Lisbon Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

[filipe]

Thanks Filipe, one of the best meals I've had in a while.

Dan

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You're welcome Dan. I really like that place too.

If you'll get back in like two-three months I'll advise to come to my own "underground" restaurant (yet to be)

[Haninger]

A few years have passed since some of these posts were written, so I was wondering about current recommendations for places to eat in Lisbon. I will be meeting my boyfriend there next week for a week-long vacation and birthday celebration. He has always wanted to visit Portugal, and he loves all sorts of traditional foods, so he is looking forward to this trip. We do not need to go to Michelin-starred restaurants, just places with great food, however modest. I personally love seafood, roasted meats, and soups. Some recommended places appear to be Fidalgo, A Bota Alta, O Pereira de Alfama, Tasquina D'Adelaide, Ramiro, Casa do Victor, A Cabrita, Buzio, João Padeiro, and O Galito.

I also need to book someplace memorable and delicious for his birthday. What about O Galito for this? Someplace else? One issue is that we will not have a car during the week and will rely on public transportation to visit any restaurants outside the city. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

Edited June 10, 2008 by Haninger (log)

[Rogelio]

I also need to book someplace memorable and delicious for his birthday. What about O Galito for this? Someplace else? One issue is that we will not have a car during the week and will rely on public transportation to visit any restaurants outside the city. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

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O Galito is a nice and familiar restaurant serving comfort food and traditional dishes from the Alentejo, but I wouldn't think about it as a memorable and delicious experience for an special celebration.

Maybe Fortaleza do Guincho, in Cascais could fit for an special occasion.

[Haninger]

Maybe Fortaleza do Guincho, in Cascais could fit for an special occasion.

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Thanks for your suggestions. Fortaleza do Guincho seems a bit formal although excellent. I may try Porto Santa Maria instead, since I prefer the building and ambiance (at least based on the pictures I've seen).

Edited June 10, 2008 by Haninger (log)

[LuisMiguel]

Maybe Fortaleza do Guincho, in Cascais could fit for an special occasion.

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Thanks for your suggestions. Fortaleza do Guincho seems a bit formal although excellent. I may try Porto Santa Maria instead, since I prefer the building and ambiance (at least based on the pictures I've seen).

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Porto de Santa Maria also fits the bill, though stay away from the seafood rice (Arroz de Marisco). It's not what they do best...

[Roger le goéland]

Took me a few months, but here's what I could salvage from my phone memory card.

First, breakfast. We were EXTREMELY lucky. We went to a small pastelaria near the hotel (and the hotel wasn't in a particularly nice part of town!), and had the best espresso I have ever had with very tasty custard things:

Not sure what happened after. Perhaps this is when we had the terrible meal at the place the receptionist recommended. "Ah, British tourists, time for some ripping off."

The next pictures on my phone were of the Pastelaria Versailles:

Quite disappointing. The food looked good, the place is definitely "grand" (but NOT cosy), but the main flavour was "sweet". Not much else. And the coffee was very boring.

We found a supermarket on top of a hill. Now I remember an earlier poster saying they bought a can of tinned octopus. I love octopus. And squid. So I got 17 or 18 packs:

Also a bottle of almond-flavoured thing. It wasn't that special, but for 6 euros I wasn't expecting much. Although it sells in Bachanalia in Cambridge for around £15-20. And a bottle of terrible 51 cachaca, again 6 euros, again sells here for £17.50. I love Europe - everything is just so cheap, and better quality.

Moving on, we spotted in a restaurant some weird shaped shellfish. Interesting. A distant memory of a childhood book reminded me that these were, at some point, in great danger of extinction because the Spanish would aggressively fish them off the South-West French coast. And that they sold for a lot on the black market.

Well, extinct, not available in the UK, shellfish... had to try it!

