Dinner and Jazz

Sometimes it is just nice to go out to dinner and enjoy the evening with people you know.  Whether it is family or coworkers, or a special occasion or just getting out of the house, either way, it is nice sometimes to do something different.

In this case, it was not that it was a different restaurant because we eat at Os Moinhos, or the Mill, on a regular basis.  Ok, as regular as you can get around here.  Actually, the waitress remembers us and knows what wine we like and even remembers my purse and that I have a matching wallet.  Now, in the US I would assume she might want to steal it since she has obviously paid attention to it, but here, it didn't seem too out of the ordinary.  I think it might just seem American and that is why it stuck out in her mind.

The school was having an evening of Jazz music (for their group that raises funds for student scholarships), complete with a presentation on the history of jazz and some singing.  The dinner was 20 euros and included multiple courses.  Since one course was pork, they decreased the price for me (shhhh).  Here is what we were offered:

Bread

Cheese and olives

Wine, wine and more wine.  If you could drink it, they would bring it.  We had this red wine, and they also gave us some white wine.  In this picture you can see the screen for the presentation in the background.

The first entree was fish.  It was lightly breaded and fried.  I love that when they bread and fry it here, it truly is lightly breaded and lightly fried.  It is never oily.

Next up was the pork.  Ryan really enjoyed this.

Dessert was chocolate mousse.

Yummy!

We ended out dinner with a coffee and sat back to relax and enjoy the singing of one of the teachers from the American school where I work.

It was really a lot of fun, but it was on the late side when we returned home and I had class the next morning.  Oh well, we still stayed up and watched a movie.  So much for sleep!

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever attended a function like this?  When was the last time you participated in a fundraiser?

GIVEAWAY ALERT***  Go check out Julie's giveaway for that ever so awesome spiralizer.  I bought one for my sister recently and she LOVES it.  I want one now too...so maybe you shouldn't enter...

What do you do with an old water mill?

Turn it in to a restaurant of course!

So welcome to Os Moinhos, which means the mills. Ok, so it was a little hard to locate in the dark even though we had a map. Just as we called we turned down a street and saw a sign with an arrow so we knew we were near.

They even had a fun company truck.

We when arrived we had no idea they had a massive party scheduled. Maybe it was a wedding party/rehearsal dinner or maybe a Christmas party, but either way we were outsiders lost in the crowd. We knew we had a problem when some man came over and shook Ryan's hand and was talking to him in Portuguese. So after 15 or so minutes we tracked down a waitress who did, thankfully, speak English. In the meantime, I wandered around.

As this was an old mill entering the building was like stepping back in history. It was incredible inside. Here is a little stove in the attice space right next to our table.

What could this possibly be?
Oh, that seems interesting...

Wait, this must be where the water would run down.

Oh wow, you can actually see right down to the ground level.

And here is where the tunnel ends. This is outside of the restaurant.

Up in the attic was a locked door. I liked the looks of these old style keys.

Here was a set table, ok not ours, it was one for the party, but it was set so nicely I had to take a picture.

Even with all the other people and all the excitement with the party, we still received great service. As always, we started with the bread.

and some olives and cheese...

Mother-in-law soup, which is similar to Italian wedding soup. This had sausage in it so I did not try it, but Ryan really liked it.

Ryan had the filet mignon for dinner, although it was not quite what you would think of when you hear filet mignon. It was served with a salted peach and fresh made potato chips and salad.

I had the grilled red snapper, topped with garlic, served with salad and boiled garlic potatoes. This was a very traditional Portuguese (Azorean) meal.

Dinner ended with a meia de leite (latte), as usual.

Most restaurants bring the check over in a box of some sort. I found this one to be most unique as it was an olden style iron. The check was contained inside and you leave the money inside too. This was a great experience and I would definately go back.

So that was Saturday night and Sunday was pretty laid back after I got out of school. I found my cat now loves to lay like this. Look how close she is to the gas heater. She gets so hot, but she will not move away. In fact, she spends all night screaming in front of the darn thing in hope that it will trun itself on. She is nuts.

Oh, and this is cool too. Look what I won for being the first one to class. technically there were a few there before me, but I they left and so they did say I could take the prize. I was excited because I love to show college support for my school(s).

QUESTION: What was the most unique dining experience you have ever had?

Enjoy your Monday!