General info on eating in Lisbon, Lisbon

From the old days as student, I kept the idea that the restaurants in Roma avenue where expensive and... bad. For more than thirty years I skipped them.

Recently, I had something to do in the area, with only twenty minutes to have lunch. This restaurant was close to our destination, and Fernanda insisted to try it.
My first surprise was the answer when I asked it it would be possible to be served and eat in twenty minutes - YES.

The second surprise was the quality of the quick meal - a well done octopus.
The third one... the price - less than 10 € each.
Twenty minutes later we were on our way, with one decision - next time I will not hesitate, and will have a deeper observation.

This was my 6th trip to Lisbon and I made the mistake of turning into the south end of Rua de São José from Rossio Square on my way to somewhere else! Never again! The mother of all tourist traps!

They stand in the middle of the street, physically try to pull you into the restaurants, shove the menus in your face, tell you the sob stories how they HAVE to do this horrible job (they're wages are based on commission) and of course talk to you in your own language once they've figured out where you are from!

If don't want to experience a proper Lisboan meal then by all means to go this street, dozens of "traps" to choose from but I will not make the mistake of going there again! A horrible experience, just horrible!

Favorite Dish: Avoid!

Something to remember Portugal by is Cod fish prepared on 100 different ways. Called BACALHAU (I call it BACALAO) in Portugal.
Bacalhau is very popular in Portugal.Some say there are 365 ways of cook Bacalhau, one for each day of the week. Others say there are 101 ways to prepare it. No mater who you believe, there are a lot of recipe variations.

Whichever variation you choose you will be very satisfied since all are very very tasty- baked with cream, onions, spinach, carrots, cheeses; or roasted or boiled. Can't remember all variations, but I have tried 8 versions in 7 days.
Served in a little deeper pots made of terracotta or metal.

Favorite Dish: My favorite:
Bacalhau com Natas
Its name translates to cod fish with cream, and in my opinion, it’s one of the most delicious ways to eat cod-fish. It’s prepared with flaked cod, onion and potatoes, béchamel sauce and cream. It is then covered with cheese and baked like a lasagna.

Bacalhau com Espinafres
It’s prepared casserole style with flaked cod, béchamel sauce and spinach

Restaurante Jaipur is located at Restauradores, near Tram which goes to Bairro alto the main streets, but around Restauradores and other places you will see guys who hand you an advertisement of the place. That's how we found it. Prato do dia (meal of the day) at lunchtime costs 5.95 Euro and it consists of rice, curry of your choice, indian bread and chutneys for starters of the day. This is not the best Indian we visited (Jaipur was more tastier), but sure was good value and food was good.

Favorite Dish: All Dishes are great... but i like more all the Tandoori Dish

Hidden away down some stairs in the old centre of Lisbon this lovely restaurant is situated. We had the perfect seat for a late night dinner in front of open windows looking out to the city streets. Quick, very nice and well educated staff make our evening; Twice! Lovely simple, elegant modern food with the taste of Portugal. A two person dinner, with wine and desert for 60€!

Favorite Dish: Duck with sweet sauce. Perfectly cooked duck with a 'just sweet enough without being over powering' sauce. With nice vegetables and baked potato's.

This Restaurant is just south of the Rossio Metro , It is

A Covelense, Lda. Rua Dos Correeiros, 157 e 159 , 1100 - 164 LISBOA.

One day me and my sister just went in for simple breakfast. Then the person serving noticed we were tourists. He continually left extra items on the table before we ordered.
Then when we ordered omelets each he asked us to you want chips with it and charged us extra again. He also charged us extra for sitting outside. He then charged us for the extra stuff he had left on the table (Bread, cheese etc). The bill came to €35.60.
The omelets were absolutely disgusting. My sister could not eat the rice as it was rotten and barelly cooked. When we asked why bill was so high he talked he his out of it making up extra charges for this and that.

Favorite Dish: None of it

4 more images

Cervejaria Trindade, or simply Trindade, is a combination German beer hall, steak house and seafood restaurant. According to the registries it is the most ancient beerhouse in operation in Portugal but, apart from that, in my opinion it is the most beautiful beerhouse in Portugal,

The place is famous for its drink, food and location. Situated in the Bairro Alto, it is located at the place of the ancient Santíssima Trindade Convent, founded in 1294 by the Redenção dos Cativos (“prisoners’ redemption”) Friars (with a vocation to rescue the Moorish prisoners). The Convent was partially destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and bought in 1836 after the religious orders were extinguished. The Trindade Brewery factory was built in spot of the previous refectory and the space developed and got very famous since then, transforming into the most renowned beer house in town.

Nowadays Trindade it’s owned by the brewers of Sagres beer and has several rooms, including an Art Gallery and a pleasant outdoor terrace (summer), being classified in 1986 (on the celebration of the 150 years) as an important Cultural heritage of Lisbon.
The all Cervejaria is surrounded by walls tiled with Portuguese scenes and ornamental tiles. These are made of wonderful glazed tile-panels or azulejos, dated from 1863 and signed by Luís Ferreira. Also quite famous are the walls decorated with small stone mosaics inspired in the fantastic calçada Portuguesa (Portuguese pavement), signed by the renowned artist Maria Keil (with works in some of the subway stations in Lisbon).
More than the quality and originality of the food, Cervejaria Trindade is worth by its space.

