Casa das Bifanas Valongo, Porto - Portugal

Welcome to another post from me in the Foodies Bee Hive!

^{Photo-composition with Canva}

Today I want to share a fantastic tasting experience I had in the city of Valongo, which is located north of Porto. As you can probably imagine, and some of you have already visited the northern region of Portugal, no one can come to these parts and not feel good about the comfort food you can get here... And especially at much more reasonable prices than in the city of Lisbon or the Algarve region, for example.

I've told you before about a bifanas place in the old part of Porto, Conga, which dates back to 1976. Well, Casa de Bifanas de Valongo was established twenty years ago, in 2004, by an employee who left Conga and came to open his own business here in Valongo.

This place was mentioned by a mutual friend to my compadre, and I told him that it would be a completely different experience to the one we'd had. And lo and behold, he was right!

Let's talk about my experience!

---

To begin with, just like at the previous restaurant, there was a queue for a sit-down lunch, but the waiting time was just over twenty minutes. When we went to give our name for the waiting list, they immediately asked if we wanted to have a beer or an aperitif while we were waiting, which we could do at the counter. As it was a sunny start to the afternoon, despite the cold, we decided to sit outside and chat, enjoying the warm rays of sunshine that comforted us, as I had just arrived in Porto a little over half an hour before. The journey was comfortable, but by now we were getting hungry... It was almost 2:30 p.m.!

After a couple of conversations, we heard my compadre's name and entered through an atrium with the counter on our left, always with the normal movement that these snack bars have... There's no employee who gets cold while working!

Although there was a considerable array of drinks on display, we were really here to eat the fantastic bifana and what better than a nice cold beer to go with it?

To begin with, the differences are more than obvious. The bread on which the bifana comes is much tastier, less white, with a better consistency and the same size. When it comes to the steak itself, the meat seems to be of better quality and the sauce much more balanced, with less of a spicy taste, or with a better balance of spiciness.

Visually, you might think I'm telling you a big lie, but believe me, the taste is something... fantastic!

During my lunch, I even had the chance to eat half a quail before ordering a second steak. This dish is a well-known delicatessen. I have to confess that I had never eaten it before and that it tastes very different from chicken, even though it resembles chicken. Eating the meat that remains close to the bone is actually a good moment to prepare for the second round of bifanas.

In addition to the famous bifanas, they also serve a bifana soup, which has the meat in the soup as well as the vegetables and a special sauce. I didn't try it, because for me soup is something I eat at the beginning of a meal and not at the end. But I recommend it to anyone who still has the space for it... Ahahah

At the end of the experience, we paid just 27 euros for a meal for three, where we ordered: Three pints of beer, five steaks, a soup and a quail. I don't know a place in Lisbon where we could eat and drink like that for less than 10 euros per person!!!

^{The main entrance to the restaurant. Notice that there were people wearing long coats. I, on the other hand, was very hot, so I ended up taking off my sweatshirt and enjoying the sunshine in my t-shirt!}

^{The restaurant is located on a residential street, mainly made up of villas and low-rise buildings, which gives it a much more homely and calm atmosphere. Look at the stones lining the exterior walls of the villa}

^{The inviting sign with the white letters on a blue background is top!}

^{Located at number 115 Avenida 1º de Maio in Valongo, this venue is open between 10am and 10pm from Monday to Saturday. Sunday weekly rest}

^{I confess that this entrance is more inviting than Conga's}

^{Behind the counter, and not in the kitchen area, the bustle is more than enough... And I wonder what it's like in the kitchen!}

^{Options for all tastes and wallets}

^{We were directed to a room at the back of the house, and look what a nice surprise it was when we got there. Generous windows that let natural light flood into the room. Fantastic!}

^{A detail of the tables. The laser engraving of the company logo on the top}

^{Anyone who has eaten in a snack bar knows how common this type of tablecloth is.
Here, too, paper tablecloths are a motto for the table}

As you can see from the menu, the prices are more than inviting! If we ever had a HiveFest in Porto, we'd all know where to go for lunch!

^{The best accompaniment there can be has arrived.... and even more so on such a bright day}

^{It's almost poetic the way the iced glass allows a riot of carbon dioxide balls to rise
to the mountain of foam that tops the delicious drink!}

^{And here are the first ones to arrive at our table}

^{This was mine. Simple, but very delicious. Can you see the golden, firm crust of the bread?
It was so delicious, just looking at this photo makes me salivate... Pavlovian!}

^{Just enough time to take a photo before starting on the sandwich! You can already see that very little time had passed since we sat down and ordered, the beer having been drunk just over a third of the way through}

^{The first one was so delicious that I barely touched the beer... short break. Ready for the second part!}

^{Second part: I ordered a steak, and my comadre ordered a quail, which she made a point of sharing half with me...
I'd never eaten it before and I'd like to say that I loved it}

^{It was cooked just right and went down very well}

Social links of the Restaurant:
^{https://www.facebook.com/casadasbifanasvalongo/
https://www.instagram.com/casadasbifanas.valongo/}

---

I hope you liked this post!

Thank you for the time that you take to reading it

Bem Hajam🍀

---

Photographic edition with PhotoScape X