Tag Archives: sunvil

Portugal Please: Comporta Comfort Food at O Zé

Posted on 2014-04-23 by tikichris

One last lunch, one last chance to take in all the yummy hospitality I’d come to expect while travelling through Portugal – a stop in the seaside town of Comporta en route to the airport in Lisbon yielded one of the best meals I had during my stay in the country. With an emphasis on serving traditional dishes from Alentejo using fresh, local, sustainably sourced, and mostly organic ingredients – the family owned O Zé Restaurante Lounge pleased my palate and ensured I headed back London satisfied to be sure yet already longing to return for more festive feasting. Continue reading →

Posted in Drink, Food, Portugal, Portugal Please, Restaurants, Shopping | Tagged alentejo, Alentejo Festival of Food, coast, Comporta, Drink, Festival of Food, Festival of Food and Wine, Food, gelato, Padaria, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, road trip, seafood, Shopping, sunvil, Sunvil Festival of Food, Traditional Alentejan Bakery, traditional alentejan restaurant, traditional alentejan seafod, Travel, travel blog, whisky | 1 Comment

Portugal Please: Padaria Joana Roque, Traditional Alentejo Bakery

Posted on 2014-04-22 by tikichris

Instant Grandma! That’s what I got my final morning of my Portugal Please road trip when I dropped by the a traditional home bakery in the village of Vidigueira where Joana Roque’s been baking the same bread in the same method for more than 40 years. Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Portugal, Portugal Please, Shopping, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged alentejo, Alentejo Festival of Food, bakery, Bakery Joana Roque, Bakery Padaria Joana Roque, baking, beja, bread, crème brûlée, Drink, Festival of Food, Festival of Food and Wine, Food, Gracinda Palma, Joana Roque, Padaria, Padaria Joana Roque, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, road trip, Shopping, sunvil, Sunvil Festival of Food, Traditional Alentejan Bakery, Travel, travel blog, Vidigueira, wood fired oven | 2 Comments

Portugal Please: Herdade da Malhadinha Nova

Posted on 2014-04-21 by tikichris

My Portuguese adventure coming to a close, I was left with only one more night to savour before flying back to Blighty. Good thing my last night was in an absolutely fantastic setting! Otherwise, I might have started to doubt for a second the hospitality show to me throughout this lovely little country as well as the foodie expertise that’d gone into the execution of my Festival of Food itinerary. As the trip unfolded though, I never once questioned the restorative benefits of my adeptly planned week-long ramble through Portugal. Indeed, I arrived back home eager to share the stories of my time abroad. The story I’m sharing today is one of a luxury homestead that’s an easily recommendable destination: Herdade da Malhadinha Nova. Continue reading →

Posted in Drink, Food, Hotels, Luxury, Portugal, Portugal Please, Restaurants, Travel, Wine | Tagged alentejo, Alentejo Festival of Food, beja, Chef Joaquin Koerper, crème brûlée, Drink, farm, Festival of Food, Festival of Food and Wine, Food, Herdade da Malhadinha, Herdade da Malhadinha Nova, hotel, Hotel Flor da Rosa, Hotel Pousada Flor da Rosa, hotels, Joaquin Koerper, luxury, Malhadinha, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, portuguese wine, pumpkin ice cream, quinto, red wine, restaurants, road trip, Shopping, sunvil, Sunvil Festival of Food, Travel, travel blog, vineyard, wine, winery | 2 Comments

Portugal Please: Evocative Evora

Posted on 2014-04-20 by tikichris

Leaving the Almojanda farm, I hit the open road for an afternoon in UNESCO World Heritage city of Evora. The hour and a half drive was pure scenic joy. I’d been to Evora before years ago and getting to go back there was a treat – and something I’d be happy to repeat several times over. Indeed, when talking with the Sunvil folks about the design of my Festival of Food itinerary I specified that I was especially keen to stop in Evora. Continue reading →

Posted in Drink, Food, Portugal Please, Portugal Pleases, Restaurants, Travel, Wine | Tagged alentejo, Alentejo Festival of Food, alentejo food, Capela dos Ossos, evora, Evora chapel of bones, evroa, Festival of Food, Festival of Food and Wine, Fialho, Food, O Fialho, ossuary, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, red wine, road trip, sunvil, Sunvil Festival of Food, Travel, travel blog, UNESCO, unesco world heritage site, wine | 1 Comment

