The menu

To Start

• Caldo Verde

  R58

  Avó's green soup — shredded kale, potato and chouriço, finished with olive oil. Comes with a warm Portuguese roll.

• Peri-Peri Wings

  R78

  Six wings grilled sticky in the house peri-peri, with a lemon wedge. Napkins are not optional.

• Peri-Peri Chicken Livers

  R74

  Pan-fried in the hot marinade with garlic and a splash of cream. Keep the roll for the sauce — you'll want it.

• Chouriço Assado

  R92

  Flame-grilled chouriço, split and charred, brought to the table still hissing.

• Trinchado

  R96

  Beef simmered slow in red wine, garlic and bird's-eye chilli. A starter in name only.

• Garlic Roll(V)

  R28

  A Portuguese roll soaked in garlic butter and toasted over the coals.

From the Grill

Everything here cooks over an open flame, basted as it turns. Chicken comes with your choice of baste — lemon & herb, mild, hot, or extra hot if you grew up on it. Grills are served with chips and spicy rice, or swap both for Portuguese salad.

• Peri-Peri Chicken

  from R95

  Flattened on the grill and basted until the skin blisters. Avó's marinade, unchanged since 1987.

  Quarter R95 · Half R148 · Full R268

  A full bird feeds two.

• Espetada da Casa

  R255

  Cubes of rump on the long skewer with bay leaf and coarse salt, hung at your table with garlic butter dripping down.

• Chicken Espetada

  R168

  Thigh meat skewered with peppers and onion, basted as it turns.

• Flame-Grilled Rump 300g

  R215

  Aged rump off the open flame, sliced, with roast potatoes and charred green peppers.

• Peri-Peri Prawns

  R298

  A dozen queen prawns in peri butter with lemon and a roll for mopping up.

• Pork Ribs 600g

  R218

  Marinated overnight in massa de pimentão, grilled until the edges catch.

• Grelhada Mista for Two

  R395

  The braai board — espetada, wings, chouriço, ribs and grilled peppers. How Sunday sounds at Avó's.

  Feeds two, comfortably.

Prego Rolls & Burgers

On Portuguese rolls from the bakery two doors down. Add chips with peri salt for R30.

• Prego Roll

  R92

  The one on the sign — 200g rump beaten thin, fried in garlic butter, a swipe of peri on the roll. Add a fried egg for R12.

• Chicken Prego

  R85

  Flattened chicken breast in the same garlic butter, your choice of baste.

• Bifana

  R79

  Thin pork simmered in white wine, garlic and paprika, piled onto a roll with mustard. Lisbon's favourite sandwich, Edenvale's secret.

• Avó's Burger

  R115

  200g chuck-and-brisket patty, grilled chouriço relish and cheese on a toasted roll.

• Peri-Peri Chicken Burger

  R105

  Flame-grilled thigh, peri mayo, shredded lettuce.

Sides

• Chips with Peri Salt(V)

  R42

  Twice-fried, dusted at the pass.

• Spicy Rice(V)

  R38

  Yellow rice with peppers and a quiet heat.

• Portuguese Salad(V)

  R52

  Tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives and oregano — dressed, not drowned.

• Grilled Mielie(V)

  R34

  Sweetcorn charred on the flame, rolled in peri butter.

• Avó's Peri-Peri 125ml(V)

  R48

  The bottle for the table. She still won't tell us everything that's in it.

Desserts

• Pastéis de Nata (two)(V)

  R58

  Baked every morning, blistered on top, cinnamon on the side. When they're gone, they're gone — come earlier next time.

• Bolo de Bolacha(V)

  R62

  Coffee-soaked biscuit cake with butter cream, from Avó's sister's recipe book. We won't say which sister.

• Serradura(V)

  R56

  "Sawdust pudding" — whipped cream layered with crushed Maria biscuits. The kids' favourite for three generations.

Drinks

• Sumol(V)

  R38

  Orange or passion fruit, ice-cold in the can. The taste of every Portuguese café in Joburg.

• Soft Drinks 330ml(V)

  R30

  Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite or Fanta.

• Still / Sparkling Water 500ml(V)

  R28

  Cold from the fridge, not the shelf.

• Sagres

  R52

  Portugal's beer, cold enough to hurt.

• Vinho Verde

  from R58

  Young, dry, barely fizzy — made for grilled chicken.

  Glass R58 · Bottle R225

• House Sangria (jug)

  R185

  Red wine, brandy, citrus and cinnamon. Weekend lunch fuel.

  Serves four.

• Galão(V)

  R38

  The tall milky one — proper Portuguese coffee to finish.

• Espresso (bica)(V)

  R28

  Short and strong, like Avó's opinions.