Portugalia

I was picking up some Portuguese groceries in Newark this afternoon - one should never, ever run out of Delta coffee beans - and decided to stroll over to Portugalia Bar & Restaurant, a favorite of my good friend Michael's. This was not the first time I had reconnoitered the joint, but the pratos do dia (daily specials) had never been inspiring enough to get me to stop in... until this evening. There on the list was cabidela de galinha, probably my favorite Portuguese dish of all time.

Now, it may not look like much (and the lighting there did not help things one bit - my apologies for the dimness of the photo), but it is utter deliciousness. Chicken is stewed with its giblets, removed from the pot, and rice is then cooked in the same liquid. "What's that brown color, then?" you may ask. The dish is finished with chicken blood. When the chicken is killed, the blood is saved, with some vinegar mixed in to prevent coagulation. For my taste, there was just a bit too much of that vinegar in Portugalia's cabidela, but overall a good rendition of the dish.

Most of the patrons were eating either this, or the grilled chicken, which looked excellent (even better than Ferry St. Barbecue's). And the accompanying fried potatoes are the first and only I've seen in the U.S. that look exactly like they do in Portugal. I do believe that's what I'll be sampling my next trip here.

Portugalia
280 Ferry St., Newark, NJ 07105
973-465-0696
(from Newark Penn Station, walk 13 blocks east on Ferry St. - 12 to 15 minutes)