York’s homegrown purveyors of piri-piri chicken, the team at Frango Eduardo have been bringing a taste of Portugal, in a tapas style, to the city since 2021. Now that their new restaurant, Tasca Frango, has arrived on Colliergate, we’re taking a look at their rather impressive story so far.
The idea behind Frango Eduardo was hatched during the COVID-19 pandemic, when, like many others at that time, Ted Hustler found himself unexpectedly unemployed. Ted had been visiting Portugal since his childhood and loved the country’s ‘unpretentious – yet tasty and robust’ cuisine. This passion was shared by his partner, Emma Hargreaves, and her father, Steve. During lockdown, the trio would enjoy daily barbecues where they would try to recreate the flavourful piri-piri chicken they had sampled at tascas (relaxed, family-run eateries) on the Iberian Peninsula. Ted couldn’t understand why this delicious dish wasn’t more widely available in Yorkshire and so, once their recipe was perfected, they decided to share it by opening their first street food stall at SPARK.
‘Frango’ means chicken in Portuguese, and it was Frango Eduardo’s incredible boneless skin-on thighs that first helped them to make a name for themselves. These are left to sit for 24 hours in a marinade before being chargrilled and basted to ensure they are both crisp and juicy.
In 2021, the Frango team ran their first pop up at Thor’s Tipi in the grounds of the Principal Hotel and they have returned there every summer since. The following year, they left SPARK and moved into the Supersonic Gym on Stonebow, where they took over the kitchen and cafe area after 6pm. In this large indoor space they really came into their own with live music and other exciting events taking place on a regular basis. They were also able to introduce some new dishes, including plates of petiscos, or tapas.
Supersonic suddenly closed earlier this year but Frango were able to find a new premises on Colliergate – a street which they’d tried to open a restaurant on prior to their time at the gym. Running alongside the Frango Eduardo takeaway business, Tasca Frango inhabits the former Chloes of York tearoom at number 28, in a revamped space with a warm and inviting interior and a relaxed, sociable atmosphere.
At Tasca Frango, you can start your meal with a range of tempting sharing plates such as crispy grilled sardines with molhu cru (a Portuguese chimichurri sauce) or halloumi dressed with olive oil, lemon, honey and oregano. These can then be followed by meat, fish or vegetarian dishes like blackened spiced hispi cabbage or Frango’s signature Goan chicken curry. For dessert, options include classic pastel de nata or burnt cheesecake with port-poached seasonal fruit.
Tasca Frango is open until 9:30pm on weekdays and 10:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and, alongside all of the wonderful food, it also offers Portuguese wines or cocktails like the ‘classical and classy’ Frango’s Margarita or White Port Tonic. Of course, those famous chicken thighs are still on the menu and remain a highlight. If you haven’t tried them yet, what are you waiting for?
