Cervejaria Ramiro
the start of a personal review
In 2014 I had a day to myself, in Lisbon, before taking the train to Grandola. I took the airport bus to Cais de Sodré, walked to Sol e Pesca and had a few glasses and tinned fish. Lisbon was a city I’d seen on Anthony Bourdains’ No Reservations. Fado, bifanas, trams, hills, miradouro’s and saudade. If you don’t know that word type it in or read between the lines here as Bourdains’ suicide by hanging himself hovers above this review and each place I went to. The notebook I had in my pocket had these places and the opening hours : Sol e Pesca, O Trevo, A Ginjinha and Ramiro. The plane had landed early enough to fit in these before the train from Entrecampos. I’d scribbled a map which started at Cais de Sodré and ended at Ramiro. Ten minutes after leaving Sol e Pesca I was sitting in O Trevo with an imperial, a 20cl glass of beer, a bifana and a small plate of snails. A waiter had placed a bottle of mustard and a bottle of piri piri next to the napkins. Street cleaners, police, men in suits, women with bags of vegetables and old couples occupied each seat and the bar. They didn’t throw their used napkins on the floor as they did in Madrid. They used bins. The toilet was clean, they had toilet paper, soap, napkins. I had travelled from Paris. You didn’t get this in Paris.
Walking down hill, on the Rua Garrett, passing the old bookshops and the Baixa Chiado metro, I walked through hoards of tourists around the Praça Dom Pedro and found A Ginjinha. It was noon, the start of June, the sun baked the streets and buildings. Instead of standing in the shade I took my shot in the sun, sipping the sour cherry liqueur. Any worries that day had disappeared. Any dread or depression was drying out as the alcohol rushed to my head.
TBC
As I try to find my feet on here I ask you to comment or share or become a paid subscriber. This is a restaurant review and as you’ve just read I haven’t made it to the restaurant. Thank you for reading. The review will be posted this week.
Sincerely,
Gareth Storey