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  • Day 25

    Rosa da Rua

    October 24, 2015 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    On one of our many jaunts through the streets of Lisbon, Roch noticed an interesting restaurant called "Rosa da Rua" on Rua da Rosa. They offer a buffet for 10€ that included several vegetarian/vegan items.

    Our first attempt to eat at Rosa da Rua on Monday got sidelined by a trip to the emergency...

    Our second attempt to eat at Rosa da Rua was on Wednesday. We arrived at the restaurant shortly before noon but it didn't open until 12:30 pm so while we waited, we poked around the many frutarias in the vicinity. We went back just shy of 12:30 only to be told that the only table that wasn't reserved was just given away to the couple ahead of us. We could take our chances and go back after 13:30 but there was no guarantee that a table would be available. We later learned that the Wednesday buffet was extremely popular because they serve traditional Portuguese dishes.

    At this point, feeling starved and defeated, we decided to go back to one of the frutarias that had a small pastry and lunch counter attached. Yes, it was a moment of weakness because we knew we were going back for the quiche we had spotted. We got there just in time because the restaurant became quickly packed with locals, standing room only, all of us leaning against the counter or one of the bars along the walls. We started with a vegetable soup made with chickpeas and spinach; it was one of the yummiest of many yummy soups in Portugal. This was followed by a slice of quiche each. No, the quiche was not vegan. It wasn't even vegetarian since it contained tuna but OMG, it was so delicious. Overall, a truly amazing and memorable dining experience. Total bill for lunch for the both of us, 5€!!! (1€ for the soup, 1.50€ for the quiche). We tried to find the name of the frutaria/pastelaria but couldn't see anything displayed so Roch snapped a photo of the street corner for reference.

    We did make it back to Rosa da Rua the next day, and yes the buffet was very good. For meat and seafood eaters, it would have been a really good value but the choices for vegans was a little limited. We did try the vegetarian spinach lasagna but instead of a traditional tomato-based lasagna, it was made with a very heavy cream - too rich for my blood. The soup, which was velvety smooth, was once again the highlight of the meal for me. (Food photos are from Rosa da Rua.)
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