A glorious three-hour Portuguese meal on a warm Portuguese night with Dave (@wellhong) and Mirian at A Charcutaria, a highly recommended local restaurant. We started with some delicious beans and chorizo and a chorizo and quail egg open faced sandwich; the chorizo was excellent. For a main course I had bacalhao (a salted cod local specialty) con natas -- shredded and cooked with cream into a big block of heavy deliciousness. (We were drinking some delicious house wine the entire time.) We also had migas (a pork dish) and clams in a savory sauce as appetizers. Pudding and an espresso finished off the meal.

It was an epic meal. We sat and talked for hours; we were the first there and the last out. The restaurant looked out on a lower street and we listened to all the noise of Lisbon at night as we ate. The restaurant staff were very friendly, even the lady Dave accidentally menaced with tae kwon do in the darkened basement thinking she was Mirian coming down to the bathroom. (Hilarity ensued.) Afterward, we wandered around the Bairro Alto area, which was like a carnival of narrow streets filled with bars under apartments (imagine living there), artisan shops, and people enjoying themselves. After a drink and some shopping, we walked back down to the hotel and retired for the night to some German TV (German Borat turns out to be just as funny).