Food lover’s guide to Lisbon: Local restaurants and must-visit bars

For decades Portugal has been one of the most popular destinations for Irish tourists, however, in the last five years the masses have landed in Lisbon specifically seeking out its food and drink. "New Iberian" could well take up the mantle from "new Nordic", and the Portuguese capital can compete with London, Dublin, Copenhagen or Paris with its culinary offering, particularly around the fine casual sphere, led by young chefs championing Portuguese produce and cuisine in contemporary ways.

Destination tables

Lisbon's Bairro Alto and Cais do Sodré areas seem pretty sleepy until dusk and then come into their own throughout the night, while the central Baixa/Chiado districts represent the tourist and shopping hotbed. However, we suggest looking everywhere to the east of Praça do Comerçio. The neighbourhoods of Alfama, Graça, Mouraria and Martim Moniz represent the more exciting, locally-oriented areas for dining and drinking.

António Galapito's Prado (Travessa das Pedras Negras 2,pradorestaurante.com) – in a former fish factory – is modern Scandinavian in design and serves sharing plates, focusing on seasonal Portuguese ingredients. The wine list is almost entirely organic and biodynamic. Behind the restaurant find Prado Mercearia, Galapito's more casual "grocery" deli-cafe-bottle shop open from 10am weekdays. In historic Alfama, SEM (Rua das Escolas Gerais 120, restaurantsem.com) is a zero-waste restaurant serving a modern tasting menu which celebrates seasonality in thrifty and delicious ways, while the adjoining wine bar serves small plates and snacks alongside impeccably chosen natural and biodynamic wines.

In Mouraria, former architect-turned-chef Leopoldo Calhau transported the entire interior of a closing-down tavern in Beja two hours away to his Lisbon restaurant Taberna do Calhau (Largo das Olarias 23, instagram.com/taberna_do_calhau), where he serves small sharing dishes (none more than €10) from the Alentejo region (the food-producing heartland of Portugal). Next door, his funky wine bar Bla Bla Glu Glu centres on low-intervention bottles from small producers. Other destination tables to the east of the city centre include Boi Cavalo (Rua do Vigário 70B, boi-cavalo.pt) and Sála de João Sá (Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 103, restaurantesala.pt) both of which serve tasting menus, and shellfish institution Ramiro (Avenida Almirante Reis 1, cervejariaramiro.com).

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An exception to this neighbourhood rule is the well-heeled precinct of Príncipe Real, perched on a hill north of the city centre which boasts many exciting restaurants: star chef Henrique Sá Pessoa's Tapisco (a portmanteau of tapas and the Portuguese equivalent petisco; Rua Dom Pedro V 8, tapisco.pt), Peruvian ceviche spot A Cevicheria (Rua Dom Pedro V 129, acevicheria.pt) Faz Frio (Rua Dom Pedro V 96, fazfrio.pt) the contemporary temple to bacalhau (salted cod), classic, regional French with a Portuguese accent, JNcQUOI (Avenida da Liberdade 182,jncquoi.com) and Lebanese spot Sumaya (Rua da Escola Politéc-nica 40, instagram.com/sumayarestaurante).

Fine dining

The coastal Belém district is worth a trip alone for the Jerónimos monastery, Belém Tower and Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument, but while there try to nab a table at O Frade (Calçada da Ajuda 14, instagram.com/restauranteofrade). Run by chef cousins Carlos Afonso and Sérgio Frade, it was recently awarded a Bib Gourmand and the setting (around a U-shaped central bar) is cool and contemporary while the menu dances between traditional "home style" dishes and tweezer-tweaked small plates. In the city centre, try the single-menu restaurant Epur (Largo da Academia Nacional de Belas Artes 14, epur.pt), 100 Maneiras (Rua do Teixeira 39 100maneiras. com">100maneiras.com) run by Bosnian chef Ljubomir Stanisic and Alexandre Silva's 16-course tasting menu at Loco (Rua dos Navegantes 53, loco.pt) – all three with one Michelin star a piece.

Must-visit bars

Peter O'Connor made his name with Diageo in the United States and launched Roe & Co in Ireland, but as of late 2019 has called Lisbon home after seeking a change and taking a chance opening Onda Cocktail Room (Rua Damasceno Monteiro 45, insta-gram.com/ondacocktailroom). A talented mixologist and bartender with decades of experience, his sitting room speakeasy has a short, well-appointed cocktail and wine list – but if you're indecisive ask O'Connor for his seven-question experience to sip a cocktail specifically created to your taste.

For wine lovers, marvel at the bottle-adorned arched ceilings of ByTheWine (Rua das Flores 41, bythewine.pt) in Chiado or drop by traditional tasca Garrafeira Alfaia (R do Diário de Notícias 125, garrafeiraalfaia.com) in Bairro Alto. Sip shots of the local ginjinha (cherry liqueur) at Ginjinha Sem Rival (Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 7).

Coffee and custard tarts

Lisbon runs on espresso, and at every cafe, bar and pastelaria (pastry shop) you'll find espresso constantly being pulled (never pay beyond a euro or so for one), so the microfoam flat whites, nitro and cold brew haven't landed here in the same way as other European capitals. However, notable exceptions include The Mill (R do Poço dos Negros 1, themill.pt), Heim (Rua Santos-O-Velho 2 e 4, insta-gram.com/heimcafe.lisbon) Copenhagen Coffee Lab (various locations, copenhagencof-feelab.com), Hello Kristof (Rua do Poço dos Negros 103, hellokristof.com) and Fábrica Coffee Roasters (various locations, fabricacoffeeroasters.com).

Pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts) abound in Lisbon and it's in the capital that these flaky, buttery warm tarts with their deep burnished tops were first created. You can't miss pastéis in bakeries or pastelaria on pretty much every street. Though Pastéis de Belém (Rua de Belém 84 92, pasteisdebelem.pt) is believed to hold the original recipe and has the perma-queue down the street to prove it; it's at Manteigaria (literally butter shop; various locations, instagram.com/manteigaria.oficial) that these are freshest and best. Sprinkled with ground cinnamon and enjoyed with espresso, this is the mid-morning (and mid-afternoon) pick-me-up you'll soon convince yourself is a daily act of delicious self-care.