29/09/2026
The food most people never order!
One of the most common question at Mannys is "Can reccomend food that most Portuguese would go for?" But then... that magic experience doesn't happen.
Customers look at the menu. Half of it is a mistery. Then tend to order what they already know. Prawns, Chicken, Steak...
I get it. You did not grow up with this food. The names do not help. So you play safe.
Then someone comes over and asks me what to get. I like that moment. I have watched people try a plate for the first time and go quiet for a second, in a good way!
Octopus. The grilled one, but cooked right, soft, with roasted potatoes and a lof of good olive oil.
Pork cheeks. Slow cooked. They fall apart. A lot of places do them and almost nobody new orders them. Many of my guests know that if they are in the menu, most likely I will order them
Jaquinzinhos fritos. Tiny fish, fried, eaten whole. Crunch, salt, lemon. Looks like a snack. It is a proper plate. Old school locals crave these things. Getting harder to find.
Cozido. A big boiled feast. Meats, sausage, cabbage, potato, all in one pot. Typical cold weather Sunday food. Heavy, and worth it if you are hungry.
Alheira. A smoked sausage that is not the chouriço you think it is. Often fried, with an egg and rice or fries. A historical piece of creativity. Locals from Trás os Montes will argue about the correct way to serve it.. 😋
Moelas. Chicken gizzards. Sounds wrong. Tastes like a rich stew and is great as a snack to share.
Sopa da pedra. A thick soup from Almeirim. Literal translation? .. "The Rock Soup" ... Sausage, beans, meats. You will not finish it alone as servings are big.
Cabrito no forno. Here is the translation that scares people. Kid. As in a young goat, roasted. Crisp outside, soft inside. Easter tables, Sunday tables, village tables. The English word does the damage. The plate does not.
Migas. Fried bread, garlic and some other marvels, really. In the Alentejo it comes with pork. Spare ribs, or the bits from the pig they did not waste.
Carne de alguidar. Meat cooked in a big clay bowl. Garlic, w**e, slow heat. You mop the bowl with bread. That is the point.
Sopa de cação. A soup of dogfish, a small shark, with coriander and garlic. Also Alentejo. The bread goes in.
Açorda. Bread soup. Coriander, garlic, olive oil, egg. Sometimes seafood on top.
Dobrada. Tripe. Famous in Porto, and cooked in other towns too.
Mão de vaca. A cow’s foot. Not pretty. Deep flavour. Old kitchen logic. Use the whole animal.
Pezinhos de coentrada. Pig’s trotters in a coriander and garlic sauce. Soft, sticky, loud with herbs.
Sarrabulho, up in the Minho. Rice cooked with pork blood. Dark, strong, a feast if you grew up with it.
Chanfana. Old goat, cooked for hours in red w**e. Mountain food, from the Beira side.
Then the names can also get funny. This is where people who don't know, freeze.
Lagartinhos. It means little lizards. It is not lizard. It is a strip of pork from between the loin and the ribs. Grilled. One of the best bites on a Portuguese pig, and the name keeps half the room away.
Secretos. Secrets. A thin hidden cut from the pig, tucked near the shoulder, full of fat that melts on the grill. Two pieces per animal. If you see it, order it.
Plumas. Feathers. Again, not a bird. A small triangular cut from the neck end of the loin. Soft, a bit of fat, fast on the coals.
Pica pau. The name means woodpecker. It is not a bird. Small bits of beef, sometimes with a little pork, fried and sitting in a light sauce of garlic, b**r or white w**e, a touch of mustard. Olives on top. Pickled carrot and cauliflower on the side. You do not get a knife and fork moment. You get a toothpick, and you peck at it, which is where the name comes from. Bread for the sauce.
And then the sandwiches that sound like a dare.
Sandes de courato. Pig skin, boiled until soft, rolled in a bread. Looks wrong. In a good tasca it is one of the things regulars fight over.
Sandes de torresmos. Fried pork fat and skin, in a roll. Crunch, salt, grease. A snack. If the place is local, this is a compliment, not a warning.
And i could add many more over here.. bucho, maranhos, rojões... I just had lunch.. but would get one of these without thinking twice.
People look at these names and get afraid. I understand the flinch. Lagartinhos. Secretos. Courato. Blood rice. A roasted kid.
Some of these can already be found at Mannys, but as you can see, the Portuguese Cuisine is so ridiculously rich that, I could fully change our menu every month and still not cover it all.
To make sure you don't miss any of these extraordinary meals, book your table at Mannys before we do our next menu change 😋
Open every Friday and Saturday at Ryde 21 High Street
www.mannysportugueserestaurant. com
7482 559052
