By Madame Escargot 
It was time for “a lump of meat and a pile of chips,” and Armazem was the prime suspect in this case.
A very traditional Portuguese grill restaurant, Armazem is popular with both locals and tourists. The Carta is fairly concise, and you can go choose your own fish of lump of meat from the fridge, if you wish. For us, that is far too much like The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. We prefer anonymity when it comes to our dinner.
Beginning with the Couvert (somewhat dry bread, olives, no oil or butter) and a bottle of the House Red, Monte Velho. Armazem has a partnership with Grous, but whatever the deal they made, it failed to bring in Grous at a House Wine price point. (They do have a display bottle of Grous which is the largest that I have ever seen.)
We ordered one starter to share, the Chouriço. Previously, the Chouriço has arrived sliced-then-fried. We have devoured the crispy, tasty morsels on several occasions. This time it arrived as a well-grilled sausage, sliced after the fact. The result was a lovely charred exterior, with a soft and juicy centre. But, we are squeamish folk and the lumpy bits inside failed to enthrall. The flavour of the sausage overall was excellent, so it was shame about the stomach-churning bits. Also, with not being fried, there was no lovely pool of spicy red oil to dip our dry bread into.
For our main course, I chose Iberico, going for the Secretos. Beautifully cooked, as always, and well salted. The tender meat just oozes tasty fat. Expecting the notable paucity of veg, I ordered an Algarve Salad on the side.
Mr Snail also chose Iberico, but his cut was the Plumas.
We agreed that dessert was not necessary but when the waiter came around, we caved.
I really didn’t have room for a pudding, and opted instead for a Lemon Sorbet with Vodka. It slipped down a treat.
Mr Snail was seduced by the Carta’s description of “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World”. To be honest, I had a taste and, if we return, that is what I shall be ordering. Not a cake, by any description. It’s light and very chocolatey.
Open daily, Lunch and Dinner. Armazem is in the cluster of restaurants that includes Dromedario, Bossa Brewhouse, Arte Bianca etc.
We found, when checking the debit card details, that we had been charged twice. When we returned to sort things out, all went well. We were refunded, in cash, on the spot.
