Carmello's and Little Portugal

We were happy to find a Portugese restaurant close by in Manassas. The atmosphere pleasantly surprised us. We had a little nook all to ourselves which is nice because we discuss everything we are tasting. We tried to only get Portugese sounding dishes; there was a lot of Italian on the menu.

As an appetizer we got Ameijoas a Portugesa. Clams with chorico. The sausage added a mild spiciness to the garlicy sauce. There were a good number of clams and the dish was freshened by the addition of parsley. The clams were fresh and not too gritty, but I could have done wihout the clams and just eaten the sauce with bread.

Carne de Porco a Alentejana. Was an interesting combination for American tastes. We don't usually think of Pork and clams going together but Julia thought it was quite tasty. The sauce was quite garlicy and finished with cilantro. This was a clear winner.

Frango Grelhado a Porto was just OK. It didn't seem particularly interesting. Chicken with port wine, mushrooms and pine nuts. Really more of just a classic continental dish.

Paelha Valenciana was full of seafood and the rice was delicious. We thought it was too big when it came out and then ended up eating almost all of it.

Vieras Fish and veggies this one seemed to be just a continental cuisine type of dish from the eighties in the same vein as the Chicken with Port wine. I am not sure what I was expecting. It was good but nothing remarkable that I would want to try again.

We ended up with dessert and coffee. The kids wanted this ice cream ball thing and we were snookered in because we wanted coffee. It was mass produced but tasty. John got lemon sorbet that was served in a lemon rind cup. That was perfect and refreshing after the meal. But I am still not sure if it was homemade.