A Travessa

The restaurant A Travessa is a classic of the Madragoa neighbourhood in Santos, occupying part of the Convento das Bernardas. With a room decorated according to this space’s antiquity, it also benefits from being able to use the convent’s cloister (which also houses the Museum of Puppetry), as a pleasant interior terrace. The cuisine is inspired by the Belgium’s traditions, where the owner Vivianne Durieu is from, but also offers good Portuguese dishes. So, on Saturday the prime dish are the moules frites, the famous mussels and chips that are the delight of the Belgians. But here the meals always begin with an assortment of appetizers, which include eggs with mushrooms, breaded goat cheese with strawberry jam, farinheiras (a pork sausage made of flour and spices) and padrón peppers.

After these appetizers, there are dishes such as grilled fresh fish, roosterfish fillets with champagne, grouse in Convento das Bernardas style and pork chops with herbs. Regarding desserts, A Travessa offers doçes conventuais (Portuguese convents traditional sweets) and Belgian pralines (chocolates with various fillings). To drink, besides a good wine list, this restaurant has a multitude of Belgian beers, which should be drunk very fresh. You can smoke on the mentioned terrace and although it is almost impossible to park nearby, A Travessa solved the problem with an old truck that brings and takes guests between the largo Vitorino Damásio car park and the restaurant (call it by number 968 939 125). Note that this restaurant does not serve lunches on Mondays and Saturdays and is closed on Sundays.