Lisboa, Portugal
After a quaint two days in Coimbra, it was time to turn up the energy and close out the trip with a bang in Lisboa! Lisboa is such a lively city, you can always find something to do, it was honestly hard to narrow down the food options! Ultimately, I figured I needed a mix of old and new, starting with a place I had read about thanks to the legendary Anthony Bourdain!
Day 1:
Our first stop was Marisquerira Cervejaria Ramiro (TripAdvisor), a local seafood spot Anthony Bourdain featured in his show, No Reservations, and was also mentioned in his book, World Travel. If you’re coming here at peak lunch hours, plan on a 30 minute wait. But don’t worry - there’s a cute shop next door that offers refreshments. This place was freaking awesome. It was a true no-fuss local restaurant where the seafood was fresh, simply prepared and was finger-licking (literally) good! We ordered:
Pao torrado com manteiga (bread with butter)
Gambas a la Aguillo (shrimp with garlic)
Sapateira (crab with meat juices)
OH. MY. GOODNESS. First of all, yes, order the bread because you will want to soak up the garlic oil and crab sauce with it. The Games a la Aguillo is a simple dish, just olive oil, garlic and salt. The shrimp really shines on its own already and the garlic elevates the dish even further. The crab was fresh and phenomenal. I know, you don’t want to put in the work for crab, right? Well, they give you the tools to simplify the work, so don’t be lazy, order the crab! I literally could not stop dipping my bread in the crab shell sauce. I have no idea what they put in that sauce, but it was savory, rich and it was my bread’s soulmate. Honestly, if I had room, I would have ordered the clams too!
Day 2:
Sarah, who I met a few days earlier in Porto had actually recently moved to Lisboa! We had a cute lunch date at Frade dos Mares and took a long walk through some of Lisboa’s famous neighborhoods (Chiado, Bairro Alto, Rato). At Frade dos Mares (Trip Advisor), we ordered:
Olives — I mean, you’re in Portugal, so, of course!
Baked Mussels — These were so freaking good. I love that It was really well seasoned well and topped with breadcrumbs, no cream or anything over the top. The mussels were cooked perfectly too so they weren’t chewy at all; best baked mussels I’ve had!
Tuna Loin — While in Portugal I didn’t consume any Asian food, so I was really craving a soy-sauce flavored dish, and this was exactly that! The tuna loin was cooked well and the sauce just hit all the right notes. I really loved the veggie stir fry that came with it since I was definitely lacking my vegetable intake!
Grilled Entrecote — this beef was grilled to your liking and came with your choices of chimichurri (my favorite), cheese or mustard sauce
After a super filling lunch, we began to walk it off, enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures. I could walk around these neighborhoods all day, the views are absolutely breathtaking!
At the recommendation of Sarah, I went to Castelo de Sao Jorge (Trip Advisor) just before sunset to get the best views and cooler temperatures in the summer. This castle served as both a royal palace and military Baracks before ultimately becoming a national monument and museum. I walked all over the castle grounds and it’s crazy to realize you’re standing in something of such stature. Especially after wandering the busy neighborhoods of Lisboa, it was really nice to take my time and learn more about Portugal’s history.
For dinner, Jacob and I went to A Avo Tinha (TripAdvisor). It’s a little bit of a trek but I promise you totally worth it! They have two locations and take reservations, so plan before you go! This restaurant is owned by an ex-futbol player actually, and he was so nice! It’s a tiny restaurant with vintage decor and plenty of charm. All their wins were kept in bookcase style wine cage, so adorable! They ranged in price too so you don’t need to spend a lot of money to enjoy a bottle of wine.
We ordered:
Croquettes de jambon (Iberic ham croquettes) — These were little bites of heaven! I loved the pickled onions and sweet balsamic glaze on top, these components totally rounded out the dish beautifully
Chamignons a l’ail (sauter mushrooms with garlic) — There’s something about sautéed mushrooms with garlic and parsley that just hits the spot every time. I know it sounds like such a simple dish but it really balances all the heavier entrees you plan on eating
Joues de porc mijotées au vin rouge (black pork cheeks with fried bread and port wine) — originally we actually came here to order the Oxtail entree but they had sold out! The owner said to order this dish instead, and insisted that if we didn’t like it, he wouldn’t charge us for it. And of course, it was amazing!! The pork cheeks were so tender and we soaked up all that beautiful port wine sauce with our bread!
After dinner I did a solo stroll back home and came across The Little Wine Bar (TripAdvisor). These guys were so nice and walked me through the entire wine menu! They had wines from every region in Portugal. Based on their recommendation, I tried two reds:
Douro — Cruz Velha (Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca e Tinto Cao)
Lisboa — Fonte das Mocas (Tinta Barroca, Teurgia Nacional e Tinta Roriz)
I absolutely loved it! I attempted to try wine from every region of Portugal on this trip and I think my favorite is actually Douro wine, which is less expensive than other regions!
Since I had wine, I ordered some bread and pate as well. I thought this was just a tiny snack but my eyes were clearly bigger than my stomach, it was a legit entree sized pate. They were kind enough to pack up my leftovers to take home. This place was the cutest random discovery, and I miss it dearly. If you want a laidback place that offers a variety of yummy, affordable wines to try, definitely come here!
