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Posted on Jun 23, 2016 in Blog, Portugal

Dining in Lisbon 2016: A Guest Post by Richard Lachmann

Dining in Lisbon 2016: A Guest Post by Richard Lachmann

What follows are my evaluations of the places where we ate during our months of living in Lisbon in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 grouped into categories. I hope you will find this helpful if you travel to Lisbon, and that you will add your impressions of these and other Lisbon eateries in the comment section. When we return to Lisbon we will try your suggestions and incorporate them into the next edition of this listing.

The bar at José Avillez's newest Lisbon restaurant, Mini Bar.

The bar at José Avillez’s newest Lisbon restaurant, Mini Bar.

The restaurant scene in Lisbon is getting more interesting and exciting year by year. The best chefs offer Portuguese interpretations of the innovative techniques and ingredient combinations that are shared by top restaurants throughout Europe and North America. Asian influences also are becoming stronger in Portugal. This country both benefits from and contributes to the international flow of ideas about cooking.

Innovative restaurants (these seek to combine Portuguese ingredients and recipes with international contemporary cooking techniques and sensibilities):

Belcanto (Largo de São Carlos 10; phone 213-420-607). This is Lisbon’s most interesting and successful effort at molecular cuisine, making use of first class ingredients. Chef Jose Avillez richly deserves his two Michelin star rating. The menu is frequently updated, reflecting Avillez’s continuing experimentation.

100 Maneiras (Largo da Trindade 9; phone 910-307-575 http://www.restaurante100maneiras.com/?q=N/-/46). They have both a café and a restaurant with a single tasting menu. The café menu has an excellent variety of interesting dishes, well prepared. A wonderful new addition is their chlorophyll soup, in which a blend of greens is flavored with a powerful seafood broth.

Mini Bar (Rua Antonio Mari Cardoso 58; phone 211-305-393). The latest new restaurant from Jose Avillez, and next to Belcanto his best in Lisbon. He offers a 48-euro tasting menu, but there also is a fabulous a la carte selection too. The prices are a bargain for cooking with this level of technical sophistication. This restaurant is a way to taste Avillez’s molecular dishes without committing to the set multi-course tasting menu, currently 125 euros, at Belcanto. Minibar offers some of his classics, like his exploding olives, along with new dishes. I was especially impressed with his “Ferrero Roche,” small bites that look like the candy but instead are a flavorful liver mousse surrounded by nuts, a low temperature poached egg with parmesan, prawns with a ceviche-style sauce, and wonderful barely cooked scallops with Thai seasonings. There also are excellent meat dishes, and fun desserts. The wine selection is very good and well priced, and they offer innovative cocktails.

Casa de Pasto (Rua de São Paulo, 20; phone: 213-471-397). Interesting takes on traditional Portuguese food. Their razor clam soup is wonderful and other dishes were delightful and tasty. Prices are a bargain for food of this quality. They showcase excellent wines from new Portuguese producers (and have opened a wine bar on the ground floor with a small but well-chosen selection of Portuguese wines, available both for drinking their and at their outside tables and to take away; the restaurant is one flight up. Their plans to create a boutique hotel on the upper floors have fallen through at least for now). Service is friendly and professional, and the restaurant has a hip design, with perhaps the most fanciful looking bathrooms I’ve seen in a restaurant anywhere. Hipster and Trendsetter approve.

De Castro (Rua Marcos Portugal, 1; phone: 215 903 077) A less formal, but I think more interesting, restaurant from the chef of Largo. Outstanding fresh seafood and fish, innovative dishes, including de Castro’s renowned clams with butter beans. Service is excellent and knowledgeable. Prices are a bargain for food of this quality. The restaurant looks out on the pretty Praça das Flores in the Principe Real neighborhood.

Outside A Cevicheria in Principe Real.

Outside A Cevicheria in Principe Real.

A Cevicheria (Rua dom Pedro V 129; phone 218-038-815). Excellent super fresh fish and seafood is used to make ceviches with combinations that are interesting, tasty and different from the standards found in many cities around the world. Their prawn gazpacho with tapioca is a great starter. I especially was impressed by a dish called Sea Quinoto in which quinoa that is deeply flavored with seafood broth is combined with various shellfish. The chef also at times makes off the menu specials. I especially enjoyed a plain white fish ceviche enlivened with chestnut cream and a powerful truffle oil. Note: A Cevicheria does not take reservations and there can be long waits at dinnertime and on weekends.

