Better late than never
While we lived in Portugal, we would regularly receive emails from friends planning to visit the country. Inevitably, one of the questions they would ask is “Can you recommend some restaurants?”
We would always try to respond, cobbling together a new list every time – starting with the last email we’d sent and adding some new places.
But we were never satisfied that our answers were very good. We knew they weren’t consistent and often omitted restaurants that we simply forgot to include. Mike would say every time, “Someday I’ll create a better list that we can refer people to”.
He had good intentions, but the road to hell and all that…
After we got our first request of 2025, Mike was determined to do better, and this week he created a new page here on the website – “Our Favorite Lisbon Restaurants“. You can find it under the main menu item “Travel Guides”.
Enough detail to get you started
This is no Zagat Guide, but it does provide a decent representation of restaurants that we, or some of our friends, have visited in Lisbon. The main feature of the page is an interactive Google Map with pins dropped that show the location of 30 local restaurants. They are listed at the side, in no particular order. (Mike might fix that in a later revision.)
For each of the restaurants, we’ve included a brief note about why we included it. If we’ve previously written about it, we include a link to the post.
Google Maps also adds other details (if available), including the restaurant address, phone number, URL, links to reviews and pictures.
Now go enjoy!
One of the best things we found about living in Lisbon was the almost infinite variety of places to eat and cuisines to try. Our list only scratches the surface. As we sift through our notes and memories, we’ll add a few more places.
We hope this guide to Lisbon restaurants will be useful to anyone visiting Lisbon. If you have a suggestion for a place we missed, please drop us a note with the details. We’ll be happy to add your recommendation.
Until next time, Bon appétit!
Mary and Mike
The Cook and The Writer
What’s your favorite restaurant, anywhere? We might want to go there. Leave your review in the comments below or via the Contact Us form.
Oh, man, you guys missed out on a couple discoveries since you left: Subenshi, incredible, creative, expensive, a true experience! https://www.subenshi.pt/subenshi_sushi_lisboa.php
And Gunpowder, an Indian Fusion restaurant down on the Blue Street in Chiado, Small plates to share, spectacular flavors and presentation! https://gunpowderrestaurants.com/pt/#
And, finally, I don’t think we ever went to Eleven with you folks, and it is a must recommend for high end: Michelin Star at the top of Parque Eduardo, and it has a “Business Lunch” special for 45 euros that is to die for. You may need to ask about it as it isn’t always on the menu. https://www.restauranteleven.com/
And of course, there is always Mãe . . .
Bom apetite!
David
Hi David,
Thanks for the suggestions. I will add them to the map, with credit to you. We had been to Gunpowder sometime back. I’ll have to find my notes about it to add to yours. And I’m sorry we missed Subenshi. We were always up for sushi.
Have a great week!
Mike
My friend Lena really appreciated your suggestions!!
Thanks, Bonnie. Your request for Lena was what finally prompted us to make the list and the map. I’m happy our recommendations were helpful.
Mike