Lisbon foodie recommendations

I will comment first about your last night, for Lisbon, the airport is almost within the city, maybe a 10-20 minute ride from central Lisbon, taxis are cheap, Uber cheaper, seriously we paid like 10 to 15 euro. So no need to go out of your way to stay by the airport, stay in central Lisbon.

Aside from that, for food, we randomly hit a few places right in the heart of Lisbon with pleasant results. I wish I could remember exact names, but in our wanderings we looked at menus and the place, noting it for trying later. One happened to have a number of specials, including a Lamprey dish, tried it, it was good, not sure though I would go out of my way to get it again, but worth the experience.

They have several markets worth a look; the Mercado da Rabeira is near central Lisbon with half of it taken up by the Time Out Market, a big food hall with stalls serving all kinds styles and types of food and drink. Several top chefs from Portugal maintain outposts there, so you can find some neat dishes.

Maybe the famous (infamous?) recommendation for foodies is Ramiro, a seafood place. Anthony Bourdain ate there, as well as a couple other TV chefs, we looked at going there, but with the crowds and lines it seemed more trouble than we wanted. Reports seem to be up and down whether they have suffered in quality and service since their "discovery", maybe with the pandemic things have settled down. I am always leery of great restaurants that get hit with a deluge of fan-boy customers after a TV show, seems they become an expensive "meh" experience. There are other similar seafood places, that might be worth a look.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/lisbon-in-4-days-ff546f38-5bb5-494b-aaf8-586b29424d59

You might enjoy trying the Time Out food court at the market behind Cais do Sodre station. It is a huge food hall in an old market building that still has a market too. Numbers of what are considered some of the best restaurants have stalls there, also good bakeries, ice cream, port, and more. It is open at lunch and dinner times.

Wow! Especially to Paul! I took down lots of helpful info and noted places on my Google Map for Lisbon!
Thanks all!

I’m pretty certain the dish you refer to as mariscada is called cataplana here. It’s a lovely seafood dish that is almost a soup with lots of different fish and shellfish. It’s cooked in a special pot and is lovely. The most common actual soup you will see is Caldo Verde. I don’t recall seeing garlic soup many places.

And, if you go to the Time Out Market, time your visit outside regular meal hours due to crowds. It’s quite fun but go before noon or maybe 4:00 pm.

Any restaurant by Jose Avilez will be good. He has several in Lisbon. And, I use Google maps for restaurant recommendations and find it quite good.

Lastly, don’t stay by the airport. There is really nothing out there and it’s too quick and easy to travel from the city center.

I recommend just walking around and stumbling into anyplace that has the menu outside posted in Portuguese. If there are other people in the restaurant, look at what they are having and indicate to your server that you want the same. The server will most likely speak English to some degree and will not steer you wrong.

Simply put, it is hard to find a bad meal in Lisbon.

By following the above method, you will create a memory along with a meal. When you return home, you can regale your friends with tales of "your" restaurant. It may not be the best place, but you will not care.

Don't spend your last night in Lisbon at the airport

Dennis

I keep forgetting to ask where in Lisbon you will be staying. If it is an area I am familiar with, I may be able to propose a local spot that is on the "my restaurant " list.

Dennis

Again, thanks for all the suggestions and questions!
Just to get it out of the way, we are only staying at the airport (Melia Hotel) the night before we get our morning flight home to Boston. This will be at the end of a two week trip, arriving in Lisbon at 8 pm, following a long day in Marseille. We will have already spent 2 nights (3 days) in Lisbon at the beginning of our trip. On that last night, I know we may be in the mood for a dinner, but then we'll want to crash into bed and wake up early for our flight. We'll be able to walk to the terminal in the morning. Sounds perfect to me.

Now, for our two nights in Lisbon at the beginning of our trip:

Dennis asked where we'll be staying. I'm thinking we'll look in the Baixa, as it seems centrality located, fairly flat, and we can take cabs to anything more than a 2 kilometer walk. I like Dennis's approach to finding places to eat, but for a short stay like this, I prefer a plan. I"ve scoped out a few possible places: Solar dos Presuntos, Sabor a Lisboa, and O'Faia. We may visit the Time Out Marketplace (by the way, we have a TO Market here in Boston--different chefs--so I'm familiar with the concept) but these days, it's not our preferred option for a meal.

