The Brilliant Mr Avillez

Jose Avillez, one of Portugal’s most promising young chefs, has created an affordable and unmissable dining experience at Cantinho do Avillez (http://cantinhodoavillez.pt/?lang=en). Casual, laid back atmosphere, creative twists on traditional Portuguese dishes, great young (green) wine; what’s not to like?

Two starters really stood out for me. Firstly, a ‘small partridge, bacon and chive pie’ displayed a perfect balance of lightly salty, gamey interior partnered perfectly with a light, crumbly exterior. ‘Bulhao pato’ shrimp (no photo unfortunately), simply cooked with garlic and olive oil were just divine – this was all about the freshness of the sea dwellers.

For mains, don’t miss the flaked cod with breadcrumbs, LT egg and exploding olives. Individually, the elements are delicious themselves. Soft, flaky cod – tasty by virtue of simplicity. The LT egg, an egg poached at low temperature, whose gooey yet somehow cooked interior is one of the tastiest eggs I’ve ever eaten. And the exploding olives; olives which ooze out olive puree when the exterior is penetrated, was rather magical. Eaten together, is a display of culinary wizardry.

Lastly, a dessert described by our waitress as the best dessert in the world. ‘Hazelnut³’ , three textures and three temperatures of hazelnut, topped off with a sprinkling of sea salt to accentuate the nuttiness. All I will say is this: “Thank you, Mr Avillez.”