BaixaMar
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, 28D
218 872 411
Opens every day
Price per person: €30
facebook.com/BaixaMarLisboa
This seafood restaurant is located between Praça do Comércio and Campo das Cebolas, and has a tank from where you may choose the lobster or crab that you want to see on your plate. The house specialties are the seafood “cataplana” and seafood and lobster rice, which can be accompanied by one of three dozen wines, gins and cocktails.
The lunchtime menu of the day has an inviting price.
Bastardo
Rua da Betesga, 3
213 240 993
Opens every day
Price per person: €25
restaurantebastardo.com
Found in the Internacional Design Hotel, this restaurant offers Portuguese cuisine with international inspirations, looking out to Rossio Square. The inspirations come mainly from the lands related to the “Portuguese Discoveries,” using regional products in well-presented dishes. The dining room has a curious décor, with colorful mismatched tables and chairs, and medieval portraits on the walls with contemporary expressions superimposed.
Bella Ciao
Rua de São Julião, 74-76
210 935 708
Closes on Sundays
Price per person: €20
facebook.com/bellaciaolx
This is an authentic Italian trattoria, with checkered tablecloths, an Italian in the kitchen and RAI on TV. The Italian in the kitchen is the owner, who prepares the traditional pasta dishes of his homeland and the best tiramisu in Lisbon.
Every meal starts with a complementary arugula salad with tomato and tuna, and in addition to the pasta there are a few good meat options. As an alternative to the tiramisu, there’s a delicious Nutella mousse.
Café do Rio
Rua da Alfândega, 114
218 868 050
Closes on Sundays
Price per person: €20
cafedorio.pt
Found downtown on the way to Alfama (next to Conceição Velha Church and close to Casa dos Bicos), this restaurant's specialty is organic meat hamburgers, but also offers curious choices of veggie and fish burgers. They're served in a welcoming contemporary interior, and accompanied by potatoes and rice. The menu also lists pastas and salads.
Can the Can
Praça do Comércio
914 007 100
Opens every day
Price per person: €25
www.canthecan.net
A huge chandelier made of three thousand cans hanging from the ceiling reveals what this contemporary space in Comercio Square is all about. It's a café and "petiscos" (tapas) restaurant where traditional canned products are elevated to gourmet meals and are also used in the décor of the walls and tables. Despite the inviting interior, you'll certainly prefer to sit outside on the terrace, facing the triumphal arch. Other choices on the menu are hamburgers, pastas and salads.
Kong
Rua do Crucifixo, 30
213 460 076
Closes on Sundays
Price per person: €15
www.kongveganfood.com
Its menu lists vegan versions of “guilty pleasures” such as “fish and chips” and hamburgers with “bacon,” but there are also dishes of the day (such as the famous Brazilian “feijoada” on Thursdays). Everything is free of animal products, including the desserts.
Leitaria A Camponeza
Rua dos Sapateiros, 155
923 132 488
Opens every day
Price per person: €25
facebook.com/Leitaria-a-Camponeza
This space has had several lives throughout its over 100 years. It started as a milk shop in 1907, decades later it became a café, and more recently it was turned into a restaurant. It’s an authentic Art Nouveau monument, retaining much of the original architecture and decoration, including tile panels inside and on the façade. The specialty is kebabs, of grilled meat or fish, served with potatoes, rice and salad on the side. It also has a few tables outside.
Museu da Cerveja
Praça do Comércio
210 987 656
Opens every day
Price per person: €35
www.museudacerveja.pt
On the ground floor it serves steaks and traditional Portuguese cuisine, while upstairs it presents the history of beer, its industry, production and consumption. It's therefore a curious place for a refreshing break and meal downtown, with a very popular terrace on Comércio Square.
Oven
Rua dos Fanqueiros, 232
964 515 454
Closes on Mondays
Price per person: €25
ovenlisboa.com
The name refers to the traditional oven from India and other parts of Asia, known as “tandoor.” The one you’ll see here was created specifically for this restaurant, in clay and copper, and is one-of-a-kind in Lisbon. It’s where traditional dishes from India and Nepal are cooked, at temperatures ranging between 300 and 400 degrees. The Nepalese chef then gives them his personal touch in the mix of flavors, and in a more contemporary presentation. They’re accompanied by traditional drinks, signature cocktails, or carefully-selected Portuguese wines that pair perfectly with what’s on the menu. The kitchen opens to the dining room, which takes us to South Asia through the décor.
Pinóquio
Rua de Santa Justa, 54
213 465 106
Opens every day
Price per person: €30
www.restaurantepinoquio.pt
It’s better known for the original space with outdoor seating in the bustling Praça dos Restauradores (currently closed for renovation), but you can always come to this second spot, located just steps from the Santa Justa Elevator. It opened when that first branch temporarily closed for renovation, and offers the same dishes, including the famous clams. The main specialty is seafood, with doses that can be shared by two people, but there’s also a variety of fish and meat. To accompany each choice there’s the house wine and all kinds of national wines and beer.
Rib - Beef & Wine
Praça do Comércio, 31-34
968 578 962
Opens every day
Price per person: €40
facebook.com/RIBLisboa
With tables outside facing Praça do Comércio, and with a beautiful interior, the restaurant in Pousada de Lisboa is for meat lovers and for those looking for meals in a special atmosphere. The quality meats are served with good sauces and with some original sides, and there’s also a vegetarian option. To wash it all down, there are over 120 wine labels.
The dining room is one of the most beautiful in the city, decorated with pieces loaned by the Lisbon Museum.
Uma
Rua dos Sapateiros, 177
213 427 425
Closes on Sundays
Price per person: €20
facebook.com/marisqueiraumalisboa
It only offers a dozen options (omelets, steaks, cod), but everyone comes here for just one dish anyway -- the seafood rice, which many swear is the best in Lisbon. There are days when it seems that it’s the only thing on the menu, as it’s what attracts so many locals and tourists to the small informal space (with a sometimes rushed service).
Velho Macedo
Rua da Madalena, 117
218 873 003
Opens every day
Price per person: €25
facebook.com/RestauranteVelhoMacedo
It’s one of the oldest restaurants in Baixa, occupying the space of a former milk shop. It maintains the stone walls of the original construction, and bottles of national wines decorate part of the interior. The cuisine follows traditional Portuguese recipes, many of them from the north of the country. There are always dishes of the day, and several choices for appetizers.