We look at eating out while on vacation as a chance to relax and as a form of entertainment, in a sense: we can experience aa different culture, language, foods, etc. Sometimes we enjoy a dive, sometimes an interesting environment or space. Always delicious food, usually on the more homey/peasanty style. We do NOT like what I call "tweezer" food--molecular gastronomy, etc.
We'll also be looking for interesting shopping experiences. Someone mentioned Embaxaida, and some special places for tinned fish (Seems like a good souvenir). Any places to get cork products? outdoor markets?
So, send me your suggestions, especially if you know any good hotels in the Baixa, for two old geezers who will need an elevator!

Thanks again!
Lisa

Just chiming in with a couple of suggestions, both in Principe Real, which is just up the hill from the Baixa (but you can skip the stairs and the long line for the Santa Justa Elevator by going through the mall or other options to save your legs).

I spent a week by myself in Principe Real in December and ate solo (outside because of COVID testing concerns) at Faz Frio. It's a century-old restaurant with a typical Portuguese menu (the menu is on a giant chalkboard they will bring out to you, both in Portuguese and English). There are new (and great!) trendy restaurants across the street from it, but this seemed to me like an old-school delicious restaurant. I had cod that was delicious.

Also on the same street, if you like to look for azulejos, is a wonderful store that RS recommends in his guidebooks called Solar Antique Tiles. Their opening hours aren't huge, so check in advance, but I could have spent hours wandering around. They have tiles dating back to the 14th century to look at and buy (but they are not cheap!).

These places are both on Rua Dom Pedro V, just steps from the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, which is a great viewpoint with a kiosk where you can grab a drink or snack or just sit to rest. Just a couple of small suggestions I loved!

Also in Principe Real, if you walk down Praca de Principia Real to R. da Palmiera it will lead you to a small park with a bunch of little places to eat and a wine bar and a beer bar.

We will be in Principe Real in June

Can't wait

Dennis

Someone mentioned going to a Jose Avillez restaurant, and I received a recommendation for one of his places, too. Specifically “minibar.pt” is one of his restaurants - just type it in your browser to look up pics and menu. People say it has typical Portuguese cuisine - they recommend it.

We'll be staying in Baixa as well, arriving in a few days for a 4 day stay. So I am noting the restaurant recommendations with interest! I think we'll plan to have a large(ish) late lunch, and have small plates for dinner, as we're not big fans of big meals late in the evening. I've been told this isn't an issue and many people do the same.

We frequently do the same, by the way - usually by late afternoon, I need to rest a bit, and my husband goes out walking (after walking all day!). If we haven't noted a restaurant during the day, he looks for something interesting. We too tend to avoid the very popular, more high end places, and like to eat where locals eat when we can. And I so agree about 'molecular gastronomy'. We've used this technique in many places (well, we do have a favorite restaurant in Paris, hope it made it through the pandemic), and really, the only bad meal I can remember was in Nice, on our first night where we were exhausted and unfortunately got a bad recommendation from our hotel.

All that being said, I am noting the restaurants mentioned!

Okay, we've narrowed down some choices for our 2 1/2 days in Lisbon, based on recommendations here and in other places. As I've mentioned, we like "peasant cooking"--not "tweezer" or molecular gastronomy. We live near Boston with plenty of ethnic options, so we want to focus on places serving local cuisine. We see eating out as one form of entertainment, so the ambiance/setting is important. We'll be staying very near the Rossio, and will take taxis if necessary. We'll probably have one "fancy" meal each day. So please steer me away from any big mistakes:
Solar dos Presuntos,
Casa do Alentejo,
O Faia

We've also had great meals at Michelin "Bib Gourmand" places in other countries. In Lisbon, O Frade is one, Solar dos Nunes is another.

Should we make reservations at these places? Are they needed both for lunch and for dinner? If so, how far in advance will I need to make them? Thanks so much for your help!

So, any comments or suggestions?

We enjoyed Pap Acorda, located above the Time Out Market. You can google it for their menu and a description of their specialty. It’s essentially a bread stew/mush with flavors. Try the shrimp version.

I did this tour last Thursday and really enjoyed it. It's not very much walking, but we got to try a LOT of different things with a great and engaging tour guide. I'd heartily recommend it for anyone who wants to try a variety of Lisbon specialties. I was way too full for dinner afterwards, just a word of warning.