Recently they open an extension of the original Trindade in Campo Pequeno (at the place of the bullring). The service is equally good; nevertheless, the charming of the place it is not same.

Cheers. Enjoy your meal and the ambience

Served by Baixa-Chiado metro station and city bus (58 and 100). The Campo Pequeno place is served by the metro station with the same name and several city buses.

Favorite Dish: I strongly recommend
-clams Trindade style (ameijoas à Trindade); prawns with garlic (gambas al ajillo), big dressed crab (sapateira recheada);
-shellfish cream soup (creme de marisco), shellfish rice (arroz de marisco), skewered sea bass (espetada de tamboril), skewered grilled giant prawn (espetada de camarão tigre);
-beefsteak Trindade style (bife à Trindade) with a good sauce.
I prefer the dark beer but the light is good as well.

Open 10am – 2am every day except public holidays

2 more images

There are plenty of places to eat seafood in Lisbon at reasonable prices
-downtown
Cervejaria Ribadouro and Cervejaria Quebra Mar in Avenida da Liberdade
and Cervejaria Concha d'Ouro in Rua Augusta

but in my opinion the best ones are
Cervejaria Ramiro and
Cervejaria Trindade

Cervejaria Trindade is a combination German beer hall and Portuguese tavern. In operation since 1836, it's the oldest tavern in Lisbon, owned by the brewers of Sagres beer. It was built on the foundations of the 13th-century Convento dos Frades Tinos, which was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. The all Cervejaria is surrounded by walls tiled with Portuguese scenes.

Another nice spot to eat well (finger licking good seafood) and at the same time have a magnificent view of Lisbon is Cervejaria O Farol (the lighthouse) across the river in Cacilhas (take the ferry) close to the harbor.

We've made some vtmeetings in some of these places and .... we love them

Cheers

4 more images

A former palace of the Viscounts of Alverca family, Casa do Alentejo is a peculiar 17th C. building worth visit. It was build on the Rua das Portas Santo Antão – today’s most famous “restaurant street” in central Lisbon, and after serving the original family was also used as the first casino of Lisbon (1917-1928). Meanwhile also served as a high school, and in 1932 become property of the Grémio Alentejano to be the place meant for the gathering and meeting of people with connections to the Alentejo -people usually born there, now living in Lisboa, and who meet their fellow "alentejanos", discussing matters from their former home place. Alentejo translates as “beyond the Tejo” and is the next-to-Lisbon southern province in Portugal.

It looks a very regular building from the outside, but in the inside it sill preserves the original decoration of an arab-like palace, with a Moorish courtyard, beautiful tiles (azulejos) and mosaics on the walls and the floor, horse-shoe shaped doors, charming stucco work, and great atmosphere, although nowadays it is not in perfect condition.
On the ballroom there are many activities: on Saturdays the ‘Alentejo afternoons’ (tardes Alentejanas), with choral groups; on Sunday, the dancing begins at 3;30 pm. Mostly elderly people come here to socialize. There’s also a library and a handicraft shop of typical products of Alentejo (downstairs).
The dining rooms are picturesque, with open fireplaces and decorated with another characteristic of the Portuguese culture - painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile-work which we call azulejos (from Arabic word az-zulayj, meaning polished stone).

You can visit the place even in the case you don't want to try the food, but that will be spoil part of the joy of the place.
Enjoy your meal and the ambience.
Yes it’s one of my favorite places to make vtmeetings in the city. We can meet there if you want.

Favorite Dish: Besides the great atmosphere, the restaurant serves a great deal of food typical from the Alentejo region. This region is known for its simple but very taste food.

Along with bread (always part of the Portuguese traditional table) usually you will find on the table several appetizers from the region –cheese, olives, ham, and chouriço (smoked pork meat sausage with herbs and spices). They are not a part of the meal! You won’t pay for them if you don’t eat them (just mention that to the waiter and he will take them away).
There are many choices, and some of my preferences go to:
-cheeses from Nisa and Serpa counties, which are particularly tasty;
-dogfish soup with coriander (sopa de cação), or the well know cold soup gaspacho (like the Spanish gazpacho);
-codfish with peppers and onions (bacalhau com pimentos), or just the simple grilled codfish with olive oil and garlic (bacalhau grelhado);
-stewed lamb bread (ensopado de borrego), grilled lamb chops (costeletas de cordeiro), breadcrumbs with pork meat (migas com carne de porco), and the most famous pork meat Alentejo style (carne de porco à Alentejana) which is a combination of pork and salty clams;
-make sure some time is given to the convent-originated sweets, namely, encharcadas, tibornas, and sericaia, almost all of them made with sugar, eggs, pig fat and almonds;
- try one of the red wines from Borba, Redondo, Reguengos or Vidigueira.
The average price of a 3-course meal with wine is 20 euro.

Open 12am-3pm and 7pm-11pm
Service is polite and friendly but can be brisk, as the place sometimes is very busy.

Restaurante/Cervejaria SOLMAR in Rua das Portas de Santo Antão (street begins just behind Praça dos Restauradores right in the centre: ignore the touristy places at the beginning of the street and continue up). Specialists in seafood (also other dishes, prices are good) and amazing well-conserved 1960s decoration.