Text José Silva | Translation Bruno Ferreira

Porto city continues its epic journey in tourism development, having more and more visitors coming from all over the world to this Invicta (undefeated) city that welcomes them with arms wide open. A city that has been shaping, evolving, modernizing, and equipping itself with quality infrastructures. The transport network is broad with new generation buses – many gas-powered and some already with electrical testing. But it’s its ultra-modern subway system that it is a reference, with the development of some Portuguese engineering innovative systems which the tourists use with great ease and help make this city a true European city.

But this city also knows how to keep and preserve its many traditions, some of them secular even. Like the historical centre of the city, proclaimed as a World Heritage Site in 1996, or the Porto wine tradition that has as main institutions Feitoria dos Ingleses, I.V.D.P. and Confraria do Vinho do Porto, or the dish that is part of the city, Tripas à Moda do Porto, celebrating this year 600 years of existence and tradition and which are enjoyed nowadays just like back then.

The gastronomy also has a huge weight in Porto, since its inhabitants like to enjoy good food as well as sharing it with whomever visits them. Therefore, on pace with the city’s modernization and evolution more and more restaurants are opening, with a broad choice, between tradition and evolution. This is more visible in the old areas of the city which have been being recuperated and where the city is better portrayed, its granite, its light, its aromas.

One of those restaurants that recently opened is “Cozinha dos Lóios”, in reference to Largo dos Lóios, next to it. This initiative is work of man from a completely different business area, engineering, but a man that has always been passionate by cuisine, that dedicated himself to self-learning it. Then, he felt it was the time to fully dedicate himself to it. If he thought it good, better he did it and found a space that pleased him. It wasn’t hard to choose this already existing space at the junction of Rua dos Caldeiros and Rua das Flores.

He made some improvements which resulted into a restaurant of two different spaces: a street leveled room with granite on the walls, thick wooden bars on the ceiling and slatted wood on the floor. The other room, below the ground, in the basement, has granite not only on the walls but also on the floor. Has a nice cellaret at the back, transpiring the good wine choice of that house.

Upstairs there’s tall tables with comfy benches and plenty of room light. Downstairs there’s normal tables with chairs also quite comfy, and a smoother lighting providing a more romantic and intimate ambient. In both cases the tables are simply set but what’s on top of it has great quality, starting by the glasses. The service is in charge of young but competent people, attentive, thoughtful, and flawless. The owner, also the cook, goes back and forth between the kitchen and the room, hearing the costumers requests, explaining, hearing the opinions, clearly has pleasure on what he’s doing which is to serve well using the best products.

For this meal, I started with some really thin toasts, crispy, aromatic herbs’ butter and a glass of Mailly Grand Cru’s champagne, superb, at the right temperature, creamy, excellent acidity, and straw’s dry notes and toasted bread, as fresh as it gets.

Followed by a tasting of Lóios’s toasts, small toasts with several delicacies on top of them, varying.

Then a curious and tasteful pork hand carpaccio, well-seasoned, followed by wild mushrooms’ carpaccio, well-sliced, with some black chanterelle in the midst, olive oil and lime zest, an outstanding dish, delicious.

Also, sauteed almonds and an elegant and creamy scallops’ salad with coriander.

To finish off the delicacies, I had salmon with lentils in flavored toast.

The fish dish was a fillet of gilt-head bream colored with roasted vegetables, smooth, tasty, amazing.

The meat dish was ribs with mashed potatoes – simple, tender and tasty meat, the mashed potatoes were soft and savory.

Along with the explanations of Chef Miguel, I tasted two desserts, both were delicious though completely different: an infusion of red fruits with vanilla ice cream, original, the red fruits’ fine acidity contrasting with the ice cream’s creaminess, and a turron flan, very good, well connected, sweet, unctuous, excellent. Pairing the desserts was a Moscatel de Setúbal Alambre 20 years, superb, intense dried fruit hints, dry, good acidity in the mouth, persistent yet elegant, a fine wine.

During the meal, and after the champagne, I drank Quinta dos Poços Grande Reserva 2011, a wine of great class, quite elegant in the nose, somewhat floral, fresh and hints of ripe red fruits. In the mouth it showed secure, intense, with good acidity, bulky yet elegant, raspberries notes, some vanilla and tobacco, a persistent and long finish.

Contacts
Restaurante Cozinha dos Loios
Rua dos Caldeireiros 28-30
4050 137 PORTO
Mobile: (+351) 935 198 717
Facebook: cozinhadosloios.pt