With all the walking that we did in the morning, we worked up an appetite for lunch. Our bartender at the Turium hotel recommended visiting Bonjardim to experience a traditional Portuguese roasted chicken. This was one of his favorite restaurants, so we figured we had to try a restaurant that a local love.
We started off by ordering a pitcher of red sangria and one large beer. The sangria was delicious. It had a nice number of fresh fruits, and it was made with amazing Portuguese wine.
Ordering was simple, we each orders a half a chicken with sides of French fries and creamed spinach.
The chicken was amazing. It was so juicy. The way it was cooked on the spits and roasted, it gets basted in it’s own juices. The flavor of the salt and pepper that coated the outside skin was simple but helped create a powerful punch. I could not get enough. I devoured the chicken. It has ruined me for rotisserie chicken back home.
The French fries were a shoe string variety. They were crispy and the perfect complement. They have this hot sauce called piri piri that tasted great drizzled over the fries. It is really hot so a little goes a long way.
The creamed spinach was also a great side. It tasted different from the creamed spinach I have had in restaurants back home. It was creamy but not because they used a bunch of cream in the sauce. It felt more of a natural creaminess.
This restaurant stayed busy the entire time we were there. People just kept coming and going. Everyone was ordering the chicken. I am so glad it was suggested that we try this place. If it wasn’t for that we might never have found this place.
Enjoy!
T
