Image by Erik Lassche

The Confraria de Sushi in Cascais is considered one of the best places to eat sushi in greater Lisbon. Now the good news for me: they opened their second restaurant, in Chiado, in my street!

Confraria LX is located inside the newly opened LX Boutique Hotel, at the end of Rua de Alecrim, near Cais de Sodré trains station. The decoration is modern and intimate.

The food, as expected is geat. They offer a wide range of innovative sushi and sashimi dishes. I normally order the Confraria dish, which is a kind of flavour-of-the-day mix of different sushi pieces.

Reservations are recommended, since I am not the only one who is a fan of the Confraria.

Package tip: dinner at Confraria LX and a night out in Cois de Sodré!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Confraria LX | Restaurants (Japanese) | Total dinner € 30
Rua do Alecrim 12 A | Chiado & Baixa | +351213426292
Mon – Thu 12:30 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 12:30 – 02:00

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Image by Largo Restaurante

“Largo” opened its doors in the end of 2009 and it seems to be quite a success. That is, if you judge “success” by the difficulty to book a table at this fine restaurant. I was lucky the 3rd time round and I must say that it was worth the effort.

First of all, the place itself is just delicious! The restaurant is located next to the nicely renovated Largo do Picadeiro and is housed in an old cloister. The interior is a mixture of modernity and heritage. The furniture is very stylish and the huge aquarium housing dozens of jelly-fish is just awesome!

The food is good, but that should be expected from the former chef of Porto’s most famous restaurant “Bull & Bear”. The menu lists a mixture of international cuisine and more traditional dishes. The winelist is extensive (mind the wallet). They serve until late, which is also rather convenient.

Overall, a very nice place to have a great dinner. Expect to pay though, ‘cos it ain’t cheap! Spend at least an hour looking at how the jelly-fish change color in their tank. Breathtaking!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Restaurant Largo | Restaurants (Intern.) | Dinner & wine € 50
Rua Serpa Pinto, 10A | Chiado & Baixa | +351213477225
Mon – Fri 12:30 – 00:30, Sat 18:00 – 00:30

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Erik Lassche

Kaffeehaus is located in the middle of Chiado, just next to one of Lisbon’s most famous theatres, São Carlos. It fits in the old, and almost lost, tradition of literary cafés that were the trademark of Chiado. Kaffeehaus, however, does it in her own, Viennese style.

The place is hard to classify since you can go here for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a drink at night. A better way to describe it would be its style: a great place to get up to date on what is happening in Lisbon, read a newspaper, have a coffee or a drink.

Besides the setting, the food helps! Try great Austrian pastry in the middle of Lisbon! Amazing Apfelstrüdel and a lot of other surprising dishes. There is something different written on the chalkboard every day, so you can always come back for something new!

Great place for a pit-stop on your Saturday-shopping in Chiado or a more prolonged break on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Be patient though, it is becoming and awful popular place! So popular in fact that they increased their capacity. No more waiting (almost )

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Kaffeehaus | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (European/Austrian) | Main € 8.00
Rua Anchieta 3 | Chiado & Baixa | +351210956828
Tue – Thu 11:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 02:00, Sun 11:00 – 20:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by erik lassche

Chiado is definitely one of the most charming areas of Lisbon. The main street is has some nice historical cafés, but they tend to be very touristic. A great alternative is Café no Chiado.

The location is excellent: smack in the middle of Chiado, with tram-line 28 passing right in front of you! The place has been renovated in 2006. It nowadays has a very cool interior and a great terrace.

Come here to have a cup of coffee or lunch, read a book on the terrace or just to enjoy the setting. Try the salads, they are great!

At night it’s a great place to dine, especially after visiting one of the nearby theatres, since they serve dinner until 02:00. Try the steak with mustard sauce. I did for a dozen times already

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Café no Chiado | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Portuguese) | Great salad € 8.00
Largo do Picadeiro 10-12 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213460501
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 02:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Rita Esgalhado

Nood is the city’s spot where you can find excellent Asian fusion food. The restaurant is based on a modern canteen layout and all dishes are created with different types of Asian ingredients. The motto here is “Food for your soul” – they claim one can not leave the restaurant without a smile on their face.

You can choose from a wide selection of appetizers – don’t forget to try out the duck gyosas or tori kare age. The classic sushi and sashimi are also on the menu, as well as a wide choice of yakisobas (Japanese pasta).

The juices are freshly squeezed and mix traditional fruits with uncommon ingredients, like mint, ginger or lime. The dessert department is constantly changing – new flavors and recipes are added on a regular basis (do ask what the day specials are).

If you are just up for a cocktail or a long drink, Nood has a cosy lounge area with great couches to relax after work or start a night out with friends! (Happy hour from 18:00 to 20:00)

The restaurant area is quite big, and that mixed with the table layout can make it quite noisy (or…lively – so if you are aiming for a calm dinner for 2, this is not the place to go!

Vee’s favorites: Chicken Yakisoba, Apple Crumble.

Rita’s favorites: Minto Juice, Gyosas, Nood Vanilla Ice cream (with Chocolate topping and wasabi)

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Nood | Restaurants (Asian) | Yakisoba € 8.50
Largo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro 20 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213474141
12:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Veronica Leitao

La Brasserie de l’entrecôte it’s a classic French-style restaurant in the heart of the city, with a very unprecedented feature: there isn’t a menu for you to choose from!

The meal always consists on a starter (a fresh salad with nuts and sweet and sour sauce) followed by the entrecôte (a delicious sliced piece of entrecôte steak with a secret sauce and French fries that will make you beg for more).

