Stumbling into places in Viana do Castelo (2 of 2)…read more
I was in Viana do Castelo again. If you're in the Porto area, you might always want to return to this town, with the colder and rougher coast of the north of Portugal having its own allure, whether under sunny or foggy skies. And, if you don't have a (rental) car, you can get here with the train or even a bus.
This last time, I knew I would head straight to Dantas for lunch. I walked up to the place and it was closed for a vacation. That's why, when I called, no one was answering the phone. I was a little annoyed as that meant I'd have to find another place to eat.
I did a rectangular walk, taking me down to the riverside and back up, and saw a restaurant with an eating area out front that was full. There were also some people waiting. Some of them were obviously locals who worked in or for the town. I asked someone if the food was good and they nodded that it was. The name of this place is Casa Primavera.
I asked that I be added to the list and I cleared that list in about 10 minutes. I sat in the larger part of the restaurant in the back. I figured that I would get fish for lunch since they had some types that I do eat. I settled on a slab of swordfish, which is called "espadarte." It was served with something similar to garbanzo beans and some potatoes. The platter was incredibly tasty. I ordered Pepsi's sugar free equivalent of a Coke Zero to drink. Note that, if from neighboring countries speaking similar languages, you might see "peixe spada" and think it's swordfish ... it's not. I kept saying that I wasn't going to get a dessert, but their pricing was fair. I thus went for a small slice of a rich chocolate tart.
Casa Primavera was completely full and the service was excellent. The people who work here are uniformly very nice to their customers. Some of the tables are close to other tables and I often just study the landscape while eating. A Spanish couple on vacation sitting at a practically adjacent table began speaking with me. I thought that, like so many others, they had driven down from Galicia, right above the border. They told me they were Madrilenos, so a friendly conversation ensued. At any rate, that added to the conviviality of the entire experience.
I try not to be overly generous with ratings, seeing some reviewers' histograms that skew heavily toward 5s and taper downward. However, with Casa Primavera doing everything right with a full house and after such a tasty lunch, I think it's one of the better restaurant options in Viana do Castelo and I was lucky to have happened onto it.
