The restaurant Tromba Rija in Leiria, an hour north-east of Lisbon and within striking distance of the pilgrimage site of Fatima, is equally renowned amongst restaurant-loving Portuguese but for two very different reasons which earn it the title of the world's most democratic restaurant.

The first is the quantity, and in many instances, the quality on offer. There is no menu here, just a table of about 80 first courses from which you help yourself, then tables of 15-20 cheeses and the same number of desserts. In between, although our friends forgot to warn us, came four hefty main courses including two variations on salt cod, a partridge and cabbage stew and another minimalist classic, clams with sausage and beans. The democratic principle - you help yourself to everything other than the plates of fruit, nuts, digestives and coffees - is extended to a large supply of notepaper on each table for comments which are then affixed to the restaurant's wooden beams.

Tromba Rija (pig's snout) is not the place for a romantic dinner but for any group travelling in the area it is a must. As long as they arrive hungry.