Since the advent of the Euro, prices have escalated but are still good value in UK terms. In summer 2005, excellent three-course meals, including wine, could be had from the varied menus at most of the nearby restaurants at a cost of less than £8 (12 Euros) a head (summer, 2007). Service is invariably quick and a wide variety of fresh fish and meat dishes is available, with a main course typically from 6 Euros upwards. Local fish to be recommended includes "cherne", "robalo" and "dourada". Amongst the restaurants to be recommended are the:
Restaurante X - another reliable and economic place to eat. (Last sampled summer 2003).
Don't be put off by the growing nuisance which plagues most of Lisbon's central restaurants if you choose to eat outdoors - the recent trend for "musicians" to "treat" you to the mixed pleasures of their music and then come and ask for money. Some are better than others - other itinerant salesmen prevalent throughout central Lisbon are those selling sunglasses, fake Rolex watches and flowers. Just say no if you don't want them.
Leitaria Campesina, Rua S. Nicolau 51
L to R: The Leitaria Campesina; a bill from the Leitaria Campesina; the Lagosta Vermelha restaurant.
This is an excellent spot for a sandwich or light meal, only a short work from the Baixa-Chiado metro station. It is a small snack-bar, owned by A.S. Antunes Lda, on the corner of the Rua S. Nicolau and the Rua dos Correiros, which also has outside tables in the pedestrianised street. Particularly recommended are the range of cold/hot sandwiches, salads, soups and cakes. A full range of drinks, including draught beer is available. Service is quick and extremely friendly. It may be e-mailed here. (Last sampled summer 2007).
Café Pombalino, Rua dos Fanqueiros
This excellent café is situated on the eastern side of the Rua dos Fanqueiros, towards the Praça do Comércio end of this road which runs parallel to the Rua Augusta. It provides excellent
service as well as a wide range of cakes and sandwiches. Drinks include beer, on tap, as well as the usual range of coffees and soft drinks. (Last sampled summer 2003).
A Bolaria, Santo Amaro
This is an excellent, clean café which is conveniently situated directly across the road from the
Santo Amaro tram depot, pictured above, and is used by many of its staff. It offers good views of the depot's comings and goings, as well as very good lunches, excellent sandwiches and cakes. (Last sampled summer 2003).
O Glacial Artico, Rua do Arsenal
This pleasant café is usefully located on the Rua do Arsenal, on the left half way between Cais do Sodré and the Praça do Comércio. (Last sampled summer 2003).
O Cacho Dourado, Rua Eça de Queirós 3.
This is a good, cheap restaurant near the Marquês de Pombal Metro station. (Last sampled summer 2002).
The Menu and a Few Important Words
Lisbon restaurants offer a wide range of both meat and fish dishes, which are well-
suited to the British palate as they are not normally spiced. The Portuguese term
"bife" (beef) can be misleading as it is applied to any type of meat. Thus you will find on menus
"bife de peru" or "bife de porco", meaning a turkey or pork steak, respectively.
A "bitoque" is beef with an egg on top. "Frango a piri-piri" is chicken served
in a generally fairly mild chilli sauce. "Borrego" is lamb, "Vitela" is veal and "Leitão" is roast suckling pig, often described as Leitão de Negrais (from Negrais, near Sintra).
Amongst the excellent local fish dishes is "cherne" (bream), robalo and dourada. Cod ("bacalhau") can be a bit of an experience, with "bacalhau à Brás" being popular- this is salt cod with potato, onion and egg. Soups are generally excellent, with the ubiquitous "sopa de legumes/ hortaliça" (vegetable soup), "canja" (chicken broth) and the northern speciality, "caldo verde" (a cabbage and potato soup with sausage) being recommended. Unless you like a rawish egg in your soup, "sopa alentejana" is to be avoided. Sweets include "mousse de chocolate" (chocolate mousse), "arroz doce" (rice pudding) and "pudim flan" (crème caramel). Sadly home-made versions of swets are giving way to commercial products in many restaurants. House wines ("vinho de casa") are generally very satisfactory and cheap (3.50 Euros was typical in 2005 i.e less than £2.50 a bottle). Some other useful food and drink terms are:-
A beer = "Uma cerveja". Most common brands are Sagres and Superbock. A draught beer
is "uma imperial"; a larger glass of draught beer is "uma caneca".
A ham sandwich = "Uma sande de fiambre".
A cheese sandwich = "Uma sande de queijo".
A hot beef sandwich = "Um prego".
A small expresso coffee (black) = "Uma bica"
A small white coffee = "café com leite"; a large one (served in a glass) is called a "galão".
The bill, please = "A conta, se faz favor".
Thank you = "Obrigado" (if you are male), "obrigada" (if you are female).
Shopping for Food and Wines near Transport Facilities
The huge Corte Inglês department store, built on top of São Sebastião Metro station has a wide range of wine, as does the Jumbo hypermarket at Cascais. This lies just across the coast road (Estrada Marginal) from Cascais railway station and is open for long hours. It also stocks a good range of CDs and has an excellent newspaper shop. Even closer to the Cascais station is the new Cascais Villa complex which has fast-food outlets on its top floor and fashion, music and other shops on the lower floors. The Vasco da Gama shooping centre at Oriente also has a hypermarket (Continente) with an equally wide range of merchandise. The above-mentioned Rua dos Correeiros has a useful open-all-hours supermarket at its southern end, on the left as you face the south. For a massive range of books, CDs, DVDS etc visit FNAC whose entrance is at the foot of the Rua Garrett, where it meets the Rua do Carmo and the Rua Nova de Almada and it is open late at night.
Copyright: ©
Compiled by John Laidlar
16 May 2007
One of the best streets in central Lisbon to find good, cheap Portuguese restaurants is the Rua dos Correeiros. This road runs parallel and to the east of the main Rua Augusta, though at its southern end it terminates before reaching the Praça Comércio. Sadly, the number of such restaurants has declined in the last 20 year as the Portuguese inexplicably fall for the fast-food of McDonalds and Burger King. Nevertheless, numbers seem to have stabilised and at least a dozen traditional establishments remain in the street though these are now tending to clump towards the northern end of the street, near the Praça Figueira, where tourists are an ever increasing proportion of the clientele. Nevertheless, all are still frequented to varying degrees by local residents too. Pictured, left, is the interior of the Lagosta Vermelha restaurant.