As you may know, Dan and I have spent a lot of time in Portugal, including getting married there in 2017! We tried a fantastic and inexpensive seafood tasting menu on our last trip, and it was one of our best finds yet! Yes, I’m talking about A Taberna do Mar or, in English, The Sea Tavern. It really just sounds much better in Portuguese. This is my review of Taberna do Mar!

A Taberna do Mar is a tiiiiiiny restaurant in Graça are of Lisbon (think Alfama). The chef, Filipe Rodrigues, learned to cook from family in the Algarve and has worked at a number of Japanese restaurants in Lisbon. As a result, A Taberna do Mar offers a small menu of local seafood prepared in a cross between Portuguese and Japanese technique. The menu changes regularly, but often features similar things, and offers ordering a la carte and a tasting menu. The tasting menu was only 25 euro per person during our visit (yes, you read that correctly!) so we opted for that! Everything was fantastic, but the menu is almost exclusively seafood, FYI for non-seafood eaters.

Our tasting menu turned out to be 14 courses – ten savory seafood dishes, two sweet seafood dishes (!!), and two sweet desserts without seafood! This was an interesting treat for me, as I am not a huge seafood person. I left very much enjoying my dinner and I would absolutely return. Highly recommend for seafood lovers and adventrous eaters!

COURSE 1: SMOKED TORTILLA, LUPINI BEANS, MINT

The first course was somewhat surprising, and it reminded me more of a Mexican dish than Portuguese or Japanese – it was a smoked tortilla dusted with squid ink powder and a light green hummus made from lupini beans, which are Portuguese beans very popular in Portuguese cuisine. They are also delicious. I found this dish quite good; much more hummus-y than seafood-y. Course 1 – excellent!

COURSE 2: PORK DUMPLINGS, FISH, KIMCHI CABBAGE

The next course was one of the only real non-seafood dishes – a dumpling filled with pork meat, served with a tiny bit of kimchi cabbage and, according to the menu, fish. I very much enjoyed this dish, although I couldn’t place the fish anywhere. The dipping sauce was reminiscent of soy sauce, and the dumpling had a great Asian flair. I couldn’t taste the fish at all (which I was fine with!).

COURSE 3: STEAMED HORSE MACKEREL  WITH BOILED POTATOES

The third course was one I was a bit scared off…steamed horse mackerel set atop boiled potatoes (a very Portuguese dish) and drizzled in olive oil. Horse mackerel turned out to be much less scary than the name, and quite a bit smaller, LOL. The potatoes were, obviously, great, and the horse mackerel was actually pretty tasty. Luckily it was only a bite – but there was more to come!

COURSE 4: HOME DRIED TUNA CURED IN OLIVE OIL

The next dish was much more familiar than it looks – dried tuna in olive oil served with Portuguese bread. Honestly, this was not too crazy and tasted great atop the bread with olive oil. I am a big tuna fan so this was not surprising. I would definitely order this again!

COURSE FIVE: HORSE MACKEREL PORTUGUESE CEVICHE 

Course five was certainly the most beautiful dish of the evening, being served on a clear fish platter and topped with edible flowers. The food on display was more horse mackerel, this time done in a ceviche style (rather than steamed). I certainly preferred the ceviche style to the steamed mackerel – it really tasted like a normal ceviche. Very tasty!

COURSE SIX: HORSE MACKEREL SOUP WITH CRUMBS AND CORIANDER

The following course was, yet again, horse mackerel – the chef seems to love horse mackerel at A Taberna do Mar! This dish, however, was incredible, and most certainly my favorite of the evening. This dish was served in a shot glass style served and prepared similar to a bisque soup. It was not “fishy” at all and I would totally order this again. It was reminiscent of a cuttlefish carpaccio that I had at 100 Manerias yeeeeaaars ago! Fabulous.

COURSE SEVEN: XARÉM, CUTTLEFISH, COCKLES & SCALLION

The star of the next course, our seventh, was xarém, or Portuguese cornmeal. This cornmeal was topped with cuttlefish, cockles, a popular seafood in Portuguese, and a soyish sauce heavy on the scallions. This dish was quite good. I enjoyed trying the xarém.

COURSE EIGHT: SARDINE TOAST IN LIMON AND PICKLE WITH OLIVE OIL

The eighth course of our evening was familiar – thinly toasted bread slathered in olive oil topped with Portuguese sardines. Very sardiney, but very tasty. The olive oil was high quality. I enjoyed this one, even though I am not a huge sardine fan (I know, don’t come for me!).

COURSE NINE: CODFISH “CABIDELA”

Our second to last savory dish was “cabidela” done Sea Tavern style. Cabidela is a Northern Portuguese dish traditionally made with Rooster meat and rice, and the rooster’s blood is mixed with vinegar and added to the rice while boiling… yep! This particularly cabaidela was the chef’s version, and contained neither chicken nor blood, thankfully.  Instead, we enjoyed a salty cod hear over creamy wine rice.   I was pretty unsure about this dish, but it tasted fine!

COURSE TEN: SINGATURE SARDINE NIGIRI

Course ten, and our very final savory dish, was the chef’s signature dish – a Portuguese sardine lightly grilled and served atop white Japanese-style rice. A small bit of sea salt was added to the bite. A very beautiful dish, a bit too sardiney for my taste. In any case, if you are a sushi eater, you will enjoy this one! I can see why its the chef’s specialty!

COURSE ELEVEN: SARDINE FLAN

We then moved into dessert courses, the first of four, two with a seafood element! The first dessert course was a play on the fabulous Portuguese egg custard tart (i.e. the nata). This egg custard dessert, however, contained the special ingredient of…sardine! Sounds yucky, but I couldn’t taste it at all. Very good!

COURSE TWELVE: BREAD PUDDING WITH WILD BLACKBERRIES AND CREAM

Our second dessert was Dan’s favorite – bread pudding! This bread pudding was quite tasty and served with an egg cream and a blackberry sauce. No seafood here, and that was welcome after the flan, LOL. The bread pudding was also very pretty with fresh [edible] flowers on top.

COURSE THIRTEEN: CARROB AND FIG CUSTARD WITH TANGERINE AND ALMOND

Our next to last dish, which itself was served on a gorgeous plate, was a thick tart of carrob and fig topped with a sorbet and tangerine shavings. This was very refreshing, and I don’t think it contained any seafood!

COURSE FOURTEEN: CARAMELIZED SEA FENNEL CUSTARD

The final dish was likely my favorite dessert, a crème brûlée made with sea fennel. Yes, how strange! In any case, the sea fennel was not “sea-y” and this really tasted like a beautiful crème brûlée. This was also fantastic.

STEAL OUR DINNER

A Taberna do Mar: Calçada da Graça 20 B, 1100-266 Lisboa, Portugal.  Open 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM with seatings at 7:00 and 9:30. Closed Sunday & Monday. Reservations necessary and can be made here. Cash or Portuguese debit card only.