The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Sunday in Sesimbra

As soon as we got into the Lisbon area, it was apparent -- to me at least -- the city was not the place. I'm sure it would seem less oppressive once I found my way around, but I'm noticing an intolerance (impatience?) with traffic ... and there's a lot of traffic in Lisbon! Maybe I'm more of a geezer than I feel like.

Still, it's our life and we want to live it in serenity and harmony. Perhaps if we went a little farther out, maybe past what most would consider a reasonable commute distance, we could still be within striking distance of the city when we needed access to the airport or cultural events but not have to live in the city crush. Perhaps across the bridge and down around Setubal or Sesimbra ...

We had overnighted in Setubal the night we got off the plane and while the hotel was not in a part of town that spoke to us, we didn't really have time to explore the area around the water. Photos on the web make it look rather Mediterran-like and it does have the advantage of being close to the motorway into Lisbon, so it could still be on the list.

Sesimbra is a little more remote but intriguing. We saw an episode of House Hunters International where the couple was looking for a spot in Sesimbra and the area really seemed like a nice spot. Let's start there.

Now THIS is the sort of place I've been imagining! Sesimbra is a modestly-sized town on the ocean with an array of seemingly interesting eateries and enough of a historical feel to make it clear you're not in Kansas anymore!

Most of the eateries along the beachfront were packed on a warm Sunday afternoon in May, but we rinally found two seats on the sidewalk in front of a modestly-priced restaurant. One limitation we have when it comes to dining in Portugal is Margene's general aversion to seafood ... rather restrictive in a country where the cuisine is heavily oriented to the local catch. My menu Portuguese is still in its infancy ... and this place didn't offer a menu in English. Personally, I consider that a plus -- it indicates a place that caters to locals rather than tourists.

But communication is still necessary and our poor little server seemed scared to wait on us because she spoke no English. There's always a way to make things work, even by simply pointing at menu items, but rather than work her way through it, though, she just hid out inside. She was very young so perhaps that was part of it, although generally we found most of the young people had at least basic English skills.

As luck would have it, the gentleman seated next to us offered to act as a translator and made sure she knew what we wanted. As luck would further have it, our accidental table mate, Jose do Amaral, was also a Re/Max real estate agent! We had a pleasant chat about prices and properties in Sesimbra, both for rent and for sale. He promised to send us a list of what he finds that could meet our criteria. Was his being there an accident or an omen? In either case, I got a good vibe in Sesimbra ... although we still found the restaurant options rather limited.

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