SQ26/25 SIN-FRA-SIN A380 Biz & Suites: Frankfurt Xmas Markets & 2 Weeks in Portugal

[yflyer]

From Castelo do Sao Jorge, we took a walk down from the castle to Rossio Square.

Our destination was A Ginjinha Espinheira, at the north end of the Square. We were, of course, there to sample Ginjinha, a cherry liqueur made from sour cherries soaked in aguardente. The traditional place to sample this inexpensive but strong beverage was this store at Rossio Square, dating back to at least 1910.



There were only 2 choices available, you could have Ginjinha with or without the cherries...



We opted to leave the cherries in...



We stepped outside the store, said "Cheers!" to each other, and downed our shots. The drink was sweet, but the cherries were sour. A nice contrast. Tasty! I was very tempted to have another shot, but Mrs yflyer reminded me that we had a big lunch ahead which included a comprehensive wine pairing, so I decided to heed her better judgement and not have another round...



We took a taxi back to the Moxy to freshen up, before heading for lunch...

[yflyer]

We had been looking forward to lunch that day. This was, gastronomically speaking, the highlight of our trip...



We would be dining at the Chef's Table at Belcanto...



Belcanto was the flagship restaurant of chef and restauranteur Jose Avillez, one of Portugal's most highly regarded chefs.



We arrived 10 minutes early for our reservation, and were warmly greeted and shown to our table.



We passed through Belcanto's beautiful main dining room, which was serene, quiet...



By contrast, the Chef's Table was located in the kitchen, which was buzzing with energy....



Just a single U-shaped table...



...set in the kitchen amidst the staff prepping the day's meal service...



"Can we take a look around?" I asked...

"You are our guest in our kitchen today, you are most welcome to!"



This would be a unique way to enjoy a meal at Belcanto...



Apart from ourselves, there was another pair of guests dining at the Chef's Table, a pleasant young couple who were visiting from the USA.



In charge of the Chef's Table that day was Nelson, a charming and gregarious host, who was a brilliant guide and navigator through the culinary journey that was about to begin...

[yflyer]

To begin, a pair cocktails, Elderini's...



...which were light and refreshing.

Then small brioche rolls filled with cod liver and trout roe...



Nelson would describe each dish as it came, but we had no idea what the full scope of the menu was...this was a tasting menu designed by Chef Avillez to surprise as much as delight...

We also opted to go for the wine pairing, which began with the Phaunus Pet Nat Rosé, a sparkling rose winé from the Vinho Verde wine region of Portugal...



Next came a bronze-coloured sphere, placed on a beautiful silver spoon...



"What is that?" we asked...

"You have to guess!" was Nelson's cheeky reply...



We took a bite...

Foie gras! Delicious!

Next was a dish of tuna tartare with borage, an edible blue flower...



The fatty tuna had such a lovely texture...

The tuna tartare contrasted very well with a bite of roasted chicken skin, with minced squid and egg yolk puree...



Our next wine was the Aribbas Saroto 2021, a white wine from Tras-os-Montes...



...to go with the next course, Carrot with Different Textures...



Different textures indeed! What a delicate interplay of tastes...

A selection of bread was offered...



...along with 3 types of butter, flavoured with rosemary ashes, tomato and Portuguese sausage, and bird's egg...



The next wine was Nossa Calcário Branco 2021, a white wine with mineral notes that was beautifully crisp...



A deconstructed Ceasar Salad was placed before me...



I marvelled at how each ingredient could be enjoyed in turn, with the added bonus of ultra tender, fresh lobster chunks. How fresh? Nelson pointed to the tank of live lobsters at one end of the kitchen...it didn't get much fresher than that!

[yflyer]

Next, a blockbuster of a white wine, the 1984 vintage of Porta dos Cavaleiros, from the Dão wine region.



This was an intense, complex wine, which was perfect to go with one of José Avillez's signature dishes, the Garden of the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs...



While one could question the rationale for using gold as an ingredient, this was a dish as stunning to the eye as to the palate...


With gentle pressure from the spoon, the fine gold leaf gave way to soft, oozing egg yolk...



This tasted really good...



Was this OTT? Perhaps...but an unforgettable dish all the same.

[yflyer]

The next wine was Cortes de Cima's Lourinho 2020, a white wine made from Alvarinho and Loureiro grapes grown along the Atlantic Coast by Cortes de Cima, a new winery founded by a Danish American couple, Hans and Carrie Jorgensen in 1988, with the reigns now handed over in 2020 to daughter and winemaker Anna Jorgensen. What a dynamic scene there is in Portugal these days, with ancient vineyards and traditions co-existing alongside the new players on the scene...



