of them especially the small tiger shrimps, Griant red prawns and the goose barnacles, but personally I would prefer them without the seasoning because they are fresh and the seasoning was a bit too overpowering.

The goose barnacles look weird like dog paws and armadillo feet.

I didn't know how to eat them at first but you peel off the layer above the shell and bite the long tubular bit off.

Basically I loved them because they taste like sweet blood cockles without the metallic taste and they are clean since 100% of the flesh is encased inside that armadillo skin membrane so there is no sand and you are less likely to get food poisoning like you do from cockles.

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Stuffed portobello mushroom with spinach and bechamel:
Next we had the portobello mushroom which was juicy stuffed with creamy spinach.

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Mixed vegetable tempura with mustard sauce:


I thought it was weird there was Japanese tempura on the menu but the Chef said it was Portuguese.
Anyway, being curious I also googled it and it really is Portuguese.
It was crispy thin slices of Carrot, aubergine and zucchini which were indeed good in simple batter.
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sauteed baby squids in casa liboa style:


The baby squids were quite nice because you can taste the freshness but they are slightly spicy which makes them appetizing.
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Pan-seared red mullet fillet with shrimp and clam rice:
I love rice and each grain of rice was tasty because it has absorbed the sauce which gives it a nice savory taste.

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Baked salted bacalhau with corn crumble and spinach and rustic potatoes:
It looked like an apple crumble so you can think of it as a fish crumble with potato chunks at the bottom topped with delicious chunks of salted bacalhau that are firm but flakey.

 
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Lamb rack with herbs and rustic potatoes:
I was quite full so I didn't really try.

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Pineapple carpaccio Madeira way with lemon sorbet:
For dessert we had pineapple carpaccio which was refreshingly paired with tart sorbet.

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Chocolate and vanilla slice:



This was a nice dessert, i liked the chocolate fondant on top and the vanilla filling in the middle.
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[Casa Lisboa Portuguese Restaurant & Bar ]
2/F, Parekh House, 63 Wyndham Street, Central

https://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/review/prized-goose-barnacles-e2510970