Everything Mega-Chef Vitor Sobral does is about taking rich Portuguese flavors and transforming them into modern tastes and textures. His current stage for displaying his talents is Tasca da Esquina, a small, but very popular, corner cafe in Lisbon.
Old Portuguese taverns (or tascas) are known for serving up traditional “comfort food”. For Tasca da Esquina, Sobral renovates an old corner space in a building in the Campo de Ourique area, creating a sparkling fresh restaurant, while maintaining the essence and soul of old tascas.
In true tasca form, the menu is a long list of petiscos (Portuguese tapas). Every dish seems absolutely tantalizing, so Portugal Confidential recommends dining with friends and sharing as many dishes as possible. A sample selection includes:
Quail with cherries
Mackerel in pomegranate marinade
Sautéed squid with mushrooms
Pastry of bull’s tail
Chicken liver with pickled pear
Warm cockle salad with tomato and quince cream, and salmon caviar
Crispy shrimp with ginger jelly
Codfish with bacon, and sweet potato and tangerine cream
Or, if you can’t decide, just ask for the “In the Hands of the Chef” menu. You’ll be surprised and pleased with every dish delivered from the kitchen.
To complement each course or dish, Tasca offers a fine selection of national and international wines. And, as with their petiscos tasting menus, wines can be poured by the glass….which further enhances your tour of Portuguese tastes.
Sobral was raised in the Alentejo region, the farm land between Lisbon and the Algarve in the south. His earliest memories of flavors from here are combined with modern cooking techniques to create cuisine that is embraced by critics and foodies around the world. Toss in some seasonings discovered in Brazil and other former Portuguese colonies, and Sobral offers a pure Luso dining experience. In fact, in 2006, he was decorated by the President of the Republic of Portugal with the Office of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator for his work in promoting Portuguese cuisine and Portuguese food products abroad.
Tasca da Esquina is very popular, but only seats 40 people. Reservations are highly recommended. For more information visit the Tasca da Esquina website. To learn more about Chef Vitor Sobral click here.
Tasca da Esquina
Rua Domingos Sequeira, 41C
Campo de Ourique
1350-119 Lisboa
Phone: +351 919 837 255
Phone: +351 210 993 939
Email: info@tascadaesquina.com
Hours:
Daily – 12:30 to 15:30 and 19:30 to 23:30