This wine was paired with a dish that had some fusion/Asian elements...Portugese Scarlet Shrimp with curry, and it's head in ashes...



This was delicious shrimp, with the unctuous flavour of the prawn heads permeating the Thai-style curry gravy...

Mrs yflyer had requested that the menu not contain any strong spicy/hot flavours, so the kitchen had done a special version of the dish for her, and to be frank, this looked quite jawdropping...



She beamed from ear to ear when this was served, and sucked the delicious contents of the prawn head with unrestrained glee...

[yflyer]

Our next course was fish. This was hake in a creamy sauce, served with cod fish maw...



The fish was firm yet tender, and but the highlight of this dish was really the fish maw that had a wonderful soft mouthfeel.

This was paired with Quinta de La Rosa "Tim", a white wine from the Douro Valley...

[yflyer]

Then, finally a red wine...



This was Poeira Tinto 35 Barricas, 2018, from the Douro Valley, made with a blend of old vines and Touriga Nacional and as well as Touriga Franca, aged in French oak...a subtle and complex wine which I really enjoyed...



This wine would partner the next two dishes, first a roasted squab, served with a truffle Portuguese custard tart...



...as well as a suckling pig dish, which was just delicious...



Roast suckling pig is a famous Chinese banquet dish, and Mrs yflyer and I would inevitably judge every other culture's equivalent against this Chinese gold standard...today's sucking pig course passed with flying colours...this was as satisfying as we had eaten, with crisp skin that you bit into with a satisfying crunch, and a layer of slightly fatty meat underneath the skin to give it depth and texture...

[yflyer]

It was time for dessert....

We were surprised to find a sewn sleeve placed in front of each of us...



"When chef Avillez was young," our server explained, "he always ate in a hurry and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.."

...the intent was to try to evoke and share joyful memories of his youth...

"...for the rest of the meal, please wear this sleeve and use it as a napkin..."

Who were we to disagree? There were big grins all round the table as we dutifully put the sleeves on...

Our dessert wine was Aneto Colheita Tardia...



The first dessert was "Bacon from Heaven", whose sweet elements contrasted with the tangy and citrusy leche de tigre sauce....



It felt weird wiping our mouths on our sleeve when we finished, but we all got into the spirit of things and put the sleeves to our mouths. For a moment, I felt a little liberated, uninhibited...it felt as if I was doing something I wasn't allowed to do anymore...maybe that was Chef Avillez's intention!

And then, the only non-Portuguese wine of the meal, a Riesling Spatzlese from Fritz Haag....



...to go with Apple and Rhubarb pie...



Finally, Choux with yuzu curd, perched on a sunflower...



Delicious!



Finally, a small spiced pie with hazelnut, almond and truffle flavours to round off an incredible meal...



At the end of the meal, we were presented with the menu, which listed not only the courses and the wines, but the year in which each course was created...



Our meal had started at 1pm...it was now 4.30pm...

What an amazing meal. This really showcased the range and inspiration of Jose Avillez...we were truly impressed and bowled over by the whole experience.

This was a meal that Mrs yflyer and I would be talking about for years to come!

[yflyer]

The next morning, we headed to Lisbon Airport to catch our flight to Funchal, on the island of Madeira.



The airport was pretty busy in the morning, but the TAP premium check-in area, which Star Alliance Gold members were eligible to use, was quite empty, so we were able to check in very quickly...



There was also fast track security for Star Alliance Gold. What a great airport experience so far, but the best was yet to come.



The TAP Lounge in Lisbon was closed for renovations.



Instead, we were each given a USD10 voucher for food at the F&B outlets in the airside area...



There were a huge number of dining options, ranging from fast food to more elaborate selections.



We opted to sample traditional Portuguese cuisine...



From the available hot selections (Which all looked very good)...



...we picked the bacalao (salted cod) and rice...



...and washed it down with an ice cold beer...

[yflyer]

After our meal, we headed to the boarding gate for TP1689 LIS-FNC.



At the gate, I got to introduce Mrs yflyer to the beep of joy...

This looked to be a completely full flight. A day or so before the flight, TAP sent me an email inviting me to bid for an upgrade. This was a 1 hr 45 minute flight. It's a short flight, and European business class was just Y with an empty seat in between. Nah, I would pass. What a good decision.

