Tintol
155 West 46th Street (between Americas and Broadway)

What a wonderful place! Portuguese food has never been given proper credit for its wonderful and diverse flavours -- especially with the recent interest in Spanish tapas and Brazilian churrascarias. However, Tintol is a wonderful little place in the midst of Brazilian eateries that shine far beyond the West Side.

The restaurant focuses on Portuguese tapas themselves, and the diverse flavours of Portugal presented is just magical -- from the traditional bacalhau to the Porto-loved tripe, the selection is tantalising.

This, for all the right reasons, is a horrible place for a lone diner to enjoy -- because there is way too many good choices. It will force you to frequent this place, or to gather all your friends for a feast -- and then you'll be able to taste all the magical flavours in this restaurant.

The wine selection is excellent here as well, complementing the food successfully. I enjoy diverse tastes, and always have a nice selection to take with me since I over-order here. I especially enjoy the bolos de bacalhau (smoked cod fritters), tripas a modo do Porto (Porto-styles tripe), the ever-favourite and aesthetically fun flaming chorico, and all the grilled shellfish. My personal fave -- which is not to many people's taste -- is morcela (blood sausage), and Tintol does an excellent job.

Overall, this is a wonderful place to feast or to enjoy a nice meal alone (though the choices will inevitably cause you to keep coming back). This is one of the secret gems of Manhattan, and they deserve much success in the coming years!

Food: A
Atmosphere: A-
For Lone Diners: A-