Portugal has the longest coastline in continental Europe, and seafood has been at the heart of its cooking for as long as anyone can remember. From the rugged northern fishing villages to the warm waters of the Algarve, every region has its own specialty — and those specialties are the backbone of our menu at Bartolo.
Our most-loved seafood dish is the cataplana — a copper clam-shell pot, sealed shut and set over high heat, that turns mussels, clams, tiger prawns, and grouper into something greater than the sum of its parts. When the lid comes off at your table, the steam carries garlic, white wine, and the unmistakable scent of the sea.
Bacalhau, the national fish
No conversation about Portuguese seafood is complete without bacalhau — salted cod. The Portuguese famously claim to have a different bacalhau recipe for every day of the year, and at Bartolo we serve a few of them: bacalhau à brás, the classic with shredded cod, eggs, matchstick fries, and black olives; the spiritual codfish, baked with carrots in a creamy sauce; and our codfish burger, served on a squid-ink bolo do caco.
We also serve dishes that are quieter on the menu but no less essential. Our housemade canned sardines are cured and marinated in-house using wild-caught fish. Our gambas à guilho — tiger prawns swimming in garlic butter — arrive sizzling, the kind of small dish that turns a meal into an event.
None of this would be possible without good sourcing. We work closely with local suppliers to get fish that is as fresh as the Portuguese coast and as honest as the recipes that have been carrying it for generations.