Cantinho do Avillez (Rua dos Duques de Braganca 7; phone: 351-211-992-369. An informal restaurant from José Avillez, the chef of the wonderful Belcanto. The menu is meat-heavy with renowned steak sandwiches, but the appetizers and fish dishes are especially good.

Chefe Cordeiro (Praca Comercio 20/23; phone 216-080-090) A less formal restaurant from the chef José Cordeiro of Feitori, which has a Michelin star. The food at this restaurant is pleasant but far from Michelin quality. The room is gorgeous and has a view of the beautiful Praca Comercio. If you want to eat on the Praca this is the place to go, but it is not a destination.

Cafe Lisboa (Largo de S. Carlos, nº23; phone: 211 914 498) A bistro with Portuguese influence from José Avillez, the chef of the wonderful Belcanto. The café has a room inside the theater and also tables in the plaza in front of the Sao Carlos Theater, a beautiful setting for tasty food.

The view from Tagide.

The view from Tagide.

Tágide Restaurant and Wine and Tapas Bar (Largo da Academia Nacional de Belas Artes 18 and 20, Chiado; phone 213-404-010, restaurantetagide.com; closed Sundays. This restaurant has beautiful views of the river, the Cathedral, and Castelo St. Jorge. The restaurant is an elegant setting. Their soups and appetizers are especially good; the main courses are fine but less inspired. Their lobster bisque is wonderfully tasty and aromatic, and the broth that accompanies their clam appetizer is one of the most flavorful I have had anywhere in the world. The Wine and Tapas Bar also has good dishes: the tapas are excellent. Soups are wonderful, and I especially enjoyed their Mozambique Tiger Prawns with seafood and herbs ‘Açorda’. The selection of wines in both the restaurant and tapas bar is very good. Be aware, the tapas bar is very noisy in the evening but much quieter for lunch.

Decadente (Rua de São Pedro de Alcantara 81, Bairro Alto, phone 213-461-381, theindependente.pt). A fun but noisy restaurant. The décor and waiters have adopted the Brooklyn look. The service unfortunately is very inattentive. The appetizers were interesting but somewhat lacking in flavor. The main courses were tastier, and dessert excellent. Prices are extremely reasonable. A good, but not great addition to Lisbon’s food scene.

Pharmacia (Rua Marechal Saldanha 1; phone 213 462 146). A beautiful funky room inside the Museum of Pharmacy furnished with tables and other antique hospital equipment. The 28 euros tasting menu is a steal and the a la carte menu also is a bargain. The tapas portions are almost entree sized and most are 10 euros or under. Dishes are traditional Portuguese reimagined with contemporary techniques. Not all the dishes are successes, but overall a meal here is fun, with friendly service and great views of the Santa Catarina miradouro. The majority of dinners were locals when we ate there.

XL (Calcada da Estrela 57; phone 213-956-118) This elegant restaurant with excellent service sits across from the National Assembly. The style and menu seems designed to appeal to legislators and lobbyists, with many old-style, French-influenced dishes. Their savory soufflés are expertly prepared. The fish soufflé was light and the mainly egg filling was perfectly fluffy, but it also was almost tasteless. Their fried egg with foie gras sauce is wonderful, while their foie gras on brioche with a sherry sauce was less interesting.

1300 Taverna (Rua Rodrigues de Faria 103; phone 213-649-170) Located in LX Factory, a fun complex of stores and restaurants. Beautiful décor but mediocre food. A better and much less expensive choice is Malaca Too (phone 967-104-142) with a Pan-Asian menu. Their curries are especially good.

Seafood restaurants (these take advantage of Portugal’s outstanding fish and seafood):

Cervejaria da Esquina (Rua Correia Teles, 56; phone 213-874-644; cervejariadaesquina.com). Excellent super-fresh seafood: They have a wide selection of raw seafood: oysters crab, shrimp, barnacles, and more. Their dressed crab appetizer is deservedly famous. Their shrimp soup has a richly flavorful stock with tasty fresh shrimp. The less elaborate dishes that let the seafood dominate are best.

