Hidden away next to the picturesque Largo do Carmo, Vertigo is one of the more trendy places in Chiado. It’s a perfect spot to have lunch or a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Or have a drink here before going for dinner in Bairro Alto!

The menu is rather healthy and features lots of salads, sandwiches, fresh juices and more exotic offers. (Not that easy to find in Lisbon, trust me!). The interior is very cozy yet stylish.

The area around Vertigo is becoming more and more interesting, with lots of cafés, shops and restaurants opening. Check it out.

Royal Café is a nice, almost hidden, place to have breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack. The setting is modern and clean, without being distant. In the back you can find a (rather tiny) terrace.

The main specialties are natural- and biological products. They have a good assortment of salads, sandwiches, fresh juices, various teas and infusions.

It is not cheap, compared to your average Portuguese pastelaria or snackbar, but nothing scandalous, especially if you’re used to Northern European prices.

I like to come here to have lunch or a snack when spending time in Chiado. It is just 100 meters away from the main street in Chiado, but a lot more quiet and less touristic. And it is open on Sunday!!

If it is full try Vertigo.

This is one of my weekends favourite bakeries. I like this one specially for its “sonhos” (dreams), which are normally a Christmas season specialty, but they have it, fortunately, all winter long. “Sonhos” are fried cakes, much like donuts, but lighter and fluffier. There are the normal and the pumpkin ones, the last being my pick. Also their “rabanadas” (well, I don’t know how to translate that!) are just perfectly done. It’s like a sweet french toast, but much better. And for last, if they are not the only place in Lisbon that sells bagels, they surely are the only one that make authentic ones.

Another great thing is their storefront. It’s always decorated accordingly to the season, or happening or celebration.

And the best of all is that this bakery is in the middle of the best stores and tourist places in Chiado. And it’s there that I normally buy my bread for the whole week. Did I mention their bread is spectacular?

As an alternative and healthy choice to the sodas, Lemonade is common in southern Europe and a popular drink in sunny Portugal during the hot summer. Drinking Lemonade always reminded me of American movies where students raise money by selling this homemade drink. Here in Lisbon, the best lemonade in town – and the cheapest, as they say - was at Merendinha, near Bairro Alto. Sadly, the original place closed for some reason after 74 years of history serving the legendary drink.

Now, the place reopened in a different, modern but yet very cozy style. The new name is “Liquid”, but you can still read the old name “Merendinha” at the entrance. Fortunately it changed for the better. It’s brand new in an inviting central place near Bairro Alto.

They have smoothies with funny names like “Peter Pan”, “Doctor Away” (with apple in it I’m sure), or Popeye with spinach. There are also vegetable shots. The purpose is to change habits, replacing big meals for a light, but healthy smoothie with enough vitamins to cure a cold. You can add wheat-grass, ginger or other exotic ingredients like Goji Beries and give some flavor to your own the magic potion. Lemonade can cure a cold because there’s a high level of vitamin C present in lemons. They say it cleanses the liver, helps the digestion and improve your metabolism. Well, let’s go for it!

Lemonade is back in town, and soon with summer coming I’m sure the place will be packed with thirsty travelers.

Legend has it, Martim Moniz was a noble knight who died during the siege of Lisbon in 1147 – He saw the Moors closing one of the main doors of the castle and he led an attack alone, preventing them from closing one of the gates of Saint George Castles. He sacrificed himself and he died.

It’s been a long time, and besides the gate, there’s also a square, Martim Moniz, that pays homage to the noble hero knight. Multicultural Lisbon starts here and it looks like you’re in Raval (Barcelona) or Kreuzberg (Berlin). Down the Almirante Reis Avenue, there are small Chinese groceries, Turkish kebab houses, Indian restaurants and stores, and looking like you’re in Chinatown or Little Bombay.

Inside the Mouraria shopping center, located in the Martim Moniz square, you’ll find African products as well as dried fish, coconut milk, okra and hot piri-piri. I love to cook and I always prefer to buy the original stuff in a local small shop. Popat Store’s owners are friendly and if you’re lost, they’ll kindly help you finding the exotic spices and products from far far away. There’s achar (Indian pickle), cardamom, turmeric, tamarind, saffron, ginger, dried coconut, nigella and things that I don’t know yet how to use in the kitchen.

Everytime I go there I buy Besan Laddu (chickpea cake) and vimto (raspberry juice) for snack. My trouble is to decide what to buy for dinner and how to cook it… I’m still looking for fresh Lemongrass in Martim Moniz, and sadly I always buy the wrong herb…