A Postcard from Lisbon

Our rental contract in Porto ends in mid-January, so we have begun looking for a new place to live.  The plan has always been to live in several places around Portugal before deciding where we want to stay permanently.  The Lisbon area is next on our list.  This week we visited Cascais, a lovely town about 30 miles west of Lisbon.  As I write this, we are in Lisbon.

The trip has not been as productive as we had hoped.  Many of the apartments we hoped to see were not available.  The real estate market in this area is apparently pretty hot right now, and apartments are renting fast.  Several owners would not allow dogs in their rental units.  Some real estate agents would not agree to share commissions with our agent and others simply would not return her calls.  (We’ll write more about the real estate business here at another time.  For now, it’s enough to say it works differently here.  Surprise, surprise!)  

When Life Hands You Lemons, Go Find the Food!

As a result, we found ourselves in Lisbon on Friday, with no apartments to view. We made a few calls to realtors and got some interest, but nothing was going to happen that day, so we set out to explore one corner of this fascinating city.

Where did we go?  In search of food, of course!

While I was talking to realtors, Mary looked at the map and decided that the southeast corner of Lisbon had promise. We laced up our boots and headed out.

Our destination was the Mercado da Ribeira,  also known as the Time Out Market.

An Historical Market, Updated and Curated

The Mercado is a 34,000 square foot food hall and market that originally opened in 1882, though as early as 1100 there were mentions of a market in this area.

The venue has been operated since 2014 as a project of Time Out Portugal magazine.  They explain it this way

“[It is a] concept created from scratch in 2014 by the team at Time Out Portugal, with only the best ideas and business projects in Lisbon – according to the editorial team – which can stay in the market from one week to three years. If it’s good, it goes in the magazine, if it’s great, it goes into the market.

On the one hand, 26 restaurants, 8 bars, a dozen shops and a high-end music venue, all with the very best in Lisbon (the best steak, the best hamburger, the best sushi and the best live performances, amongst others); on the other hand, home to some of the city’s best known (and longest-running) market vendors of meat, fish, fruit and flowers.“

It took a few minutes for the concept to sink in. And while it didn’t register at first, we have to note that this is the first food venue we’ve visited in Portugal that didn’t have a McDonald’s, Burger King or Pizza Hut.  

You Don’t Just Walk In Anymore

To get into the building, we had to stand in line to show our EU COVID Digital Certificates.  This is a requirement imposed by the Portuguese government, effective at the first of December. We had submitted our US vaccination records to SNS, the Portuguese national health service, a couple months ago and had received the certificates. We loaded them on our phones. This turned out to be a smart move, as we’ve heard that some restaurants and venues will not accept a paper certificate.

A person at the door scanned the QR code on our certificates, waited for a green “OK to proceed” signal, and then let us in.

Inside the Market

Once inside, we had to stop and take in the magnitude of the place. Around the perimeter were the food kiosks. There were several bars in the center of the space. The remainder of the floor was filled with long tables, most of which seemed to be full. The place can seat over 800 people. It was 12:30pm, a bit early for lunch here, but the place was humming.

We walked around the perimeter of the hall, looking at the menus posted at each shop.  Most of the counters offered Portuguese food, but we also saw one Asian restaurant and a bakery featuring “American donuts”.

We saw some things that looked delightful and some that were questionable.

Getting Introduced to a New Chef

After we got about halfway, Mary suggested we back up and visit the booth of Marlene Vieira.  The name didn’t register with us, but we later learned she is one of Portugal’s most famous female chefs.  One of her cookbooks was on display at the counter.

We’ve since learned that Marlene has another restaurant, Zumzum Gastrobar, located nearby at the cruise ship terminal close to the Santa Apolónia train station in Lisbon.  She opened this restaurant in August, 2020, during the pandemic, an act that she called the greatest challenge of her life.  She also operates a catering company.

Marlene, who is originally from Maia, north of Porto, says this about herself:

“I’m a woman from the north” in a world that appears to be for men, but I believe I’m an inspiration to other women. I want to always do good cooking and also challenge society by showing that professional cooking is also a world of women where they can and do know, lead and create, as well or better than men!

We hoped to try the Feijada do Mar – a seafood stew made with beans, octopus, cuttlefish, and mussels.  But we were told that was only available as the prato do dia (plate of the day) on Mondays.  So we ordered Friday’s special – Vitela assada à moda de Lafões (roasted veal with baked potatoes).  

We found a spot at one of the large communal tables and waited about 10 minutes for the dish to be prepared.  It was well worth the wait. 

The veal was warm and tender and the potatoes were cooked “just right”. We shared one plate and there was more than enough for each of us.

I made one tactical error when ordering – I turned down the dessert that was offered as part of the daily special. Dumb move! I won’t make that mistake again.

A Celebrity Sighting?

After lunch, as we left the Mercado, a man driving a tuk tuk approached us and asked if we needed a ride. We said no, and continued walking. After a second, Mary said, “Did that guy look familiar?” I replied, “Yes, I think so.”

Mary turned to look back. “I’d swear that was Phil Rosenthal from Somebody Feed Phil.”

I shook my head, “No, it couldn’t have been him. Besides, Nancy and Denise already did a post on him visiting Almada, just across the river from here.”

But he had already driven away. I guess we’ll never know.

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We’ll have a lot more stories from the Lisbon area once we relocate. Where will that be? We don’t know yet. Stay tuned! And if you’ve seen Phil in your neighborhood lately, leave us a comment below or send us a note via the Contact Form.

Enjoy your weekend / Aproveite o seu fim de semana

Mary and Mike

The Cook and The Writer

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