Restaurant Borda d'Agua, Lagoa

The little port in Lagoa, where they land the fish (Source: own photo)

Our road trip around northern Spain, northern Portugal, and the Azores is drawing to a close. Over the past few weeks, we have eaten in some pretty amazing restaurants in Pamplona and San Sebastián via Cudillero and Gijón to A Coruña and Porto. It has been my view for some time that the Iberian Peninsula is seriously under-rated as far as the quality of food is concerned, especially seafood. This trip has only re-inforced this conviction.

Of course, the flip-side of eating so much good food is that my standards have become quite high by now. It really takes something very special to impress me. Hence, when we landed on San Miguel Island in the Azores a few days ago, I expect to be pleased with what this place has to offer, but I was not expecting to be truly wow'ed.

Boy, was I wrong!

I type these words after having just enjoyed an outstanding meal at an unassuming, but popular and incredibly excellent little fish restaurant in the small coastal town of Lagoa just outside Porta Delgado. The establishment is called Borda d'Agua.

The facade of Borda d'Agua (Source: own photo)

On the outside, the tiled facade of Borda d'Agua does not stand out from most other buildings in this village of tiny houses and narrow streets. Once you step inside, however, you are given a very warm reception and you soon realise why it is important to show up early, or to book in advance. This place fills up very quickly, even on a Thursday.

Judging by the languages spoken at the tables around us, I would say that the customers are a mix of locals, immigrants, and a few tourists. The atmosphere, however, is distinctly Portuguese - warm, informal, and relaxed.

We ordered the house vinho verde and before long a basket of freshly baked bread arrived accompanied by a selection of accompaniments consisting of spicy pork paste, fresh crab salad, an octopus salad, and mild fresh cow cheese.

Starters (Source: own photo)

These delicacies turned out to be so good and plentiful that we only ordered one actual starter - black pudding with grilled pineapple, a local speciality. The locally-grown pineapples, it turns out, perfectly complement to the fatty savoury flavour of black pudding. Good start.

Black pudding with local grilled pineapple (Source: own photo)

Then the mains arrived - grilled rock fish, grilled prawns in garlic and shellfish broth, and a simple fresh salad of cucumber, tomato, and lettuce. Sadly, this is where my words fail me. I simply cannot do justice do the quality of these dishes. We ate the entire main course in complete silence, so commanding of our attention was the deliciousness of these morsels.

Grilled rockfish so fresh it could have swum onto the plate (Source: own photo)

The rock fish was perfectly seasoned. It was grilled very hard, but somehow the flesh had retained all the succulence and delicate flavour you expect from the freshes of fish. The meat was moist and flaky. I literally picked every little piece of meat off every bone and when I was done I wished I had two bellies so I could do it all again.

Best prawns I have ever had (Source: own photo)

As for the prawns, they were large, shiny, and crisp inside with freshness. Living on the coast in Spain, I eat gambas al ajillo all the time, so I am not easy to impress, but these prawns blew me away. They were quite simply the best I have ever had. What really made them exceptional apart from their extreme freshness was the broth in which they were served. A whole field of garlic must have been harvested to make this broth, which was also infused with the richest shellfish stock to make a deep and very rich sauce. When the prawns were eaten, I found myself dipping the remaining bread in the residual broth to soak up every last drop. Just to find some peace of mind.

We finished the meal with a couple of slices of local cake, which were also exceptionally good. When the bill arrived, we noticed that the cost of this special meal was half of what we typically pay for similar fare in northern Spain. I know I have waxed lyrical about Portuguese food before, but this meal quite simply took the biscuit!

The End