Zé Manel dos Ossos

Down a narrow alley behind the old bishop's palace, Zé Manel dos Ossos. 'Joe the Bones'. Is the most famous tasca in Coimbra and one of the most loved in Portugal. The dining room is barely bigger than a wide corridor, holds perhaps thirty diners when packed, and is covered wall to ceiling in handwritten notes left by generations of Coimbra students who could not afford to tip with cash.

The menu is read off a board on the wall and changes daily. What reliably appears: javali estufado (wild boar stew, the name-making dish), feijoada à transmontana (bean stew with four kinds of pork), bacalhau à Brás, tripas à moda do Porto, and whatever fish has come up from Figueira da Foz that morning. The wine is house red from Bairrada, in ceramic jugs, poured as if from a bottomless source.

The rhythm is fast. Service is run by two or three people who have been there for decades. Portions are generous to the point of absurdity. Bread and presunto arrive without asking. If you order the wild boar, you will leave unable to eat dinner tomorrow.

There is no reservation system. Arrive around 19:30 on a weekday for the best chance of a table without a wait; weekends, expect to stand on the cobblestones for twenty minutes. It is worth every second.

Zé Manel is where Coimbra students bring their visiting parents, where foreign journalists are taken for their first Portuguese lunch, and where a team of eight can feed extremely well for under €25 a head including wine. The room forces conversation and forgives loud laughter. It is the opposite of a formal dinner, which is what makes it perfect for a team.