Just returned from a short trip to Lisbon. My husband had meetings there all week and I caught him on the tail end for a long weekend. I had given him a list of places to try with a large group, but saved quite a few places for us to try over the weekend that were better suited to smaller parties. On the day that I arrived we attempted to grab lunch at
O Vinho Eurico , which looked delicious and was very busy, but the wait was an hour plus and it didn’t seem real certain if we could walk away and come back. Being jetlagged and super hot after climbing up hill, we decided to not wait. We attempted to go to a nearby Bifana place that looked great too, but it was also jam packed and had no seating, so we headed back towards our hotel to
Boa Bao where my husband had eaten earlier in the week and enjoyed. We stopped at a Ginjihna bar on the way and grabbed a quick shot of Ginja. There was no wait at
Boa Bao, but it was bustling. We split a the sea bass bao and the crispy chicken bao and the duck spring rolls, it was all very good. The standout was the sea bass, it was cooked perfectly and had delicious spicy mayo and pickles.
Before we went to traipse the hills of Alfama, we stopped at
Alcôa, a beautiful patisserie down the street from our hotel, which is known for using traditional convent recipes. We sampled their pasteis de nata, as well as a heart shaped treat made with almonds and a pastry apparently made for the Pope that was made with spaghetti squash and adorned with spun sugar. All were delicious, as was the coffee. I ended up going back there a few times during our visit due to its proximity and deliciousness.
Alcôa Pastries and Coffee
For dinner that night I had reservations at
Mini Bar, which is designed to look like a speak easy in the back part of the Bairro do Avillez building (an old Convent) which contains several of José Avillez's restaurant concepts We chose to do the larger of the two tasting menus offered (though à la carte was also an option). It was a beautiful and memorable meal, it started with mini cocktail bites (margarita diamonds and apple rose), we loved the salmon nigiri that was over a crispy rice cake, the tuna tamaki, the cotton candy foie gras which was topped with smoked paprika, the fresh bread was warm and served with a cup of egg yolks and a truffled butter, the prawn was outstanding, every course was exceptional and then dessert was one of my favorites, a passionfruit mousse over a coconut sorbet, it was tart and sweet and crunchy and amazing. There were also some playful and tasty petit fours to end the meal.
Diamond Cocktail Bites
Salmon Nigiri
Prawns
Petit Fours (Strawberry Tacos, Cactus Marshmallows and Peanuts)
The next day we did a wonderful Culinary Backstreets tour that took as all over the Esterela and Campo de Ourique neighborhoods. It was nice to be out of the tourist bustle of Chiado and explore the markets and small restaurants of these more residential areas and learn about Portuguese history and Lisbon. We sampled Goan, Madeiran and Portuguese specialties including food, wine, beer, cheese and pastries at several different market stalls, shops and restaurants and had some delicious pasteis de nata to finish the afternoon at
Aloma. This may have been one of my favorite pastel de natas during the trip.
Although we didn't think we'd be hungry that evening, I had a reservation at
Sála de João Sá and once seated we couldn’t resist the tasting menu... there was a prix fixe choose your own three course option as well. This restaurant felt by far a bit more formal than the others we had been to in Lisbon. Though footwear still leaned towards comfort (a necessity in this city) and many people were still in jeans. I was amazed that Lisbon overall was much less formal than most European capitals, even at Michelin starred establishments. Service was exceptional, the highlights of the meal for me were the Octopus rice, the turbot and the smoked cockles in lemon gel. The spider crab dish was almost to beautiful to eat. We drank some delicious Portuguese sparkling, white wine from the Azores, as well as a Portuguese pinot noir. They had exceptional recommendations even though we opted to not do the full pairing. They added a special tres leches cake for my husband’s birthday and it was the best tres leches cake either of us had ever had.
Spider Crab at Sála de João Sá
My husband wasn’t feeling well the next day, so I was off to the pharmacy and stopped by
Alcôa again for a savory ham and cheese pastry and a couple cappuccinos. I had made lunch reservations at
Cervejaria Ramiro and although he had been looking forward to it all week, he wasn’t feeling well enough to go, so I took one for the team and went solo (reservations required pre-payment of 50€). As expected, the place was a zoo, but also quite well organized. Since I had a reservation I was seated fairly quickly. As a party of one, I was seated at a communal table kitty corner with another solo diner. Although I couldn’t really make a dent in the menu, I had the clams in garlic sauce and the special large prawns in garlic butter (heads plated separately) and their amazing bread to soak up that clam broth. As everyone says, the seafood was fresh, simple and absolutely delicious. I was too full for the prego meat sandwich dessert, but next time I will make sure to go with others so I can try it all.
Large Prawn Special in Garlic Butter
That evening we took dinner to go from the
Time Out Market and sat in the nearby park to eat. I tried the francesinha sandwich at
Miguel Castro e Silva, the specialty from Porto was braised beef and sausages open faced and covered with melted cheese, it came with a large vat of braising liquid to douse it in, probably not the wisest choice for a takeaway meal, but I still enjoyed every messy, saucy bit of it. I also enjoyed my last pastel de nata of the trip at
Manteigaria which may have taken the place of Aloma as my favorite, I’ll really have to do a side by side comparison next time. We also stopped at
Grom for a gelato on our way home, which I had remembered being one of my favorites in Rome. The pistachio did not disappoint.
Overall we had an amazing trip, it was cut short by a day, so there was more on my list to try and more sites I wanted to see. It was great to make advance reservations at most places, that really seemed to be the way to go where they were accepted, although many required credit cards for either deposit or to charge in case of last minute cancellation. The city was beautiful and the people were amazingly friendly and fun. I can’t wait to go back.
O Venho Eurico - on my list for next time when I can wait
Largo São Cristóvão nº3, 1100-179 Lisboa, Portugal
BOA-BAOLargo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro 30, 1200-369 Lisboa, Portugal
Alcôa Conventual SweetsR. Garrett 37, 1200-309 Lisboa, Portugal
Mini BarR. Nova da Trindade 18, 1200-235 Lisboa, Portugal
Sála de João SáRua dos Bacalhoeiros 103, 1100-068 Lisboa, Portugal
AlomaR. Francisco Metrass 67, 1350-139 Lisboa, Portugal
Cervejaria RamiroAv. Alm. Reis 1 H, 1150-007 Lisboa, Portugal
Time Out Market Av. 24 de Julho 49, 1200-479 Lisboa, Portugal
GromR. Garrett 42, 1200-204 Lisboa, Portugal