Art Deco dining in Portugal by Leigh Fergus Outside of Lisbon, Portugal it can be hard to find a restaurant with an appealing menu in an attractive setting: The ever-present Formica tables, tiled walls, and harsh lighting don't do much to make you linger. In the university city of Coimbra, however, midway between Lisbon and Porto, I found the perfect eatery for an elegant long lunch or a leisurely dinner with not a neon light in sight.
| Dine in style in riverside elegance at the Amphitryon, in the Astoria Hotel, Coimbra. Photo courtesy of P.S. |
A museum piece
The Amphitryon should be listed as a national treasure. Part of Hotel Astoria on the riverfront, it is an Art Deco museum piece-except that it is in use every day. The high ceilings and tall windows give light to the otherwise wood-paneled somberness that pervades, and all the fittings are well-polished originals, right down to the cruet sets.
The menu is varied and the soups, especially the vegetable soup of the day, are a sure bet. As expected, the fish selection includes salted cod (served cold with tomatoes and coriander on a puree of chickpeas for a modern starter, or hot on a bed of spinach as a main), but extends to fresh breaded squid with dark rice, a bream fish in pastry with grilled vegetables, and shrimps in garlic. The meat options cover local black pig pork fillet, the popular regional stew (alentejano), and roast lamb, all served by attentive black-aproned waitresses with enough English and French to deal with our requests. Portions are generous, but you might be able to squeeze in a little dessert-perhaps the chocolate mousse creation, or the ethereal molotov, a caramelized version of îles flottantes? Try the wine
And don't forget to try the rare resinous Buçaco white wine here; it has enough character to accompany most of the meat dishes as well as the fish. Remember that it's hard to find exceptional wine outside of the acceptable local table wines (and difficult to spend more than 3 euro on good local wine in the countryside shops) in this part of Portugal.
Afterward, why not explore the rest of the ground floor of the hotel, with its individual writing desks (and eclectic selection of books in the reading room), faded pink armchairs, and perfect deco tables and mirrors? If you have a coffee or cocktail in the lounge area, you can admire the postcards of a bygone age.
Restaurante Amphitryon, av. Emidio Navarro 21, Coimbra; tel: +351 239-85-3020.
Starters range from 5 euro to 10 euro, mains average 15 euro ($20). IL |