Largo (Rua Serpa Pinto, 10A; phone 213-477-225) An excellent seafood restaurant with always-fresh ingredients carefully prepared. Their fish and seafood soup is outstanding. Main courses are more traditional, well-prepared but sometimes boring. The restaurant is in a beautiful space and the service is friendly if not entirely polished.

Gambrinus (Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 23; phone 213-421- 466) Fresh seafood, good service, very old style in preparation, e.g. Crepes Suzette made at tableside.

Ramiro (Av. Almirante Reis nº1; phone 218-851-024) fresh seafood, but way overcooked

SeaMe (Rua do Loreto 21; phone 213-461-564) serves fresh seafood with bland preparations at prices significantly higher than the better restaurants noted above.

Taberna da Rua das Flores (Rua das Flores 103) is a pleasant, well-located restaurant that specialized in fresh fish. The dishes are mainly traditional and simply prepared. Note that this restaurant does not take reservations and only accepts cash.

Lisboa a Noite (Rua das Gáveas 69/71; phone 213-468-557)

Fresh seafood, boring preparations

Food Market

A busy Sunday evening at the Time Out Market. Finding seats is a challenge most nights.

A busy Sunday evening at the Time Out Market. Finding seats is a challenge most nights.

Time Out Mercado da Ribeira (Avenida 24 de Julho, Cais do Sodré). Half of the building housing the old food market remains a series of stalls with fish, meat, produce and flowers. The other half has been turned into a market with stands from a variety of Lisbon restaurateurs. Some are famous and mediocre such as the steaks and steak sandwiches at Café de Sao Bento and the ice cream of Santini. Others are excellent: the black (squid ink) rice with scallops and seaweed of Alexandre Silva, the fish carpaccio of Henrique sa Passoa, and the tartars, both fish and meat, at Tartar-Ia. (The wonderful fish soup of Cozinha da Felicidade went off the menu in May 2016). The small dishes of Marlene Vieira are good but not great. There also are stands where you can get cheeses, cured meats, cookies, chocolates and more to go. In any case, it is a fun experience to see and taste multiple small dishes and to see the crowds of happy local and foreign eaters and drinkers. At the most crowded times it can be difficult to find a seat and too many of the patrons hog seats or hold them for friends arriving later. The market is open 7 days a week: from 10am to midnight (Sunday to Wednesday), and 10am to 2am (Thursday to Saturday).

Tapas (less formal restaurants that are best for small dishes

El Gordo (Rua de S. Boaventura 16; phone 213-424-266) nice wine bar with generally decent tapas

Chafariz do Vinho (Rua da Mãe de Água; phone 213-422-079) beautiful space with good wine and ok tapas

Antigo 1 de Maio (Rua da Atalaia 8; phone 213-426-840). Traditional Portuguese dishes, extremely friendly service in a pretty room. Prices are very reasonable.

Indian

Zaafran has a lovely new outdoor dining patio and a crowd just after sundown.

Zaafran has a lovely new outdoor dining patio and a crowd just after sundown.

Zaafran (Largo Dona Estefânia, nº7; Metro Picoas; phone 213-558-894). Closed Sundays. This would be a top Indian restaurant in any US or European city, and well-regarded in London. The owners are Indians who lived in Mozambique, and there are subtle African elements in some of the dishes. Be aware: Thursday nights they have belly dancing and a set menu.

Delicias de Goa (Rua Conde Redondo, 2a; phone 961-491-521). Goa was Portugal’s colony in India and this restaurant presents delicious rendition of Goan dishes, featuring extremely fresh seafood. Goan spices are somewhat different from those you will find in most Indian restaurants in the US or Europe, so this is an opportunity to taste dishes that are hard to find beyond Goa. Note: this restaurant does not accept credit cards; you must pay in cash.

Italian

Lapa Restaurant (in Lapa Palace hotel, Rua Pau da Bandeira 4; phone 213-949-494). If you are dying for Italian food this is good though way overpriced, but in any city with excellent Italian food, this would be considered mediocre.

