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Lisbon's dining scene has evolved dramatically in recent years to include any number of high-end dining opportunities, but amid the international fare, Michelin-starred restaurants, and molecular gastronomy, the city's simplest and most traditional restaurants still do a roaring trade. Meals generally include three courses, a drink, and coffee. Many restaurants have an ementa turistica (tourist menu), a set-price meal, most often served at lunchtime. Note that you'll be charged a couple of euros if you eat any of the couvert items—typically appetizers such as bread and butter, olives, and the like—that are brought to your table without being ordered.
Lisbon's restaurants usually serve lunch from noon or 12:30 until 3 and dinner from 7:30 until 11; many establishments are closed Sunday or Monday. Inexpensive restaurants typically don't accept reservations. In the traditional cervejarias (beer-hall restaurants), which frequently have huge dining rooms, you'll probably have to wait for a table, but usually not more than 10 minutes. In the Bairro Alto, many of the reasonably priced tascas (taverns) are on the small side: if you can't grab a table, you're probably better off moving on to the next place. Throughout Lisbon, dress for meals is usually casual, but exceptions are noted below.
Originally a social club for the people hailing from the region of Alentejo, this hidden restaurant is found on the upper floor of a Moorish-style building from the 1800s. There's a formal dining room serving classic northern Portuguese dishes like carne de porco à alentejana (pork with clams), and a relaxed terrace specializing in petiscos and very affordable jugs of house wine.
Lisbon’s beer halls tend to be noisy, crowded places, but those looking for more sophisticated atmosphere should head to this upscale eatery with towering murals and handsome wood paneling tucked inside the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade hotel. You'll find traditional fish or meat dishes listed on the menu, and they’re served with flair by an attentive staff.
Tropical blues, greens, and yellows make this dining room a standout, as does the lively soundtrack coming from the speakers and the excellent dishes from northeast Brazil. Enjoy a classic feijoada (rich black bean and meat stew), sip a potent caipirinha, and finish your meal with a passionfruit mousse or fresh tropical fruit.
The name for the upscale restaurant at Lisbon’s Four Seasons Hotel Ritz comes from the Portuguese word curadoria (curatorship), and head chef Pedro Pena Bastos does indeed apply a curator's attention to detail in choosing the ingredients for his three tasting menus. Whether you pick the Meia Cura (eight courses), Origins (12 courses) or the vegetarian Raízes menu (eight courses), expect beautifully presented small dishes that turn super-fresh seasonal ingredients into edible works of art. There are a-la-carte options Tuesday through Thursday, but the tasting menus are where the magic really lies. The restaurant has earned a Michelin star, as well as glowing reviews in Portuguese press.
Although it’s quite spacious and comfortable inside, most people choose to sit at one of the many tables outside facing Restauradores Square. Waiters rush from table to table, mostly serving super fresh seafood and grilled fish and meats.
This restaurant facing the courtyard of the Hotel Valverde focuses on contemporary Portuguese cuisine reinterpreted by the chef. Its brunch and afternoon tea is popular among locals who work nearby and those looking for a more intimate spot.
Delicious meat-free dishes (think mango-and-tofu curry, seitan steak, and spinach-filled Tibetan momo dumplings) ensure that there's always a line for a table in this restaurant's extremely colorful dining room or on the pleasant patio. It’s part of a Buddhist center where a small shop stocks books, incense, homeopathic medicines, and other products, and yoga and meditation classes take place upstairs.
What you see is what you get at Ribadouro, one of Lisbon's best-known seafood spots: take your pick of the lobster, mantis shrimp, tiger shrimp, whelks, oysters, and clams on display and the staff will create a seafood platter to your specifications. You can dine inside, or at tree-shaded tables and chairs set out at a kiosk on the Avenida, opposite the main restaurant.
One of several notable restaurants at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz, Varanda is consistently at the top of its game thanks to the keen eye of French-Canadian executive chef Pascal Meynard. He oversees a seasonally changing tasting menu at dinner (the octopus confit is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach) and a wide range of à la carte dishes throughout the day.
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