Cervejaria Ramiro

Cervejaria Ramiro is one of the first names that comes up when you talk about seafood in Lisbon. The story starts in 1956, as a small casa de pasto. The family business gradually turned to shellfish and is today one of Lisbon's best-known marisqueiras; this year it turns 70.

With a place this famous and this touristy you approach carefully, but Ramiro still earns its reputation. The room is not smart; it is crowded, busy and loud. You come here for very good, very fresh shellfish.

We ordered the red prawns, sapateira (brown crab) and Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato. The big red prawns are prepared plainly; the dense juices in the head meet the faintly sweet flesh.

The sapateira arrives whole, with the shell opened. While you pick the white meat out of the claws and legs, you eat the rich, creamy mixture inside the body shell with a spoon or with bread. It takes some work, but that is half the pleasure.

The amêijoas come with garlic, olive oil and their own liquor. Once the clams are gone, the sauce left in the pot is the kind you mop up with bread.

The best approach at Ramiro is not to plan the menu too much and just ask what is good that day. Touristy and crowded, but 70 years on the quality of the product is still very high.