As our boarding passes were scanned, the machine gave a beep, and both our passes were swapped for first row seats in Business class. Yay!



This flight appeared to be full of holidaymakers, rather than frequent traveler business types. I think as a Star Alliance Gold Member, I must have been quite high on the upgrade priority list. Perfect.

This flight was operated by TAP Airbus A319 reg CS-TTP.



This was a 22 year old aircraft, first flown in 2000.



While the aircraft was one of the oldest in the TAP fleet, the interiors looked to have been recently refurbished, and appeared quite new.

[yflyer]

Our seats were in the first row, Aisle and Window.



This was what passed for Business Class for intra-Europe flights (This was the same for other airlines as well, including LH and BA). You had some additional seat pitch, and an empty middle seat, but were essentially seated in an economy class seat. Still it was good to have an empty middle seat and some extra room to stretch out on this short flight.

There was a A/C and USB power socket under the seat.



Short taxi and quick turn onto the runway for an immediate take-off...



Nice views of the riverfront out the starboard side windows as we climbed out...



...with the Belem Tower clearly visible...



From that point, the flight would be over water...



A bright and airy cabin today...



Individually adjustable air vents...



Single bathroom in front of the cabin for the use of J pax...



A curtain was pulled across the aisle between the Y and J cabins...

[yflyer]

There would be a full meal service in J today.



Menus were handed out...



Lunch was served on a single tray. It looked pretty good...



A choice of wines was offered...



I asked for half a glass of each to try, and the cabin crew were happy to oblige...



A selection of bread was also offered.



Mrs yflyer and I both found the cottage cheese starter quite delicious...



The mushroom and pumpkin pasta was piping hot, and very tasty as well...



Dessert was rice pudding with pear and chocolate. This dessert was on the lighter side, which was perfect for me.



As I finished dessert, I had an unmistakeable pop coming from the galley.

Wow! There was sparkling wine onboard! This wasn't offered to us initially. Was this the TAP secret menu? (Or more likely, common knowledge for frequent travellers, not TAP newbies like ourselves).

"Is there any sparkling wine onboard?" I asked...

"Yes there is!"



Yum...



A round of post-lunch coffee and tea was served...



An excellent meal. We were both quite impressed by TAP's J class meal service on this short sector.

[yflyer]

We commenced descent...



As we descended below cloud cover, I could see the island of Madeira in the distance...



Unusually, today's approach was a relatively rare straight in approach...



...landing towards the southwest, on Runway 23, as shown below...



On most days, the aircraft would fly by the airport then do a 180 degree right hand turn for a landing towards the Northeast, on Runway 05, in the other direction. (An example of this is shown below, from the same flight a day later...)



This latter approach, with 180 degree turn to runway 05 would give right side windox pax a great view of the airport before the aircraft turned to land.

However, the approach for our flight, straight in to runway 23, also provide some very nice views out the right hand side windows...



On our final approach, we passed close to the hillside of the island...



...I marvelled at the rugged scenery of this volcanic island, similar in size to Singapore, but far more mountainous....



Seconds before touchdown...I couldn't believe how close we were to the hillside...



A silky smooth landing...



On some days, a landing in Funchal could be very windy, but luckily for us (Or unluckily, if you were an adrenaline junkie...) it was a very calm day, with hardly any wind, when we landed. It felt no differerent from your typical landing.



We disembarked via air stairs and walked to the terminal...

[yflyer]

The terminal itself was close to the coastline, with great views of the Atlantic Ocean from within the terminal...



...as well as from the driveway and nearby bus top.



The whole place had a great holiday vibe to it. Weather was pleasantly warm as well.

Before catching the bus to the city of Funchal, we headed up to the Airport viewing gallery for a quick look...



We could see pax already boarding our TAP Airbus for the aircraft's return sector to Lisbon, TP1684...



On windy days, there would probably be more plane spotters here, with big telephoto lenses, catching planes gyrating as they descended through the turbulence and gusts of wind, but not today...today the wind was so still even the tree's weren't swaying...

Great for as far as safetly was concerned, but a little boring for aviation buffs.

At the time, I was a bit disappointed at how tame our landing at FNC was, but after watching this video of some other recent landings at Funchal, I felt very thankful that mine was an uneventful one!

[yflyer]

I proposed to Mrs yflyer that we take the airport bus to our hotel...



This was a popular, and inexpensive, way to get the city. The drive was quite scenic as well, giving first time visitors a great view of Funchal as we drove...



We got off the bus quite close to our hotel...