A leisurely lunch that takes us to Portugal

Beira Alta

Where: Shop 6D, Ballito Lifestyle Centre, Ballito

Open: Daily 11am to 9pm

Call: 032 946 2388

Being up in the Ballito area I decide to meet The Advocate for lunch and we are soon hunkered down in one of his favourites, Beira Alta. Known for its comfy Portuguese staples it’s a go to spot for many Ballito families.

Smart decor, good service and simple fare - it’s been a winning formula for over 20 years. And for Sunday lunch offers a lovely relaxed vibe.

Starters might include prawn rissoles, or a traditional kale soup (calde verde) or trinchado. There’s pan fried prawns and grilled sardines or Portuguese sausage. There’s also a calamari and prawn salad, or chef’s salad which includes chicken livers.

We opt for a mixed starter plate of calamari, chicken livers and chorizo, all in a mild peri-peri sauce (R220). All very enjoyable. We mopped up all the extra sauce with soft fresh Portuguese rolls. We were happy.

Mains offer a couple of simple pasta dishes, a few curries including a paneer version and a vegetable and chickpea curry aimed at vegetarians. Chicken and beef prego rolls feature as does a steak roll topped with a fried egg. There’s two different traditional servings of bacalhau (cod) and another dish of spicy tomato and seafood rice which I remember from a previous visit.

There’s a full selection of seafood from linefish, sole, kingklip, hake, calamari and prawns etc along with a number of combos. The platter for two certainly looks reasonable.

The Advocate knew what he wanted - their half baby chicken with calamari (R220) and there was none of this mild nonsense to satisfy me. No, it would be hot. He enjoyed it immensely. The chicken is properly cooked and juicy and super tender. The heat spot on. It was an infinite improvement on a similar dish he failed to finish in last week’s review. That will probably go down in his horrors of 2025 selection.

Under grills they have a selection of aged steaks, pork and lamb chops, pork ribs and even a Portuguese burger. I fancied the ruby port steak (R265) topped with mushrooms and chourico and a creamy port sauce. Lovely steak and good chips, the sauce perhaps a shade on the sweet side but I enjoyed it. The one thing you can never complain of here is that there isn’t enough sauce. The chips offered a good mop up.

For deserts I was hoping they would do a Portuguese flam - a type of creme caramel - but sadly not. There’s custard tarts and leite which is a zesty Portuguese style creme brulee and a pyramid chocolate log cheesecake, which certainly sounds interesting. The Advocate went for the hazelnut Pavlova (R98), which was layers of soft meringue, and kahlua creme with chocolate and roasted hazelnuts. It was an enormous helping, but impossibly sweet for my taste.

Instead I slurped my way merrily through my whiskey dom pedro. I also enjoyed my coffee, a strong, dark roast very much in the Portuguese mold.

Food: 3

Service: 3 ½

Ambience: 3 ½

The Bill: Sorry lost in the wash