After a remarkably uneventful (if incredibly expensive) plate of clams in olive oil:

The inside looked like this:

You eat it raw. It was quite fishy and squishy. Somewhat addictive. Price was ridiculous (although considering the crab was also ridiculously priced, I don't think it was the sparcity of shellfish). The manager promptly proceeded to charge us an extra 5 euros for some dried bread and gone-off cheese that we hadn't asked for. Now I know what it's like to be American and to dine in France... Well, we had to try those "witches' fingers".

The visit did really peak in 100 Maneiras. I really wish I had a restaurant like that near here (although Alimentum comes close, at least in concept). Funky design inside:

And a nice view on the neighbouring concrete cube hotel, and this:

We had a plane to catch in 3 hours. We told the waiter, and asked to skip the appetizers. We regretted that very, very strongly. Would have happily missed the plane for them.

Part 2 to come in a minute...

[Roger le goéland]

Appetizer/amuse-bouche: gazpacho, sour cream with caviar:

Couldn't help but notice that the pictures on the wall had substantially more caviar on - the mound would almost totally cover the sour cream. As opposed to the 3-4 grains we had. Maybe caviar is out of season. Maybe one should not wear a T-shirt to a 5* hotel, especially in Southern Europe (hey, it was very hot!)

Lovely bread. And it didn't come up on the bill.

My main was slow-cooked pork cheeks with pine nuts, asparagus, and a foam. Mustard, if I remember well. And some creamed potatoes. Delicious.

My partner had a fantastic red mullet with incredibly fresh mussels, perfectly cooked ratatouille (in 2mm cubes!), and couscous with the most intense mint I have ever tasted. I asked the waiter, who told me he went and got it in Morocco because it was so much better than the local stuff. Tiny leaves = more flavour. Unfortunately, I have no photo - this was a very beautifully presented dish.

Dessert: a chocolate souffle with strawberry ice cream, can't remember what the biscuit or caramel-coloured cream tasted like. However, the souffle and the ice-cream were fantastic. Concentrated chocolate, melting inside, and such fresh strawberry.

My partner finished with a something three ways. Possibly one of those cup custard cakes, decomposed into a cream to drink, something in between and a cheesecake/biscuit. It was impressive, but just not as satisfying as a blob of chocolate goo with strawberry!

Service was fantastic all the way through - that is, the waiter was both invisible and extremely efficient. Front of house clearly knew the food and chatted happily about the techniques used by the chef (which went right over my head - I am only an eater, not a cook!)

Plenty of time left to catch a train back, so I insisted to go see the harbour. For those interested in these things, there was the Amistad: http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/8917/dsc00206qt6.jpg - absolutely gorgeous. Would have loved to get a bit closer...

[PauloR]

(...)

My partner had a fantastic red mullet with incredibly fresh mussels, perfectly cooked ratatouille (in 2mm cubes!), and couscous with the most intense mint I have ever tasted. I asked the waiter, who told me he went and got it in Morocco because it was so much better than the local stuff. Tiny leaves = more flavour. Unfortunately, I have no photo - this was a very beautifully presented dish.

(...)

Roger .

I think is this one, no ?

[MMerrill]

We have a daughter and 3 grandkids who live in Lisbon, so we visit there regularly. To keep my husband entertained we plan a lunch outing every day. I have posted before on favorite places and would like to up-date a bit with some new restaurants we enjoyed on a trip from which we just returned.

Our 2 granddaughters (7 and 8) were on school holiday while we were there so were always our companions on these excursions. These are rare children who will eat almost anything with enjoyment. Last Nov. we were searching through the narrow streets of Sesimbra for a seafood trattoria we'd visited a year earlier. When we finally stumbled upon it, the older girl exclaimed "Oh I remember this place. It's where they have the great octopus salad!" So, we were heading there again for said treat but got so terribly snarled in Carnival traffic that we changed course and ended up in a new place - Restaurante O Pinhal in Alfarim - not too far away. We were lucky to get a table on their nice terrace and had a superb meal.

Started with wonderful bread, cheese and olives - and octopus salad - but the highlights were main courses of Cataplana with Lobster, a steaming clay casserole of Arroz de Cherne, and a house special of swordfish in a mushroom cream sauce. All were perfectly fresh and perfectly prepared.

