For as long as I have lived in Jersey, I have never made it into the Ironbound section of Newark for Portuguese food. I know the names of the old stalwarts like Iberian Peninsula, etc., but I was wondering if anyone frequents the area and would recommend a place or two. Dare I hope for a BYO?
We used to frequent Newark for Spanish/Portuguese, but haven’t done so over the last several years. In any case, we’ve always liked Casa Vasca for the their dishes with Basque infusion. It’s in the residential neighborhood, parallel to Ferry Street. Iirc, paid $15/bottle corkage the last time we ate there.
http://www.casavascarestaurant.com/Casa_Vasca/Welcome.html
edited: to note that your post title and content asked for Portuguese recommendation. Note that my recommendation was for a Spanish/Basque restaurant.
Mompou for Tapas. No BYO, but killer sangria.
I don’t eat there regularly but have had business dinners at Fornos. Food is quite good and I thought wine list was very good and not pricey.
I also have mostly enjoyed my meals at Casa Vasca, particularly seafood. The least favorite dish I’ve had there was a suckling pig which had very little flavor (how do you even DO that?).
Several of the restaurants are a bit touristy, and serve paella with a lot of rice (cheap stuff not Bomba), I think it’s easy to be disappointed.
At Casa Vasca there are some good Spanish wines at decent prices on the list.
Coimbra on Market St. There is a bar area and a restaurant area. Great value and good authentic food. Be sure to order the mushroom app and also the flaming sausage. Order some Portugese wines from the list.
Forno’s is good, but a bit large. Campino’s is a bit off the beaten track and quite good.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I’ll be trying them out soon.
From a woman who lives in that area and is of Portugese descent/background who seems very interested and knowledgable. (I’m interested in knowing this, too, so I asked her.)
_Three of my favorite restaurants in the Ironbound area are:
Sol-Mar Restaurant
https://www.solmar-restaurant.com/\
Taste of Portugal
http://www.tasteofportugalnj.com/\
Fernandes Steakhouse
http://www.fernandessteakhouse.com/\
The above restaurants are all reasonably priced except for Fernandes Steakhouse which is a little bit pricier.
Another Portuguese restaurant which I have been going to lately is in Elizabeth, NJ and the food is excellent (and reasonably priced) is Valenca Restaurant:
http://valencarestaurantnj.com/_
Forgot about Sol Mar. That’s the one you want. The nicer side.
Valenca’s is great but not BYO and wine list is not very good.