Restaurant Review: Enjoy a meal in Aveiro’s pink garden

While spending a weekend in Aveiro, I found out about Flower Garden, a new restaurant in Aveiro with meat and fish dishes, with a great variety of courses being served at a reasonable price.

The restaurant is easy to identify, as it is located in a pink building on Rua António dos Santos Lé, very close to the Aveiro Rossio. While entering the Flower Garden, I was transported to a place where I forgot, for a moment, that I was in Aveiro. Pink walls, with a very beautiful flower theme wallpaper and a magnificent tree, with pink flowers.

The staff working at Flower Garden was very welcoming and led me to a table where I could sit on a sofa, or a regular chair, while the menu was ready to be seen.

Starting the meal

Among the variety of choices, I picked the croquet of cheese and smoked ham, to start the dinner, and I must say that it was a great choice. Five yellow little balls arrived at the table, decorated with edible herbs, olives, and small dots of homemade mayonnaise, to accompany the croquets. This starter is the kind of dish that is supposed to be eaten with your fingers, and not with a fork and a knife, at least that’s what I think. The first bite was the starting point that made me realise that the whole meal would be fantastic. The flavours were harmonious, whereby the cheese and the smoked ham combined perfectly with the crunchy outside part of the croquet, which managed to match perfectly with the mayonnaise served with the dish.

Here comes the main course…

The expectations were high after the amazing starter I had and for the main course, I asked for steak with, what they called, wood’s rice, with mushrooms and truffles. In front of me, I had a friend who asked for pork, with mashed potatoes, however, made under the influence of Alentejo cuisine with tomato and cilantro.

I was a bit nervous about my steak, it is difficult to find a place where the meat is cooked the way I like. I asked the waiter to tell the chef I wanted a rare steak and my wish was conquered. As soon as the courses arrived at the table, the smells were amazing, and I could instantly tell that my steak was cooked the way I liked it, which added extra points to what was already an amazing experience.

The rice was similar to a risotto, and as a mushroom lover, I felt that I could have eaten tons of that amazing rice, straight out of the woods, as the menu mentioned. Of course, I had to taste a bit of my friend’s dish, and all I can say is that I’m glad we made different choices. With this, I had the opportunity to taste two amazing dishes, making it impossible to pick a favourite.

You know what I deserve? Dessert!

The sizes of the main courses that are served are the perfect amount of food; however, it is always possible to find some more space for the dessert.

As an avid white chocolate and red fruit fan, I had to pick the white chocolate cake that came along with red fruits. While making the choice the waiter smiled at me and told me right away that I made the greatest choice. And she was not lying, at all! The cake was soft, and the red fruits were heated and had an amazing sour sauce that combined perfectly with the white chocolate sweetness.

Was it perfect?

If somebody asked me that about Flower Garden, my answer would obviously be yes. There is nothing wrong to point out about this restaurant. From the atmosphere of the room to the food to the warmth of the staff, everything was perfect, and all I can say is that I would like to come back to Flower Garden, as soon as possible!

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos