Restaurante Mosteiro do Leitão

When I selected Portugal as my next destination, I knew next to nothing about the food here. I assumed that it would be Spanish food since they are right next to each other. Friends of mine would later rave about how good and how affordable the food is in Portugal. Even then I only had a vague idea of what they eat here – sardines and a lot of seafood. One thing which stood out for me was when I was told they have good roast pig here. It seems the Portuguese are well known for their roast piglet or leitão.

I just arrived in Batalha and I was trying to find a place to have dinner at. I asked the staff and I was told of a few places. I asked specifically about leitão and I was pointed to this restaurant Restaurante Mosteiro do Leitão. I had to go back to the main highway coming into the Batalha. It was a rather unassuming restaurant except for the vehicles parked outside the building. Fortunately, I got there quite early and I got seats inside. Naturally, I was excited for my leitão. Much as I wanted to have one for myself, even a single piglet would be too much for me to eat. Just my luck, they offer much smaller portions for those who don’t have the numbers.

I would watch in envy as piglet after piglet would be brought out from the kitchen to be carved up for the customers. I only got a small plateful of it but it was already more than enough for me. I had a few side dishes as well such as octopus salad, chick peas and even mushroom rice which was once named as Portugal’s best rice. As for the roast pig? It was the best I had in a long while. The skin was crispy and the meat itself was nice and flavorful that you don’t need any sauce to eat it with. Eventually, the restaurant filled up while I was cleaning up my plate. I washed everything down with some Portuguese wine.

Mosteiro do Leitão
IC2, Casal da Amieira #33,
2440-477 Batalha, Portugal

+351 244 767 853

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