After this, if you still wish to comfort your stomach, you can choose something sweet from the dessert trolley.

The elegant (but still cosy) atmosphere, make it an ideal place to go for a date or to gather around the table and chat for hours with friends.

Vee’s favourites – The uber confidential sauce is the pièce de resistance!

Rita’s favourites – The delicious French fries and the strawberry purée with vanilla ice-cream and cinnamon.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
La brasserie de l’entrecôte | Restaurants (Entrecôte) | Dinner & wine € 22.50
Rua do Alecrim 117 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213473616
Mon – Sat 12:30 – 15:00 & 20:00 – 00:00, Sun 12:30 – 15:00 & 20:00 – 23:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Veronica

This is the new kid in town. Since they’ve opened in mid November it’s success just keeps getting bigger.

They call themselves the “Modern Fish Market” because you can choose a really fresh fish and have it grilled, have some sushi, choose the fish and take it home or just chill at the bar. The concept is quite unique.

It would be really unfair to pick a favorite of everything we tried, because all of it was amazing, with a stunning presentation.

Even for the meat lovers, they weren’t forgotten, they created one of the best steak sandwiches we’ve seen. Matched with a stunning “bolo do caco” as bread and amazing thin chips, they didn’t made it wrong.

Just leave room for dessert, even those are perfect.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Sea Me | Restaurants (Seafood) | Meal, wine & dessert € 25
Rua do Loreto 21 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213461564
Sun – Wed 12:00 – 00:00, Thu – Sat 12:00 – 02:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Claudio Carneiro

Lisbon is known as the city of Seven hills. With so many hills, it would be impossible to go around the city without a car or an elevator. That’s right, Lisbon has many elevators which are a huge help for the city residents, and the Santa Justa lift is one of them.

Besides being a huge help, this lift is a one of the greatest example of Portuguese architecture, and a landmark of the city. The lift was designed by Raul Mesnier de Ponsard, a Portuguese apprentice of Gustave Eiffel, the same guy from Eiffel Tower. The iron tower is fabulous from outside and to ride it you only need a normal bus service ticket. The elevator is huge, with lots of wood in its interior and kind of victorian, which would be enough for me, but there is more.

I always go insane once I get to the top, thanks to the great panoramic view of the most beautiful part of the city. There are nice stairs to go to the very top, which has also an Italian restaurant, the “Bella Lisa Elevador“, which becomes the “Lift Bar”, a mix of bar and disco, on Thursday and Weekend nights.

When I get tired of the view, something that normally never happens, I leave the elevator through the upper exit, which goes straight to the Carmo Archaeological Museum (check the Carmo Archaeological Museum article), my other favourite spot!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Santa Justa Lift | Art & culture, Bars, Relaxing, Restaurants | Elevator ride € 3
Rua do Carmo 70 | Chiado & Baixa | +3513613000
Mon – Sat 07:00 – 23:00, Sun 09:00 – 23:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by Claudio Carneiro

It took me some time to give this restaurant a chance. At first, it seemed much too fancy even for me. But then I desperately needed a nice place for a brunch, and spot saved my life. Since then, I have been a regular on their weekend divine brunch, and sometimes for lunch and dinner too.

The decoration is very clean and modern, with some Shakespearean citations abounding, the ambient music is something you would listen yourself and the staff is very attentive.

The food is done very carefully and very pleasant to the eye. And the taste, which is obviously the most important factor, is right! No matter what you order, that will be good. I almost always tend to go for the “Tuga” Burger, which only demonstrates my incapacity to be more sophisticated. But that’s me, because any other person can have salads, vegetarian food, or pasta and meat/fish wonderful plates. For dessert the Banana Strudel is the right choice!

But my highlight, as I mentioned before, is the brunch. After having a late night and waking up late, this is the best bet for having a peaceful, nice and wonderful weekend brunch.

The restaurant is connected to one of the most important Lisbon Theaters, Teatro São Luiz and is located above another one, Teatro Estudio Mario Viegas. So you can enjoy a wonderful play after a wonderful meal. Or the other way round.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Restaurante Spot São Luiz | Bars, Restaurants (Portuguese) | Average meal € 20
Rua António Maria Cardoso, 58 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213430253
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 01:30, Sun 11:00 – 23:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon

Image by KatyP

This restaurant, located in the old Pharmacy Museum at Santa Catarina in Lisboa, has a fabulous concept. When you enter, you are shown to your table by somebody wearing a white lab coat. The tables are all decked out with beakers posing as oil and vinegar containers and a look around you makes you feel like you are in an ancient apothecary’s shop with all sorts of medicine vials and pill bottles in glass-fronted cabinets around the walls. There is an odd assortment of old, antiquey-looking tables and chairs and the restaurant has a cosy, intimate feeling about it. The wine is served from beakers too

Once you have finished taking in the decor, the best bit about the restaurant is that the menu is a surprise. There is no menu to speak of but your waiter will tell you what is on offer for the night. You have the opportunity to mention any food allergies or preferences at the start of the meal. The night we went our starter arrived in a test tube and was a melon ‘shot’ (alcohol free) topped with crispy bacon – a superb combination. The main courses were a lobster risotto (with NO shortage of lobster in it) and a black pork dish which was delicious and the waiter very kindly gave us a sample of all the desserts on one plate to try – the best, of course, being the chocolate mousse.

All in all I would thoroughly recommend this restaurant for the experience alone!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Restaurante Pharmacia | Restaurants (Portuguese) | Set menu € 28
Rua Marechal Saldanha, 1 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213462146
Tue – Sun 13:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Lisbon