Cantina das Freiras Lisbon

Secret Spot #1

Nuno from Lisbon

About me My name’s Nuno and I was born and raised in Lisbon. I studied Tourism and worked for the Estoril Coast Tourism Board for 5 long years. Soon I started travelling a lot, learning different languages - from Russian to Mandarin - and getting to know different countries and cultures. You can tell I fought on both sides of the war. Now I write for several blogs and I'm a tour...
""Cantina das Freiras" in Lisbon is a truly secret cantina/restaurant, with a stunning view and amazing prices. You must promise not to tell. I'm serious."

First time I went there, it was packed with locals catching sun and chatting while having lunch. The place is not difficult to find, but you can hardly imagine there's a restaurant worth a visit inside this building. Once I checked the amazing rooftop view, this became my favourite place in town.

I wasn't sure if I should share this or not: the place is quite small and it gets packed around 13:00 (Tip:get there earlier!). Also I was afraid I would "destroy" it. Later I realized that no one can change it. There will never be trendy gins, gourmet burgers, organic salads and kefir... So, usually there's only three main courses to choose from (besides the usual snacks). It's just a canteen (it used to be a canteen for the nuns!), and well... sometimes they might serve squid (most people can't even imagine having that for lunch right?).

The food is modest, tasty and homemade. The prices are inviting and as for the view, let's be honest: there's no place in Europe where you can have a meal with a view for anything close to that price!

Here it goes, so make sure you follow the rules or I'll take the article offline.

1st rule about this place is: You don't talk about this place.

2nd rule about this place is: You don't talk about this place.

3rd rule about this place is: You'll never upload a photo for Instagram and you'll never review it on Tripadvisor or anywhere else.

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Lisbon Spotter Nuno

About me My name’s Nuno and I was born and raised in Lisbon. I studied Tourism and worked for the Estoril Coast Tourism Board for 5 long years. Soon I started travelling a lot, learning different languages - from Russian to Mandarin - and getting to know different countries and cultures. You can tell I fought on both sides of the war. Now I write for several blogs and I'm a tour guide at Get Lost Go Local and We Hate Tourism Tours. I like driving my noisy old Renault 4l with her tired engine with thousand kilometers in the narrow streets of Lisbon. I'm also a mu...

About this spot

Travessa do Ferragial 1

Whole meal:

6.50

213240910

Oct 16, 2025

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