Estrela do Mar- São Pedro de Moel
Many thanks to Andrew Steel of Nadadouro for his contribution to this month’s restaurant review.
“São Pedro de Moel is a still relatively unspoilt resort on the coast opposite Marinha Grande, crossing through the National Pine Forest.
The journey time from Caldas via the A8 is about 45 minutes, so lunch at the Estrela do Mar, rather than dinner, would probably better suit readers of the www.portugalholidaydestinations.com blog.
This review is based on two lunches the first at Easter 2004 and the second in June of this year. We will certainly return. On both occasions there were only a few other tables occupied and when we commented on this to the courteous middle-aged headwaiter /proprietor, who speaks some English, he said that they do most of their trade in the evenings, that they are open all year and do not rely mainly on summer visitors.
According to him their regular customers comprise mainly local business and professional people plus visiting groups of medics and academics from Coimbra and Porto Universities. We believed him, of course,
The Estrela do Mar is very much worth a detour, if not the entire journey from Caldas and environs.
It is perched directly above a rocky beach and the views from the window tables is quite spectacular.
It is not especially cheap (eg €66 for two with oysters to start, grilled sea bass, wine coffee and brandy) but there is none of the uncomfortable feeling of being cheated and ripped-off that one invariably gets in the restaurants in Nazaré (but, by contrast, not usually in Peniche).
You would be very pushed to find as good a fish restaurant in Foz do Arelho, Saõ Martinho or Peniche, other than perhaps A Casa in São Martinho.
Our oysters, strangely something of a rarity round here were, to borrow from Michael Winner, mega-historic, and the sea bass, caught the night before, we were told, was cooked not a second too long, filleted at the table and properly served.
We were gently steered away from the house white wine to an excellent but not alarmingly expensive bottle from the fairly short and unconfusing list.
The entradas look, and indeed are, exceptionally delicious, but are probably best refused unless there are four of you and you have at least one glutton in your party.
There is a wide range of other fresh fish and shellfish (including allegedly delectable goose-necked barnacles) together a number of meat dishes which looked excellent when being, for some inexplicable reason, eaten instead of fish at a nearby table.
It was altogether on each occasion a thoroughly pleasant experience. If you decide to explore the coast a little further north, or should happen to find yourselves near São Pedro de Moel for any other reason, do visit the Estrela do Mar.
We hope that you will enjoy it. Incidentally, can any reader please explain the expression “Esperamos que não enjoêm” (errors and omissions excepted) that we saw at the end of a menu in São Martinho many years ago?
This seems to mean “we hope you won’t be sick!” We never took the risk of eating at the establishment in question, which closed soon afterwards.