February trip to Lisbon

[Thomas V]

Hi folks,

My mom has invited my sister and me along with our partners to Lisbon in February to celebrate her 70th birthday.

So I am doing my due diligence in order to find some local and good restaurants (Not too pricey) along with the best sites to see and get a feel for the history and culture of Lisbon.

We will be staying in Alfama which to my understanding is very central and our plans are to mostly get around by foot. So please keep that in mind with you recommendations.

Also if you happen to know any good wine bars (port? ) places that we should try out, please don't hesitate to mention those as well. I will be sure to stop by Garrafeira Nacional just to see the amount of bottles.

Any input appreciated.

[Bryan H.]

Two restaurants I like in Chiado (one maybe more in Barrio Alto)...perhaps walkable, but maybe a bit of a healthy walk. Cab might be better if you wanted to try one of these.

Taberna da Rua das Flores--very small and usually a wait, not sure if they take reservations so you might want to call ahead to see
Aqui ha Peixe--we've always had great fish here and know the owners for many years

To see, any list is going to recommend Torre de Belem, the monument to the explorers, and the Jeronimos Monastery, and in my opinion they are worth a visit. They are in the same area along the riverfront.

You are below the Castelo Sao George, which is nice to visit and offers good views of the city. I like walking up to it, but it is a bit of a trek up a bunch of streets.

[Eric Menchen]

Bryan has given you good advice. You probably should get a reservation for Aqui ha Peixe. The metro will also get you around, as will the trolleys, and you can take a train to Jeronimos with a nice walk of about 6 or so blocks as I recall. From there you can walk to the Torre and monument. That will be a bit of walking if you do it all in a day, and I don't know how much endurance your mother has. I found a nice wine bar under the castle. I'll look for that one.

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[Eric Menchen]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_ ... tugal.html
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_ ... tugal.html


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[Thomas V]

Cheers Bryan and Eric.

Your tips are duly noted and much appreciated.

Others with gold nuggets, please do chime in.

[Thomas V]

Any good wine bars where you can get some decent ports by the glass?

[Bert VD]

take tram 2 (i think). it's a circle line and it's great to a bit of an overview of the city when you go there the first time.
in Belem go to the bakery that sells the pasteis de Belem. you'll recognize it by the line of people stretching onto the sidewalk. don't worry, they are fast. (they sell about 40.000 pasteis a day) right next door to the bakery is a small restaurant with a super friendly owner. no tourists in there, just simple nice food. he'll suggest things rather than give you a menu. don't expect greatness but tasty food and very cheap.

and the restaurant that is shown on this google image (can't find the name of it) has great grilled sardines and good port by the glass.

[Will W.]

This is perhaps the best restaurant that I know in Lisbon:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Horta-Do ... 3147181857

It is very much a Portuguese place (i.e., you are unlikely to see any tourists there) and, whilst not inexpensive by local standards, all manner of quality food and drink will generally come in at EUR 60-70 per person. Depending on where you are in Alfama, the Uber ride would be about fifteen minutes and cost you in the area of EUR 6. (I would recommend that you use Uber rather than taxis in Lisbon, for reasons of efficiency.)

If you fancy the novelty of being able to smoke with a meal, Sal e Brasas offers first-rate, aged beef from northern Portugal:

https://www.tripadvisor.com.br/Restaura ... tugal.html

Port is ridiculously expensive in Lisbon, whether purchased in a bar or a retail outlet. There is the Port Wine Intitute bar in Lisbon, although it is rather expensive for anything but LBVs. Should you wish to see a reasonably-priced selection of ports in a retail outlet, I would most certainly not bother with the Garrafeira Nacional, which has (if I am not mistaken) several outlets in Lisbon. The best (relative) value, along with a decent selection - again, in my experience - is to be found at Garrafeira Estado D'Alma at R. Alexandre Herculano 45A. If there is something that you must have from one of the Garrafeira Nactional outlets, I would sugget that you attempt to negotiate on the sticker price.

[Eric Menchen]

I didn't buy any Port at GN, but bought some Collares instead, and their prices for Unico seemed reasonable.

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[Heather Hathwell]

There are many good options in Baixa..... follow the business people and workers. Unfortunately, I can picture where I was, but no names. But the general area should suffice and it's right down the hill from where you are staying. There will be options in Alfama too, but without a solid recommendation it will be difficult to pick out the good from the gimmicky (although try to catch some fado there or in the Bairro Alto).

[Thomas V]

Thank you guys for all the inputs. It is highly appreciated.

For sure we will go and get some pastries and I will check out those restaurant for sure Bert and Will.

I probably am not going to bring any port home, but I will haggle my way to a port at Garraferia to drink while we are staying in Lisbon. In reality I just want to go into their store and enjoy the sights and admire the different bottles and the history.

[Eric Menchen]

I probably am not going to bring any port home, but I will haggle my way to a port at Garraferia to drink while we are staying in Lisbon. In reality I just want to go into their store and enjoy the sights and admire the different bottles and the history.

It is worth a visit for that.

IMG_6883_GN.jpg (194.03 KiB) Viewed 5657 times

[Roy Hersh]

So Thomas V. you have started this thread, but never told us what your and your family thought about the city. Like, lust or other?

[Thomas V]

So Thomas V. you have started this thread, but never told us what your and your family thought about the city. Like, lust or other?

Haha the roles have reversed as you are waiting for written content by me (I always look forward to the Newletter)

The trip was outstanding.

We stayed in Alfama in this nice little apartment complex. We had 3 of the 5 apartments and a nice little courtyard which we could relax in during the late afternoon to suck up the last rays of sunshine.
Being blessed with great weather. Warmer than usual for the season with roughly 16-17 degrees in the later part of the days.

Spending our days walking around in Alfama, the city centre and adjacent neighbourhoods, with the mandatory pit stops in patisserie to get a croissant or cake. Almost every day I would stop by Garraferira Nacional to pick up a bottle of port for our little club. Consisting of my mother, brother in law and myself. We drank 1 bottle per day for the 6 days we were in town for. Nothing to fancy but enjoyable none the less. The best being the Niepoort and Quevedo LBV.

We also took a hop'on bus to see more of the city which was a good way for us to rest our legs. A lot of up and down in this city with steep climbs and inclines. Sore calfs

One day we took the bus to Belem to walk around and get some pastis de Belem. Very nice when they are out hot from the oven. Overall we enjoyed our time in the city, the weather also contributing quite a bit. The only thing we weren't impressed with was the food we had when eating out. Nothing special actually. Perhaps we were just unlucky or we are not so into traditional Portuguese food.

Ohh we also heard some fado which was let's say a special experience.

Most importantly my mother enjoyed the vacation as we celebrated her 70th birthday. Ohh and I also good my GF hooked on Portugal. Next stop Porto and Douro

10YO White Niepoort
2001 Wiese & Krohn Colheita
2011 Quevedo LBV
Fonseca Bicentenial Crusted Port
10YO Quevedo
Ramos Pinto White Reserva

[Andy Velebil]

Thomas,
Sounds like a fun trip. I love walking around cities to really see things. Hard to do when you go by them in a car at speed. And I love the small local out of the way places to eat. The only real way to get to try foods the local eat on a daily basis and hopefully to chat with the locals as well.

[Roy Hersh]

But, everyone should aspire to eat at BELCANTO once in their lives. Yep, it is really THAT amazing of a gustatory experience.