For those of you who don’t know, I am getting married at a vineyard in Portugal next Summer! And I am suggesting my guests to base in Ericeira, Portugal, a delightful seaside town right on the Atlantic Ocean, for the wedding!
The seaside town of Ericeira!
Being a popular weekend getaway for Lisboetas (people from Lisbon) and bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Ericeira has many restaurants, and they often get lost in each other, especially since there is not a lot of information on Ericeira restaurants online. In visiting Ericeira in November, I ended up settling on dining at FUNKY Restaurante & Bar – and do not really exactly why! But my meal at FUNKY was really good and offered a number of non-seafood dishes!
For reference, here is the menu.
FUNKY Restaurante & Bar is located in Ericeira proper, very close to many hotels, bars and other restaurants and totally within walking distance from anywhere in town. FUNKY has somewhat of a (what else) funky vibe and upon entering the restaurant, seems more like a coffee shop than upscale dinner restaurant. Here’s the interior:
FUNKY!
As you can see, the restaurant is quite small. I made reservations online before I left via the Fork (recommended, see below) and we arrived about 30 minutes early to our reservation – just as the staff had sat down to eat dinner together before opening the doors for the night! The staff was very nice about our early arrival and sat us at a table with water, menus and bread until the restaurant formally opened for business! Side note – the Portuguese eat dinner late by US standards and most restaurants do not even open before 7:00 or 7:30 p.m.
Couvert – bread, olives & butter
You should know that almost every self-respecting Portuguese restaurant will bring something similar to your table upon sitting down, but its not free! Its called “couvert” (aka cover) and usually costs a couple euros per person (more if the couvert is really nice, like meat). If you do not want it, you can decline to touch it or send it back – just make sure its not on your bill! I almost always accept it and it is usually quite good.
We started our meal with a 2012 red from the Douro Valley by Carm. Douro reds are some of our favorite red wines and they are available throughout Portugal, often at very inexpensive prices. Definitely try them! This particular wine is a bit more upmarket than the most inexpensive reds.
2012 Carm from the Douro.
Since we had been wedding venue shopping all day (I know, hard life!), we were very hungry and started our meal with Ajillo Shrimps (some of the translations on the English menu are a tiny bit off), or garlic shrimp! The dish was delicious and consisted of lots of small shrimp marinated in garlic, cilantro and lime. YUM! One appetizer was plenty to split between two people. The shrimp were fresh and tasted delicious. I would definitely order this again.
“Ajillo shrimps”
For mains, Dan stuck with the famous seafood and ordered the Linguini Nero di Sepia with shrimps and coriander (a surprisingly popular ingredient in Portuguese food!). At €12,00, this dish was huge!! I did not try it (I hate squid ink pasta) but Dan seemed to really enjoy it. I’m sure the shrimp were just as good as the ones in our appetizer!
Squid ink pasta.
I skipped another around of seafood and went with the “small steak with french fries, fried egg and funky sauce” at €8, 20. Let me tell you, this steak was not “small” at all. It was HUGE and could have easily fed two people! Needless to say, I could not finish it! However, it was cooked very, very well and tasted delicious! The “fries” were more like potato chips than french fries but they were even more delicious than the steak! If you are hungry, this is definitely the meal for you! The “funky sauce” was not very funky at all and almost undetectable. I definitely recommend this dish!
“small steak with fries, fried egg and funky sauce”
For dessert, because I just couldn’t skip dessert, we split the below cheesecakesque dessert, which consisted of strawberry jam, a cheese cake like substance and baked cereal! This dessert was SO SO GOOD!! While all the courses were tasty, this was THE BEST! I am still mad that I did not go back to FUNKY to get this dessert when I was back in March!
The best dessert!
STEAL OUR DINNER
FUNKY Restaurante & Bar: R. Dr. Miguel Bombarda 12A, 2655-308 Ericeira, Portugal. T: +351 261 862 148. Reservations can and should be made online (especially in Summer) via The Fork. Casual dress but no bathing suits!
ON A BUDGET
While not the most budget friendly option, FUNKY’s portions are quite large and shareable. However, there are many budget options in Ericeira – just walk down the street! One good budget option not too far from FUNKY Restaurante & Bar is Sunset Bamboo Bar. Sunset Bamboo Bar is located on one of Ericeira’s main squares, Praça da República, and servers inexpensive cocktails and these fabulously cheap sandwiches (the below is a half portion for € 3.75)!
Delicious and cheap ham & cheese panini at Sunset Bamboo Bar.
Sunset Bamboo Bar: Travessa do Jorgo da Bola, 3, 2655-297, Ericeira, Portugal. T: +351 261 864 827. Much more casual and really more of a bar than FUNKY Restaurante & Bar. Reservations not required. No dress code. Outdoor seating optional.