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.
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They serve these rolls with tuna salad, which is really good.
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Olives too.
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Here is their presentation of the butter.
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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.
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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.
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Delicious!  And so to end the meal, I had a meia da leite…
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and Samantha had a galao.
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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!
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Ryan had penne with vodka sauce.
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I, as always at la Barca, had the pasta primavera.
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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. 
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As you can see, we both wound up with a piece.
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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?

2 comments:

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

Sounds like a wonderful lunch! And no, I don't think I have ever had someone just take care of me in a restaurant without ordering.

Shannon said...

What a nice place! I always judge a restaurant based on how good the bread is :)

I've never been to a restaurant where I didn't place an order and the chef chose for me.

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