Walkabout: Cascais: Cheeseburger in Paradise

Sometimes you just need a cheeseburger, man.

But, let's back up a step. The evening before we came to the picturesque village of Cascais, we had a final dinner in Lisbon. We went to a seafood place on the water and placed our orders: "Seabass, Seabass, Grouper, Octopus."

I'm sorry, what was that last one and who said it?

As the waiter's eyebrows rose a bit, we all looked at my 13-year-old son as he confirmed what he wanted to order, the roasted octopus. After all, if the locals eat it, how bad could it be?

What arrived looked like it had been scraped off the hull of the Nautilus and served by Captain Nemo himself. It was three large "legs" joined at the "hip" served on a platter. My son dove in and initially liked   the flavor. What he didn't like was the sensation that the tentacles were trying to bond to his tongue. Now, my general rule is that, real or perceived, if you can't figure out whether you are eating your food or your food is trying to eat you, then it may be time to move on to something else. 

The next day, we arrived in Cascais, a fishing village turned yacht harbor turned tourist destination on the west coast of Portugal, and decided to walk around. While taking in the sights, my son started to look increasingly "hung over" from the previous night's experience. I realized that we had a case of Post Octopus Traumatic Syndrome (POTS) on our hands. The cure was obvious: Cheeseburger.

We rushed him STAT to the nearest English pub and ordered a cheeseburger and he was soon among the living again. Now you might be saying, "But you are in Portugal." My experience is that any European destination that attracts tourists has an English pub and usually an Irish pub. This is so English, Irish and Australian tourists can travel great distances to drink beer and watch rugby and soccer, things they would never do at home. 

We are enjoying Cascais so far. The beach is quite popular. Every morning around 8:00 a.m. there is a steady stream of people marching along carrying towels and wearing swimsuits to sleepily find their 3X6 foot spot on the beach. It sort of looks like refugees from Malibu marching to Manhattan Beach. They don't look chipper, but they are determined to claim their spot.

We've found the food here to be better than Lisbon. It's the same fresh ingredients, but combined with some more interesting flavors and preparations. For instance, sea bass, which is grilled and served with boiled potatoes and carrots in Lisbon, is instead prepared here on top of Sicilian-flavored couscous with some nice peppers sautéed in garlic and olive oil on top. Whether it's the street performers, the English screaming at the rugby game on the pubs' big screens or the food itself, there's just a little more flavor to be found in this charming village.