Portugal Please: Delicious Diterra and Tasty Terrius

Posted on 2014-04-19 by tikichris

Another day, another delicious opportunity to have a taste of the Festival of Food offerings in the Alentejo. Before leaving the Portalegre area, I spent my morning at the family-run Almojanda farm sampling a variety of products from its own Diterra range (under the brands of Almojanda and Fadista) as well as items from Terrius, another food producer from up the road about 20 kilometres in Marvão. Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Portugal, Portugal Please, Shopping, Travel | Tagged alentejo, Alentejo Festival of Food, alentejo food, almo janda, Almojanda, crato, diterra, Fadista, farm, farm shop, Festival of Food, Festival of Food and Wine, Food, marvao, mustard, olive oil, olive pate, OLIVES, pepper mustard, portalegre, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, road trip, Shopping, sunvil, Sunvil Festival of Food, Teresa Mendes, terrius, Travel, travel blog, wine | 2 Comments

Portugal Please: Eggs-cellent Time in Portalegre

Posted on 2014-04-19 by tikichris

Next on my Portugal Please road trip itinerary was the southern and sunny region of Alentejo where the appetising promise to “road test” the new Festival of Food offering from British tour operator, Sunvil, lay ahead. First stop in this gorgeous land of cork farms and vineyards … of ancient Moorish ramparts and prim churches hiding grandiose interiors … was the hilltop border town of Portalgre where I arrived just in time to attend the annual and eggy Feira de Doçaria Conventual for a taste of traditional sweets from the region and more. Continue reading →

Posted in Drink, Easter, Food, Hotels, Luxury, Portugal, Portugal Please, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel, Wine | Tagged alentejo, Alentejo Festival of Food, baroque, crato, custard, Drink, easter, Feira de Doçaria Conventua, Festival of Food, Festival of Food and Wine, Flor da Rosa, Food, Hospitallers, hotel, Hotel Flor da Rosa, Hotel Pousada Flor da Rosa, hotels, luxury, Order of Malta, portalegre, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, portuguese wine, pousada, Pousada Flor da Rosa, restaurants, road trip, Shopping, sunvil, Sunvil Festival of Food, Travel, travel blog, wine | 1 Comment

Portugal Please: Coimbra

Posted on 2014-04-18 by tikichris

Capital of Portugal during the Middle Ages with a historic UNESCO World Heritage Site university established in 1290 (making it the fifth oldest in the world), Coimbra is a city steeped in age old tradition yet imbued with a youthful spirit. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Drink, Food, Graffiti, Hotels, Luxury, Portugal, Portugal Please, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel, Wine | Tagged Amália Rodrigues, Art, bar, baroque, Biblioteca Joanina, Café Santa Cruz, centro, centro de portugal, centrol, coimbra, Dão wine, Drink, fangas, Fangas Mercearia, Fangas Mercearia Bar, Food, Graffiti, hotel, Hotel Quinta das Lágrimas, hotels, library, luxury, Mercearia, pedro and ines, petiscos, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, portuguese wine, Quinta das Lágrimas, red wine, restaurants, Shopping, street art, sunvil, tapas, Travel, travel blog, UNESCO, unesco world heritage site, University of Coimbra, wine | 1 Comment

Portugal Please: Suckling Pig Paradise, Bairrada

Posted on 2014-04-18 by tikichris

From Aveiro, I drove south to the town of Mealhada for a meal that had me squealing with piggy delight. Mealhada and its region of Bairrada (still within the greater region of Centro) seem to be the suckling pig capital of the world, where the main drag through town is lined with restaurant after restaurant boasting leitão à Bairrada (as suckling pig is called there). For my feast, I paid a visit to one of the most popular and best established eateries, the rather prosaically named Restaurante Típico da Bairrada. Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Drink, Food, Portugal, Portugal Please, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel, Wine | Tagged Bairrada, Bairrada wine, Casa de Santar Reserva, centro, centro de portugal, centrol, Dão, Dão Sul, Dão wine, design, Drink, Encontro 1, Food, Global Wines, Global Wines/Dão Sul, hotel, Leitão, Leitão à Bairrada, mealhada, pork, portugal, Portugal Please, PORTUGUESE FOOD, portuguese wine, QdoE, Quinta, Quinta do Encontro, red wine, Restaurante Típico da Bairrada, restaurants, Shopping, sparkling red wine, sparkling wine, suckling pig, sunvil, Travel, travel blog, wine, winery | 4 Comments

Portugal Please: Charming and Cheeky Aveiro

Posted on 2014-04-17 by tikichris

Know as the “Venice of Portugal,” Aveiro is an attractive little coastal canal-crossed town in the Centro region of Portugal. I spent a couple of days in this part of the country, marvelling at how awesome the region was yet how largely undiscovered by tourists it seemed to be. Pretty, walkable and full of lovely shops, bars and restaurants, Aveiro was a particularly fine place for my introduction to the area. Continue reading →