Hospitality in short supply at Coimbra Portuguese Restaurant

It’S so easy to love a restaurant that takes hospitality seriously, and as the industry roars back to life, people are flocking back to their favourite bistros and cafes. After months of pot noodles prepared at home, and the occasional takeout, we queued up after lockdown for treats, knowing that nothing would be quite the same as before.

But we did expect that owners and maitre d’s would have used the quiet time profitably, honing their social skills, and ensuring that returning waiters were up to speed after months on furlough in the back of beyond.

Portuguese steak at Coimbra Restaurant

On entering a restaurant, the first person you meet is the maitre

d’hotel. It’s his job to greet you, and make you feel special. He should also seat you at the correct table, the one you’ve reserved in advance. Getting the hospitality right can improve the taste of your food, even if it hasn’t been cooked exactly as you requested.

A few Sundays ago, friends invited us to join them for lunch at Coimbra, a long-standing Portuguese restaurant in the Avenues, with a reputation for serving delicious piri piri chicken. On arrival, a security guard directed us to a shady parking place. The gate keeper greeted us with a polite ‘How has been your day?’ before asking to see proof of vaccination, and spraying our hands with sanitiser.

We entered the busy dining area, and Coimbra was pumping, with happy patrons conversing merrily as they tucked into petiscos (Portuguese tapas) of fresh bread and garlic butter. But no one came forward to greet us, and we stood there mahara, feeling like gate crashers. Finally we caught the attention of a flunkey, who escorted us through a passage and down a flight of stairs to a table – not the table reserved by our host.

Piri piri chicken at Coimbra Restaurant

Many slices of bread slathered in garlic butter and chicken gravy later, and an anxious phone call or two, we caught up with our host, who had been waiting for us at an upstairs table.

Zimbos love to eat chicken, whether stewed, roasted, grilled or fried, so it was no surprise that most of the foodies at our table ordered grilled chicken and chips. Some say Coimbra serves the best piri piri chicken in town, but I opted for bife a casa, a classic Portuguese dish, otherwise known as Portuguese steak. Served in a  clay dish, hand painted with traditional black and white designs, bife a casa can be an attractive dish. Choosing a sirloin steak to combine with good quality olive oil, red wine and garlic to make a luscious sauce, can lift this dish to another level.

Disappointingly, my bife a casa was a skinny minute steak, drenched in a creamy sauce. The obligatory fried egg on top was broken, and a ramshackle salad on one side showed that presentation wasn’t a priority in the kitchen. But looking on the bright side, the chips were really good – crisp and golden on the outside, and fluffy within.

George is something of an expert when it comes to seafood, and he pronounced the calamari rings, served with chips, well-cooked and tasty. Given that it was served as a main course, he would have expected a larger serving of calamari rings. Fortunately there was an abundance of freshly-baked Portuguese bread and a steady supply of garlic butter and chicken gravy, so no-one left the table hungry.

I was suffering acute order envy while friends tucked into crispy golden piri piri chicken, and someone said ‘This is a chicken place. Why did you order steak?’. Any thoughts of enjoying a Portuguese dessert, such as pudim flan (crème caramel) or pasteis de nata (custard tarts) were dashed, when our waiter said only two dessert choices remained, chocolate mousse or ice cream. I consoled myself with another glass of chilled Mateus Rose, a sweetly sparkling wine with a hint of spice and a fruity flavour, provided by our generous host.

Coimbra is a popular family restaurant, and a place to enjoy a laid back meal with friends. Regulars, accustomed to treating Coimbra as a ‘home from home’, may be undeterred by the lack of hospitality on arrival, and sufficiently sussed to make grilled piri piri chicken their order of choice.

Matter of Taste Charlotte Malakoff