After relaxing in the nearby baths (Poca da Dona Beija), my family of 4 adults was starving, so I looked up on TripAdvisor to find something nearby to eat. Espinha.come had a 5-circle rating, so we had high hopes for a good experience; however, it was even better than we had expected.
Our server, Magda Bento, was so sweet, friendly, and charming (and patient—we are fast-talking English speakers!). We started off with a cheese board ($4.50 for 3 huge chunks of amazingly delicious cheese and fresh regional jam; a board like this would easily be $20-25 in the US). The cheese was so amazing that we wanted to buy some to take home, so we asked Magda about it—she was nice enough to write down the name of the cheese on a paper for us and to show us on her phone the name of the local place to buy it).
We also had the blood orange sausages and pineapple appetizer (delicious—but admittedly strange looking—sausages and the sweetest pineapple we’ve ever tasted). One of us had a burger, two had house chicken sandwiches (all burgers and sandwiches can come with regular bread or the sweet local bread, “bolo”; always choose the latter!), and one had the pork steak/bifana. All were extremely delicious and VERY filling (we wanted to save room for dessert, but just couldn’t).
We also shared a bottle of the house red wine (delicious, and amazingly only $8.50 for the bottle). Our entire bill (4 dishes, the appetizer sausages, the cheese board, a bottle of red wine, and one extra glass of red wine) came out to only 63 euros, which is one of the very best values I’ve ever had eating anywhere in the world.
I highly recommend that you try this restaurant! It has a nice vibe, warm/friendly service, and great food and wine. It’s right near the caldeiras, so should be convenient to wherever you are!
Thanks so much for a fantastic experience, Magda!