We often celebrate get together with fine dining. On the day after Boxing Day, our family of four had dinner at Adega, a Portuguese restaurant in San Jose. This restaurant earns a Michelin star in 2017, and table has been hard to find, we settle for a reservation at 8pm, a bit late for dinner for us. The restaurant is not in a rich neighborhood but it offers convenient valet parking, that charges only $5 for the evening.
The Michelin 2017 plaque is quite visible as a reminder at the entrance. The dining area is plainly decorated with very spacious seating. There are black ceramic swallows hanging on the wall. It reminds me about the very famous Chinese poem in my elementary school, a very touching poem about parental love. I learn later that these migratory birds are symbol of family and home; and stand for love, loyalty and faithfulness for the Portuguese.
The restaurant serves a variety of menu including two different food-tasting menu, a dinner menu and a dessert menu. The food tasting course carries a price tag of around $120 for a 7-course (without wine pairing) per head and it is quite a bargain if compared to a French food tasting course. In as memorable as any food tasting menu, I often fail to memorize the taste, appearance and ingredients of the delicacy thoughtfully designed by the chef, not to mention younger children do not appreciate the delicacy as much as their parents.
We were warmly served by a few sweet servers. Some have a slight accent, which just adds to the foreign accent of the restaurant. I am particularly impressed how these non-native servers describe each dish in even more clear terms. Instead of the food tasting menu, we selected a few starters and entrees from the a la carte menu. The restaurant treated us with additional small plates (Are these Portuguese small plates called Petiscos?)
The starters were all good, the entrees were good in portion and overall delicious. . The extra small plates gave us nice pleasant surprise on top of what we have selected.
How I remember the dinner:
- 3 choices of bread : sweet bun, white bread, and one other yummy I-do-not-know-its-name bakery , served with house-made butter, olives and hummus. I love the house-made butter. The hummus is good too but not as memorable.
- A small serving of carrot soup with a speck of olive oil on the top. It is quite refreshing.
- Baked ravioli with a sardine paste. The baked ravioli is such a pleasant surprise. The sardine is what sardine tastes like, very fishy.
- Starters of our choices
- Pig’s Ear Salad, light and delicious
- Deep Fried Codfish cake, wrapped with dried tomatoes, tasty just a bit heavy as a starter.
- Lobster Bisque, tiny portion yet tasty
- Iberico Ham and Duck slices on a board, looks nice
- Main Courses of our choices
- Ribeye Steak on a hot stone, cook to your need, with iberico ham, fried eggs and fried potatoes. Good portion and the steak is soft and juicy.
- Oven Baked Octopus with spinach and potatoes. The Octopus is very nice – tender inside and crispy outside.
- Seafood rice cooked with a variety of seafood, with onions, peppers and cilantro. The rice is yummy with very rich flavor.
- Pan-seared codfish fillets over creamy potatoes. The portion is good.
- Dessert of our choices
- Cinnamon soufflé baked inside a roasted apple with apple sauce and St. Jorge cheese ice cream. The soufflé is sweeter than an apple pie, and the cheese ice cream is unique and special, a bit heavy.
- Sparkling wine for adults, and some juicy drinks for the youth.
- A birthday cake special and a candle, as early celebration of a birthday.
- Variety of sweets – meringue , chocolate and some other super-sweet item. I like the chocolate, too sweet to finish them all.
Potatoes, seafood, ham, generosity and hospitality become my memory of Portuguese dish.
We arrived home late in the night. It was a clear night with bright stars.
oliviatamccue 
Leave a comment