KarenWoo

Hello,
My husband and I will be in Lisbon for 5 nights in April. I would love to get recommendations for restaurants. We love to have traditional food, and prefer to eat in restaurants that the locals eat in. I realize there will most likely be tourists in these restaurants, too,but we don't want to eat in restaurants geared only towards tourists. Less expensive restaurants would be great, too! We don't certainly need high-end restaurants, but would consider it if the food is well worth the price.

Thank you for your help!

burta

We were just in Lisbon last month. Two restaurants were recommended by one of our local food writers. They are "non-traditional", but I thought I would throw their names out there because they were so good. Both are in Bairro Alto: A Cevicheria and Bairro Do Avillez. Both have websites. The first opens early, but does not take reservations (go early). Reservations are a must for the second.

We stayed at the Doubletree near Fontana Park. Right down the street was a wonderful little restaurant, which was recommended by our front desk. This perhaps is more to your liking if you want "traditional". Horta Dos Brunos is a neighborhood restaurant with white tablecloths. The walls are lined with wine bottles, so there will be no shortage.

Enjoy!

Robert2016

For excellent small plates try Tapisco, Rua D. Pedro, 81 (www.tapisco.pt). Reservations required.

Casa de Pasto, Rua de S. Paulo 20 (casadepasto.com). Mick Jagger liked it. Again, reservations required.

massimop

Where are you staying, where do you plan to be at lunchtimes? Or do you not care about places being nearby?

KarenWoo

Thank you burta and robert2016. The non-traditional restaurants sound interesting, too, and we do have 5 nights.

Massimop, we are staying at Hotel Real Palacio. Restaurants nearby would be nice, but we are flexible and willing to walk or take cabs to restaurants that are further away.

I don't know where we will be at lunch time, but we plan on doing typical sightseeing, such as exploring Alfama, Baixa, Chiado & Bairro Alto, and Belem. Also want to visit the Gulbenkian Museum, Azulejo tile museum, possibly the coach museum.

Robert2016

I'd definitely include the new coach museum, but arrive early, before the tour busses. The Gulbenkian is a must see!

massimop

Your hotel location is outside the range of my experience, but I found in visiting Lisbon that the spontaneous choice was more often than not an extremely rewarding and charming meal (given the fact that my travel partner & I are fond of things like sardines, octopus & pork.) Just as good as the "destination" restaurant or guidebook-recommended place (and sometimes the off-the-cuff joint was better). Only once during a week's stay in Lisbon did taking a flyer on an "un-recommended" local's restaurant result in a disappointing meal. In my travels throughout Europe and America, that's a great batting average.

Lisbon abounds in fun food experiences that don't cost much money, even if you need to factor in the cost of a taxi. If you want to head to recommended restaurants, for seafood or roast chicken (Bom Jardin) by all means do, but I had delightful meals in Lisbon taking a flyer on what appealed to me walking by the front door + some recommendations from locals.

There are some highly recommended tourist destinations for eating & must-taste (both high brow and homey in guidebooks and on the internet). I found them as hit-or-miss as following my own nose. The great thing about Lisbon and Portugal is that the food is so generally so cheap relative to the rest of Europe that even if you end up with a meal that isn't a "wow!" it doesn't put much of a damper on your trip.

KarenWoo

Massimop, thank you for your reply. I do understand what you are saying. When we travel, we like to visit recommended restaurants, but we also eat at restaurants that we pass along the way that look interesting to us, following our own nose as you say.

Robert2016, thanks for the tip about arriving at the coach museum early!