Confession: I’m allergic to queues, especially for food. Even in cities like Toronto or New York where restaurant queuing is a mainstream recreational activity, I’ve dug in my heels. There, this business of queuing has been spawned by the popularity of food in social media (hello Instagram), and it’s not going to subside anytime soon.
However, in a country like Portugal where food traditions are strong, queues happen for different reasons — usually, a shortage of staff at busy times. Restaurants here are mostly small, family-run businesses that don’t hire outside help. When someone falls ill, they would sooner put a sign on the door and close up shop. Also, when it comes to food there is zero interest in a faster production process or increasing supply to meet the demand. When the dish runs out, so does your luck. Try again tomorrow.
Thus, I’ve had to adjust my attitude towards queueing. In Portugal, I’m much more tolerant of the situation. Slow food isn’t a movement here, it’s the status quo!
All that to say, in spite of the constant praise of the sandes de pernil at Casa Guedes, I’ve been procrastinating on the inevitable wait for these pork shank / pork loin sandwiches. But wait I did, on Saturday. I was happy to see only one person at the counter and ordered confidently, but then I watched a stream of sandwiches pass by and out the door… I became a little more crestfallen with every passing sandwich. As it turns out, there were tables of people outside on the esplanade and customers at the bar whose orders were taken before mine, so I settled in and took some pictures instead of looking at the time.
To give you a fuller idea of the atmosphere at Casa Guedes and what’s at the heart of the buzz (the sandwiches), a bit of video:
Casa Guedes has been run by a pair of brothers and their wives since 1987. They created the sandes de pernil from a Brazilian recipe that they adapted and added an option of mountain cheese, from Serra da Estrela.
I ordered both versions, one for Paulo without cheese and mine with cheese. I wasn’t sure that marinated pork would combine well with the particular flavor of the cheese (which is strong), but the mix was unexpectedly DIVINE. The pork and the cheese were tender and melty, respectively, and the slightly toasted bread was the perfect case for it. After all that waiting, I kicked myself for not ordering two!
At €2.90 for the regular pork version (€3.90 with cheese), this is a relatively expensive sandwich for Porto. There are places in the city where you can buy the national pork sandwich, the bifana, for a euro or two and I’m not talking about McDonald’s. But the folks at Casa Guedes put something special into their sandes de pernil to create such a large and loyal following. I haven’t tried any other options like their black pork, but given time, I will.
Casa Guedes is open six days a week, from 08:30-22:00 (closed Sundays), so if queues are not your thing, either, there are plenty of hours to partake, avoiding the lunch and dinner rush. I took ours to-go, to eat with Ice the Dog in the park next door (Jardim de São Lazaro).
Casa Guedes
Praça dos Poveiros, 130
4000-393 Porto
+351 222002874
https://www.facebook.com/A-Casa-Guedes-118939868173940/
See also:
http://portoalities.com/en/the-best-sandwich-of-porto/
May 13, 2017
Album: Portugal [Spring 2017]