O Reco da Baixa: Sande de Leitão (Suckling Pig Sandwich)

On my recent trip to Portugal, we made a relatively brief trip to the Vila do Conde Porto Fashion Outlet, a chance to do a little shopping. Vila do Conde, located about 20 minutes from Porto, is a coastal city with a rich history. So much of Portugal's cities and towns have such lengthy and fascinating histories. The outlet contains over 150 international fashion brands, all at discounted prices, as well as over a dozen fast food restaurants and cafes, from McDonald's to spots with more traditional Portuguese cuisine.

After shopping in a few stores, I wandered over to the food court, seeking out O Reco da Baixa, a place I'd previously read about. The restaurant specializes in Sande de Leitão, Suckling Pig Sandwiches, which easily beat having a Quarter Pounder. The restaurant was launched by four friends, Tomás Roquette, Rui Paiva, Henrique Pereira Leite and João Pedro Pereira Leite, who wanted to provide quality food in a casual setting. They source their piglets from the Anadia region, preparing them in a traditional manner. They now have several locations in northern Portugal and the outlet location was established in 2015.

The basic menu is simple and inexpensive, with a basic Suckling Pig sandwich for less than 6 Euros. And for only 7.5 Euros, you can get the sandwich with potato chips and a mug of beer (or 8.50 Euros for a cup of wine).

The Suckling Pig sandwich, almost like a sub, is essentially is sliced in half, both pieces fitting inside a cardboard box.

The sandwich is very simple, bread and lots of tender pork with pieces of crispy skin. With two of these sandwich halves in the box, you have a hearty meal. The bread was warm (a big bonus), thinner with a softness to much of it was well as a minor, but sufficient, level of crustiness. It was an excellent vehicle for the pork, making the meat the star rather than overgwhelming you with too much bread. The pork was flavorful and moist and I loved the crunchy pieces of skin. For a fast food restaurant, this was an impressive sandwich and I'd definitely recommend it.

The potato chips were a big hit too! They were clearly homemade, weren't too salty, had a nice crunch and sometimes a softness that comes from homemade chips. I could have easily devoured a large bag of these chips and they were a great accompaniment to the suckling pig sandwich.

Not all fast food restaurants are the same, and O Reco da Baixa shows the potential for quality food at value prices. Now we need a similar restaurant in the Boston area.