Chef Manny’s Blog
Mateus Restaurant
Recently my daughter & I and some friends visited Mateus Seafood and Steak Restaurant in Ludlow MA. It’s no secret that I like Portuguese restaurants & I always enjoy going to Mateus. Mateus is tucked away from the main streets of Ludlow Massachusetts in a quiet neighborhood in the mist of the Portuguese community and within walking distance to the local Gremio Lusitano Portuguese Club and home of the Western MA Pioneers semi-pro soccer team.
Mateus serves up daily specials in they’re spacious bar area as well as in they’re separate dinning area. In the bar area there is a long table area with stools all around where people come & meet up & enjoy a tasteful lunch while visiting with friends or making new friends. It’s a joyous atmosphere reminiscent of the laid back & carefree lifestyle of Portugal. I highly recommend a visit with friends or by yourself for a great lunch.
But back to our visit. We were greeted and served by Kelly. Mateus is a family restaurant and Kelly is the daughter, you’ll probably be greeted by Kelly’s mom Maria and likely get served by her brother Cliff if you go to the bar area where you’ll also likely to meet Manny (the Dad & Husband) as he mingles with the bar patrons.
One of the meals I was determined to have was Shrimp Mozambique (Camarao a Moçombique), as I was told that Chef Anna makes the best Moçombiqe sauce in the Northeast. Mozambique sauce has a long history in the Portuguese culture. It’s a spicey sauce that is made from the elusive piri-piri pepper that was brought back to Portugal from Africa during the early exploration and colonizations by Portugal. I spoke with Anna about how she makes her Moçombique sauce and the only thing she would tell me is that “it’s a secret and I don’t want to give it away, it takes me one to two months to prepare it”. So given that, I not only wanted to try it I also wanted to visit with her in the kitchen to watch her prepare my delicacy and was ecstatic that she allowed me that privilege. Once in the kitchen and after a light hearted bantering with her to try & pry the recipe from her, I gave in & watched her go to work as she butterflied some large shrimp (leaving the shells on) she then barbecued them for a few minutes. Once slighty toasted she submerged them into a pan where she had mixed her piri-piri sauce with some white wine and some other ingredients (I had to swear I wouldn’t tell), and the magic was done. She then serves them up on some Portuguese fried potatoes with sprigs of parsley & lemon.. I have to say that it WAS DELICIOUS.
We started our meal with some chouriça served flaming in a special Portuguese chouriça cooker as well as some delightful and tasty Pasteis de bacalhau (fried codfish cakes) and Rissois de Camarao (fried shrimp cakes).
My daughter Jackie had the Bachalhao Mateus, ($16.00) a very generous portion of Bachalhao that is dipped in an egg batter, deep fried then oven baked and topped of with a medley of onions yellow & green sautéed peppers and served with the same delicious Portuguese fried potatoes.
Our guests had a delicious Chicken Francais, ($14.95) the chicken was very tender and the creamy lemon sauce was delicious. Our other guest chose a T-Bone Steak a Chef, a generous great looking T-bone steak served up with two butterfly-grilled shrimp, two grilled scallops, rice & homestyle round fries, a great meal deal at only $19.95. All portions were very generous and required containers to take some home.
We were enticed to try the desserts which are made on premise. They have a great variety to choose from, we chose the “Bolo de Bolacha, the (Portuguese tiramisu) made with maria crackers soaked in coffee & layered with whipped cream & sprinkled with almonds, (delicious). I had to try the “Molotov cake” a light & delicious meringue cake topped with a caramel cream, again Anna made a great dessert that just melts & seams to explode in your mouth. This dessert is very popular in Portugal. We also tried the homemade Chocolate Mousse, again light & fluffy yet rich in chocolate. The Pudim Flan was also delicious and a genourous piece. They also have homemade Crème Brulee and cheesecake to try on our next visit.
We finished off our meals with some espresso and latte’s and left very content. I look forward to going again and recommend that you make the trip as well.
Mateus Restaurant is little slice of Portugal tucked away on 18 Worcester Street in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Click here to see they’re menu. Click here for map and directions.
This entry was posted by Manny Lopes on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 7:28 pm and is filed under Reviews & Recomendations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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Tee says: |
| Love to see photos of their dishes.
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Kaeden says: |
| I will be sure to bookmark your site and check later.
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Elaina says: |
| I wrote a similar blog on this subject but you nailed it here.
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Emilee says: |
| Thank you for a great blog.
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Deacon says: |
| I don’t usually post but I enjoyed your blog a lot.
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Mackeran says: |
| Very interesting. I read with great pleasure.
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Andrew says: |
| This is an excellent write up.
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