Archives for “cafe” tag

For one of the freshest, warmest, most delicious pastel de nata in down town Lisbon, go to Café Martinho da Arcarda. This very old (established in 1782), famous cafe is tucked away in the top right corner of Praça do Comércio (as you stand with your back to the river) and has an esplanade under the arches of one of the buildings that line the edge of the Praça.

The decor has not changed since Fernando Pessoa used to frequent the cafe in the early 1900s and there is a typically Portuguese tiled scene behind the bar counter showing the kitchen and the baking of the above mentioned pastéis de nata. There are signs up in the cafe proudly stating that the pastéis de nata are cooked on the premises on a daily basis. There are only a few tables inside the cafe with the majority of them being situated outside on the esplanade.

This café, in my opinion, is actually nicer than the far busier, more touristy one that is in Rossio on Praça Dom Pedro IV. Whilst sitting outside this cafe you have a view directly across the newly-refurbished Praça do Comércio to the river.

There is a restaurant attached to the café and although I have not eaten there, a glance at the menu suggested that it is rather a pricey and perhaps touristy restaurant. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend a traditional pastel de nata and a coffee at the café.

In the office/shopping complex world around Praça Duque de Saldanha it isn’t difficult to find a place for a quick meal as each building has the inevitable underground food court with a selection of ‘fast food’ outlets.

If these neon-lit mazes of chairs and tables do not appeal to you (they certainly don’t appeal to me), you like to be above ground, and you fancy sampling a large number of Belgian beers, I recommend the Medeia bar/restaurant at the cinema in Edificio Monumental.

Situated in Lisbon’s Saldanha district this restaurant/bar is on the first floor of the shopping centre with a big window overlooking Praça Duque de Saldanha. It is not what you would expect of a cinema bar because of its varied, reasonably-priced menu and personalised table service – these help to give it more of a restaurant feel than the usual cinema bar.

The cuisine is tasty and consists of a variety of simple dishes (not particularly Portuguese) ranging from hamburgers to pasta dishes as well as having smaller sandwich options. One of the unique points of this bar/restaurant is that it has a beer menu with a wide selection of Belgian beers both in bottle and on tap.

There is also a range of beer from other places in the world and the chocolate cake here is superb! This venue gets very busy at lunch time and around movie times. I personally prefer to go there in the when it is quieter and there is more time to enjoy the ambience.

Despite the hilly areas, Lisbon can be bike friendly. To prove it, brand new café Velócité opened last September just near the new bike path – This is the only café in Lisbon with this kind of concept: Café and Bike Shop, although some others are arriving to town… I really love bikes, I hope they come to stay.

Reality in Lisbon is quite different from the north European cities like Amsterdam or Berlin where nearly 50% of the population use bikes as a primary mean of transportation. The population of bikers in Lisbon tend to increase thanks to the crisis, raising taxes, awful traffic, eco consciousness and a little help of the town hall, providing the streets with new bike paths. Sometimes it takes time to change mentalities… and I really hope they change soon.

Velócité, located near the Gulbenkian Museum (check the Gulbenkian Museum article) has snacks,  drinks, spare parts for your bike, and tips from local bikers. The place opened 4 months ago and is spreading the word about biking. The concept is great: Bring your bike, park it, go for a snack and buy some extras for your ride.

I’m a fan of bikes and I use it combined with the train to cover my house to work commute. Unfortunately, some cycleways are packed with people – So, bike carefully so you can avoid human bowling and old ladies slalom – as people aren’t used to bikes. Bike safe and be careful. It’s great to bike in Lisbon

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

A popular concept in Lisbon is for hamburgers to be served ‘on the plate’ which means that when you order the burger it will arrive, complete with all the relevant garnish, salad and side orders exactly as described on the menu – on the plate with no evidence of the traditional hamburger bread roll. I personally find this rather refreshing as I inevitably end up leaving half the bread behind so I can enjoy the rest of the burger.

Café do Rio specializes in every type of freshly made gourmet hamburger you could think of – my favourite is one that consists of Roquefort cheese and bacon mixed up with the burger mince meat to form a flavorsome patty, and this is then garnished with a smaller patty of the same kind, an enormous salad and yummy potato chips cooked with the skin on them. The burgers are succulent and juicy and the salad is fresh and there is no room on the plate for a burger bun!

The menu has a selection of vegetarian burgers, and fish burgers all of which are freshly made in the restaurant. The meat burgers are split into different categories – traditional, spicy and the house specialties (of which the Roquefort burger is one). Finish off the meal with the special chocolate cake – a slice of chocolate tart filled with gooey chocolate mousse. Perfection!