Baked Octopus Bliss in Lisbon

I ate the best octopus in my life in Lisbon. It was insane.

Insane.

Pure baked octopus bliss.

I'm feeling a little giddy just thinking about it. That's weird, I know - it's food. Or rather, a food memory. But you see, I don't care, I don't. Judge me if you will, I just want more of that octopus. Although let's be honest, you guys totally understand, don't you? No explanation necessary. It's a safe place here, my food blog. Thanks for that.

More on the octopus later...

Our last day in Lisbon started with a visit to Mercado da Ribeira, where we marvelled at beautiful produce and bought some fabulously fresh (and cheap - so cheap) fruit. Needless to say I devoured an entire bag of strawberries on this morning.

For the obligatory caffeine hit, Ben and I visited a bar in the market. Here we scored some tips on what to see in the area alongside our espresso.

I then satisfied my ever-growing yoghurt craving. I'm a yoghurt fan, this is true, and when travelling I always miss it a little. One week into our trip I was needing some of the good stuff. Ben wanted chocolate milk, like the 27-year-old man he is, so we visited a convenience store and stocked up. Does anyone else get get extremely excited by all the wonderful yoghurt varieties in Europe? We need to get on that here. We then wandered around the area, stumbling into shops every now and then, and just generally revelling in Lisbon's laid-back fabulousness.

Lunch was at Frade dos Mares - only our most favourite restaurant stumble ever. The tapas bar around the corner we had originally planned on visiting was closed, and so we found ourselves at this slightly fancy-pants yet approachable restaurant. Here I ordered the baked octopus, their specialty. And now, back home in Melbourne, sitting on my couch, I find myself giddy at the thought of said octopus.

Breadbuttersbeer and Ben.

Octopus and rice. Heaven.

Salad, for good measure.

Looking (a little too) lovingly at our waiter as he spoke to me about my baked octopus, on a bed of roasted baby potatoes with crisp roasted garlic and a generous amount of olive oil. Seriously, can you blame me? Look at it, it's stunning...

Let's all take a moment, shall we?

*sigh*

One more Lisbon post to go, then we're onto Paris. Although I adored reflecting on our time in Lisbon, and cannot wait to visit this engaging city again (and eat more baked octopus, of course), I am awfully excited for our little Parisian affair.

Heidi xo
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