On our last full day in Portugal we chose to visit the fabulous palace in Mafra and sought out a place for lunch nearby. We drove over to the coast to Ericeira where we had reserved a table at Restaurante Esplanda Furnas (not the Marisqueira of the same name) which sits overlooking the beach and amazing surf rolling in. As you enter the restaurant you pass a display of their varieties of fresh fish and the grill chef will help you choose what you'd like them to cook for you. We had a linguado large enough to serve 4 which was the most perfectly cooked, succulent sole I've ever tasted. My husband had to try their version of Cataplana which he decreed the best ever. And of course we devoured their wonderful starters - really excellent chewy bread, a perfect Azeitao cheese and more octopus salad. Spectacular food and setting and a great waitstaff!

[Tussius]

My girlfriend and I are going to Portugal on Sunday, and while reading through this thread I've realised that I'm far behind on my planning.

The planning tends to fall on me more than not, but we don't plan that much in general. I like to use guides and recommendations for restaurant visits, and that's the total we plan.

We are going to be in Portugal from the 6th to the 17th and have so far gotten accommodations for the 6th - 8th in Lisbon, 8th - 10th in Pousada Santa Cristina, on the 11th to 12th (+ a restaurant reservation), the 12th to 13th in Quinta de la Rosa and on the 15th -17th in Lisbon.

We have a rented car to drive around with and I was wondering if any of the many helpful and knowledgeable people in here could recommend a place to go on the 13th to 15th and also I'd love recommendation for restaurants. We eat just about anything (I more than my girlfriend, but she's rather unpicky as well) , and we want to eat good food rooted in the place where we eat. We would also like to have a restaurant recommendation for the 15th in Lisbon as we'll be celebrating my birthday there.

Also, is there some dishes, simple, traditional, specialities or others that I simply MUST try while in Portugal (I plan on eating seafood and bacalhao at least), and please bear in mind that I plan to write one or more pieces about my trip for a local online magazine (www.upop.no) that I'm a food writer for.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Regards,

Morten Båtbukt

[PauloR]

My girlfriend and I are going to Portugal on Sunday, and while reading through this thread I've realised that I'm far behind on my planning.

The planning tends to fall on me more than not, but we don't plan that much in general. I like to use guides and recommendations for restaurant visits, and that's the total we plan.

We are going to be in Portugal from the 6th to the 17th and have so far gotten accommodations for the  6th - 8th in Lisbon, 8th - 10th in Pousada Santa Cristina, on the 11th to 12th (+ a restaurant reservation), the 12th to 13th in Quinta de la Rosa and on the 15th -17th  in Lisbon.

We have a rented car to drive around with and I was wondering if any of the many helpful and knowledgeable people in here could recommend a place to go on the 13th to 15th and also I'd love recommendation for restaurants. We eat just about anything (I more than my girlfriend, but she's rather unpicky as well) , and we want to eat good food rooted in the place where we eat. We would also like to have a restaurant recommendation for the 15th in Lisbon as we'll be celebrating my birthday there.

Also, is there some dishes, simple, traditional, specialities or others that I simply MUST try while in Portugal (I plan on eating seafood and bacalhao at least), and please bear in mind that I plan to write one or more pieces about my trip for a local online magazine (www.upop.no) that I'm a food writer for.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Regards,

Morten Båtbukt

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For the 15th I'll recomend Restaurante Tavares

http://www.restaurantetavares.pt

Chef's site

http://joseavillez.com/index.asp?l=4

e-mail

Near Quinta de La Rosa, excelent restaurant in Douro river http://www.restaurantedoc.com/

Other good restaurants is Lisbon area:

http://www.bocca.pt/

http://www.guinchotel.pt/Default.aspx

http://www.portosantamaria.com/

Enjoy !

Edited September 1, 2009 by PauloR (log)

[Tussius]

Thank you very much.

Restaurants have been noted and reservations have begun

Regards,

Morten Båtbukt