Black Mamba

On Monday, many establishments were still closed but Tuesday, everything was open. Porto was like a new city.

We decided to go to the market today. Yesterday's trek to Mercado Ferreira Borges proved fruitless since it's no longer a farmer's market. The Mercado had been converted to a cultural centre of sorts and we enjoyed an interesting photo exhibit but no fruits.

Today, we walked up to Mercado do Bolhao but found it rather disappointing. It had none of the typical hustle and bustle that we love about a market and frankly, the prices were quite high. We left the market with just a small cherimoya for 1.30 euro.

For lunch, we went to "Black Mamba - Burgers & Records", a totally vegan burger joint that also sells vinyl records. I had read some reviews where people were put off by the hard metal/punk rock music that the restaurant plays but we found the music was not very loud and as a result, not very intrusive.

We both decided to order the "666" burgers. The patties were made with potatoes and leek and they came topped with lettuce, tomato and a slice of vegan cheese. I was even able to get a gluten-free sesame seed bun for an extra 1.50€. The burgers were scrumptious and the pan fries were perfectly seasoned and nice and crispy. 4€ for a burger, 2€ for pan fries, 1.50€ for a beer for Roch.

As much as we were tempted to order a crumble or brownie for dessert, we wisely left and bought some figs from the little grocer down the street instead. We got about 20 oh-so-sweet green figs for 1.30 euro. We stopped at another fruit stand on the way home and bought 6 beautifully ripe persimmons for just over 3 euros. Add in some bananas, some white peaches and we had a feast for dinner.Read more