Let me make you lunch

Have you ever walked into a restaurant only to be greeted by the owner who insists you just sit down and he will take care of you?  That is exactly what happened when I went to lunch with my friend, Samantha, the other day.

The owner greeted us and assured us he was going to take great care of us.  I let him know I do not eat red meat,chicken or pork, but that seafood was good.  This was a seafood restaurant on the beach, so I was good to go.  The owner is a super friendly man, who really just wants you to have a good meal.  So, we went along with his preparations.

So, here is our special lunch meal at Mar a Mesa.

They serve great rolls here to start.  These are much different from the standard bread we always get before the meal.

 

They serve these rolls with tuna salad, which is really good.

 

Olives too.

 

Here is their presentation of the butter.

 

Then the owner came out with a seafood soup.  He had a big bowl of this and served it tableside.  It was very good.  It seemed to be a tomato base, with fish and macaroni noodles.

 

Then the main meal was served.  It was a piece of fish, but I do not know which fish.  My guess is whatever was brought in fresh right then.  I am leaning towards wreckfish since it was more meaty than flakey.  It was served with a side of almost Asian style veggies with a light soy sauce, as well as potatoes.

 

Delicious!  And so to end the meal, I had a meia da leite…

 

and Samantha had a galao.

 

So, sometimes it is good to just let the owner take care of you.  The good news is that this place can be a pricey, but worth it meal, and the lunch was actually less than I expected.

Since I am a little behind with my pictures, here are some from a dinner Ryan and I had last week.  When in doubt, stick with Italian!

 

Ryan had penne with vodka sauce.

I, as always at la Barca, had the pasta primavera.

Dessert was chocolate cake.  This is one of our absolute favorite desserts, and one of the reasons why we go to La Barca is just for the dessert. 

As you can see, we both wound up with a piece.

I still have plenty more to share, plus pictures of the popsicle making and Ryan’s birthday dinner.  Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, we had a very nice, and low key day.

QUESTION:  Have you ever entered a restaurant and had the owner/cook just prepare you a meal without ordering?