Day 3:
I was incredibly excited for my lunch reservation at Jose Avillez’s Belcanto (TripAdvisor). This restaurant has been kicking ass since 2012 and has been mentioned on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Avillez’s cooking style has been known to be contemporary and Portuguese-inspired, so I anticipated a meal that included all the Portuguese flavors I had fallen in love with, elevated to another level and that’s exactly what I got. Here’s everything we ate:
Amouse bouche trio: (1) Brioche with trout roe, eel, cod fish liver (2) tuna tartare (3) foie gras port wine. Considering these were small bites, they were packed with so many flavor components, I was so impressed to be able to taste each flavor profile within every bite
Fried chicken skin with squid: UMMMMM fried chicken skin - already yes. Yes yes yes. But with squid on top?! Talk about a flavor bomb!
Toast with sardine: Simple and fresh. Texture wise - perfect following to the fried chicken skin with squid.
Bread and 3 Kinds of Butter (Azores, sausage tomato, smoked rosemary ashes): Let me just say, I am a huge carb girl. I love bread. I love bread a lot. Butter speaks to my soul. I have never had butter like this before. Our server said that the Azores (yellow) butter is special because the happiest cows live in the Azores so the butter exceeds any other butter you will have. My eyes widened so much when I took that first bite, they were not exaggerating one bit. And then I had the sausage tomato and smoked rosemary ashes butters and nearly fell off my chair! All 3 butter flavors sent me to outer space, and then I even mixed them. Jacob and I finished all our butter and bread. And JACOB NORMALLY DOESN’T EVEN GO FOR THE BREAD. We proudly asked for a second round of bread so we could finish all the butter. Yep.
A horta de galinha dos ovos de ouro (The Golden Egg Hen Garden: the garden of the goose that laid the golden eggs. Eggs, crunchy black bread, gold fakes, thin fried leek, mushrooms). It has been on the menu since 2008 and is the most popular starter. I totally could not picture this dish in my head when I read the description but ordered it anyway. When it came out, it looked like fucking royalty on a plate. I took a bite and just melted in my seat. The flavors were so unique and triggered pure joy.
Salmonete assado (Roasted red mullet: squid, green bean tempura, Algarve carrot and orange puree, scarlet shrimp sauce and black aioli). Given the way lunch was going, I gave up on trying to picture my plate. I loved that I didn’t know what to expect next even though I read the descriptions a thousand times. Every ingredient mentioned showed up in a way I didn’t expect. My mullet was incredibly cooked and the presentation was just beautiful. The sauces were so balanced, I made sure every bite included every component on the dish
Lombo de vaca maturrado (Aged beef loin: Jerusalem artichoke millefeuille, wild mushrooms, grilled white asparagus coulis and truffle sauce). The beef loin achieved medium rare perfection and paired wonderfully with the mushrooms. The artichoke and white asparagus was a wonderful compliment. And that sauce was amazing; the truffle wasn’t overpowering at all, it was balanced and powerful
We ordered the golden egg starter, red mullet, and aged beef loin. Everything else was INCLUDED. I cannot believe we got FIVE amuse bouches!! Whether you ordered a large or petite amount of food, they gave those bonus plates as well. I got so much more than what I paid for and the service was amazing too. Belcanto is a class act, and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to dine there.
Since it was our last day, I literally waited until the last minute to hit up Manteigaria – Fabrica de Pastaeis de Nata (TripAdvisor). I wanted to bring home these little treasures fresh for family and friends! There are bakeries all around town that sell these, but for me, Manteigaria was easy to obtain, tasty and conveniently packed for travel! They offered multiple packaging styles, but my favorite was packing them in twos. They stayed fresh and were easy to distribute to my loved ones when I got home.
Also, we had been staying at Hotel Mundial and hadn’t been to the ROOFTOP Bar (TripAdvisor)! Firstly, let me just say Hotel Mundial is a great hotel in general starting with its location. It’s right by Rossio Square and just a 10-minute walk from Bairro Alto and Chiado where there’s a cornucopia of cafes and restaurants. It’s extremely safe and easy walk 2-minute to the Metro station. The ROOFTOP Bar was the cherry on top! It’s a huge outdoor space with plenty of cocktails to choose from! You can keep it light with an aperitif like I did or pick your poison — they have a full bar! It was a great atmosphere with fun drinks, good music and overall good vibes. Also a good photo op spot :)
To wrap up our last night, we went to Time Out Market (Trip Advisor) which is a food market hall! It’s filled with a bunch of food and drink stalls. Most food stalls offer traditional to modern Portuguese dishes, but there were Italian and Asian food stalls too. I suggest hitting as many of these as you can and just nibble your way through! I was able to hit 5 stalls total —
Coffee and Pastel de Nata
Aperitifs
Scallops with Squid Ink Risotto
Seafood Rice
Croquettes
Lisboa is a fun, busy and lively city. There is so much amazing food that ranges from traditional Portuguese to modern Japanese. It was really easy and safe to move around the city. Covid testing was free and offered in many different neighborhoods regularly. I never struggled to communicate with the locals, the weather was amazing and the views were always breathtaking. I love the mix of the old world building structures varying in color, beautifully lit at night. I also love how close Lisboa is to the water, I hope to return to Portugal and make my way to the Azores!
