If you’ve never had a francesinha before, you will hear all sorts of advice about where to eat it. Consider how subjective that advice will be, consider your own personal preferences, then get yourself very hungry before following your gut… instinct, that is. Go with the gut! (Here’s a primer.)
I wanted to try the original francesinha at Restaurante A Regaleira just for kicks, knowing that about 60 years of adaptation has taken place since the first draft of this sandwich. The restaurant is located in the heart of the city, off Avenida dos Aliados near City Hall. I’ve passed by it a million times but needed to be especially hungry to stop for a francesinha there. Today was one of those days — I was famished. We volunteered this afternoon, and volunteering always makes me hungry. Cue: francesinha.
The francesinha (“French girl”) has been around since the 1950s, when Portuguese emigrant Daniel David Silva returned from France and Belgium with ideas about making a local version of the Croque Monsieur. It’s a curious thing that he decided to drench the francesinha in sauce, effectively drowning whatever resemblance the two sandwiches may have once had.
Restaurante A Regaleira offers two versions of the francesinha: the original with the bun-like bread, and the more common version with the pão de forma (square sliced bread) that you will see most everywhere else. But my francesinha looked less cheesy than Paulo’s, and less melted. I doth protest!
The guts are still the same, though:
Here’s my takeaway from “francesinha version 1.0”:
- Sauce: I’m picky about the sauce because it covers everything. This one is spicy enough but lacks the tang of tomatoes and beer.
- Bread: I like that they toasted the bread first, but everything slid around too much. More melted cheese would soften the bread and make a more cohesive sandwich.
- Potatoes: Everywhere else in town will serve you batatas fritas (French fries), but I was surprised to see potatoes cut more like ruffled chips at A Regaleira. Once you eat them, though, you’ll find they’re more like French Fries than they look.
- Verdict: Not sure this place is for francesinha first-timers; there are many other restaurants with better sauce, in my opinion. But my opinion is biased towards the flavours of beer and tomatoes in francesinha sauce, so if you’re not fussed about that part, the original might suit you just fine.
For those who would gladly pass up the calories and piles of meat for something less processed, Restaurante A Regaleira has other fare on their menu. I shot these photos through their window, but we didn’t order any seafood — the francesinhas were plenty!
claws and barnacles (percebes, or goose barnacles — a delicacy in Portugal)
peixe espada preto (black scabbardfish) — don’t worry, you can get these filleted to avoid nightmares
August 21, 2016
Album: Portugal [Summer 2016]