Pizzaria Lisboa (Rua dos Duques de Braganca 5H; 1200-162 Lisboa; phone 351-211-554-945). A pizza restaurant from star chef Jose Avillez. The best pizza I’ve found in Lisbon. The crusts are good but not outstanding, but the toppings are varied and excellent. There are more than twenty choices. I especially liked the one topped with truffled mortadella and the mushroom.

Casanova (Av. Infante D. Henrique 7 Loja B; phone 218-877-532). A popular place with good pizza. Expect to wait for a table.

Hamburgers

Cais da Pedra (Av. Infante Dom Henrique, Cais da Pedra. Armazem B, Loja 9; phone 932-561-522). The gourmet hamburger craze has hit Lisbon. This is a worthy entry, with a variety of toppings and relishes, an excellent veggie burger, and large portions for the price. A beautiful riverside location.

Outside the Principe Real location of O Prego da Peixaria.

Outside the Principe Real location of O Prego da Peixaria.

O Prego da Peixaria has four locations in Lisbon, including Rua da Escola Politecnica 40. Their fish and seafood burgers are very good. We specially liked the salmon with squid and seaweed and the shrimp. They also serve beef burgers. Their appetizers were almost tasteless. The chain is owned by SeaMe, but the prices are more reasonable.

Ice Cream

Nannarella (Rua Nova da Piedade 68; phone 916-302-201; open noon to 7:30 pm every day except Sunday). The best ice cream in Lisbon. Their chocolate ice cream is outstanding, rich with just the right touch of bitterness to cut the heavy creaminess. The cream overwhelms the fruit flavors, but mint, amaretto, and other non-fruit flavors and sorbets are excellent.

Artisani (various locations in Lisbon and also in Cascais). Rich, flavorful ice cream, almost as good as Nannarella.

Fragoleto (Rua da Prata 61; phone: 213-479-472; open noon to 8pm daily). Numerous flavors with original combinations, all made with organic ingredients only. Unfortunately, the flavors often are weak. Quality is less than Nannarella or the multi-location Artisani.

Santini (various locations in Lisbon). This is the well-known, tourist-clogged ice cream place. They are good but their ice cream is clearly several notches below Nannarella and Artisani, and their sorbets have declined significantly in quality since last year.

Richard checking out the fare at O Prego da Peixaria.

Richard checking out the fare at O Prego da Peixaria.

Mu (Rua Dom Pedro V #1 and Campo Marties d Latria #50). This newcomer is mediocre except for an interesting kiwi-banana. Their chocolate has the texture and taste of supermarket pudding.

Chocolates

Claudio Corallo Chocolate (Rua Cecílio de Sousa 85; phone 213-862-158). Outstanding hot chocolate (a bargain at 1 Euro for a small cup) and excellent chocolates, albeit at high prices, which have doubled since 2012- now 90 euros a kilo, $55 a pound.

Chocolataria Equador (Rua da Misericordia 72; phone 213-471-229). Dark, milk and white chocolates with a variety of flavorings from fruits to curry. As good as Claudio Corallo but at half the price.

Pastries

Nata. The best Pastel de Nata is from a store simply named Nata. They no longer have a location in Principe Real on Rua Dom Carlos V. Now they have 2 Lisbon locations: Rua de StªCruz do Castelo, 5 a 11 and Rua da Prata, 78, as well as locations in Cascais, Porto, Braga, Coimbra and elsewhere in Western Europe and in the United Arab Emirates. They also serve soups, salads and sandwiches, which makes Nata a reasonably priced and reliable lunch spot.

Lisbon’s selection of French pastries has suffered from two significant losses: Poison d’Amour near Principe Real and the downtown branch of the Paris-based but now international mini-chain of Eric Kayser bakeries have both closed. (There still is an Eric Kayser across from the Amoreiras Shopping Center.)

Tartine (Rua Serpa Pinto 15A) is a good, but not great, French bakery.

Coming up next: A review of top places to eat in Coimbra and Porto.

2 Comments

  1. All of this is making me very hungry
    Two Michelin stars for Belcanto? Wow!!!

    • I expect some of the other restaurants in Portugal will have two stars soon!

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