After a tough week, me and my girlfriend decided to go out with our baby, catch some sun and grab some food – strangely, it had been raining in Lisbon almost all week long… We were near Ajuda National Palace at Belém, when we remembered about an old restaurant nearby.

Páteo Alfacinha was created in 1981 by Vitor Seijo, an entrepreneur that loved Lisbon so much he decided to make a small living quarter-like copy of old Lisbon including a chapel, a barber shop, a tavern, a bakery, a brewery and art gallery. This bizarre but imaginative creation (that has two restaurants inside) was made using the remains of demolished houses, including a Valmor prize palace from the ’30s!

We tried a lucky shot and decided to spoil ourselves at Mercearia as our baby was sleeping. Inside, the genuine view and the aromas from the kitchen invited us to stay. Mercearia means “grocery”, and here you can buy wines or the traditional chouriços from the Alentejo Region.

First the starters: delicious home-baked bread in four different flavours, from curry to olives; two superb patés (fresh herbs and tomato); pan-fried olives… Soon we decided to share some dishes so we could taste almost everything. We tried the tuna with onions – rare as a Michelin star chef would cook it – chestnuts in hydromel (amazing!!!), pork-cheek meat in a bun (mouth-watering!) and we ended with a t-bone with sweet potato chips (enough for two people). And the deserts… Wow!!! Can’t wait to be back.