Eating out is a part of the people’s daily life and a good way to get close to the culture. Most travellers get surprised about Lisbon’s thousands Tascas, Pastelarias, Marisquerias, Quiosques and Snack Bars that serves local food.
In Graça alone we have maybe 30 local eating options within 5 minute walk from our door. Among them some of the best in town which is one of the reasons why we decided to start-up Tings Lisbon in this area.
Two minutes from our door we have Via Graça – for many years the Portuguese favorite restaurant for fine dining. Not only does it top our neighborhood, when it comes to local gourmet – it also tops the list of Best Views in Lisbon. Book a table.(1)
3 Minutes walk from Tings towards the Graça Miradouro you find another local classics Piteu – the epitome of the traditional Portuguese cuisine but compared to Via Graça less pretentious and much cheaper. It may look closed from the potside. But it’s not – just open the door to the crowd. Book a table! (2)
Our second home is Penalva da Graça – also three minutes from us. But in stead of turning right on Graça Rd, turn left.
It has been our second home for at least 4 years. We eat here at least once a week.
The quality is the best in town – so is the value. The bonus are the dishes you rarely see on menus in restaurants. Either dishes from Gran Ma’s vaults or Portuguese specialities we only read about. Rare seafood, cheese, wines etc. Luis gets themselves from ‘home’. Book a table. (3)
Meat Lovers! According to our meat loving foodie friends Carvoaria Jacta’s beef from the local Mirandese cattle or from the more exotic Japanese Wagyo are a must. Or their Dry-aged steaks.
When we have a craving we go there to enjoy their good starters and share a piece of meat with the excellent salad bar with home cut & crispy slices of fresh lettuce. (4)
Let’s be frank – the first impression you get when you look for places to eat in Lisbon is a very traditional kitchen, unaware of the health, quality and fusion trends that hit Europe years ago.
And Portugals colonial past is almost impossible to find in the the menus. It’s as if the kitchen provocatively avoids tastes, textures and colors from their history in China, India, Malaysia, Africa or South America and other exotic countries.
But its changing – and changing fast 🙂
What we didn’t know before moving here, was that Graça also would turn into one of the most interesting parts of town for what we call Urban and Updated Joints: Eateries that try to widen, inspire and challenge the traditional kitchen with non-traditional gastronomic ideas, visions and/or interpretations of Portuguese Classics.
A Taberna do Mar is taking the lead in this field.
Taberna opened in 2018 by Filipe Rodrigues and Hugo Gouveia who both came from Lisbon’s best Fish restaurant Sea Me, where they revolutionized the conservative food scene by mixing local traditions with recipes and tecqniques from other cultures.
We love the place – especially for late dinners. When we go alone we insist on sitting in the ‘bar’. Book table! (5)
Party foodies start their Friday Night at Damas. Right from day one they got hold of the clubbing crowd who choose their dinner from the menu written on the tiled wall with ‘twisted’ classics and a good range of vegan and vegetarian options. After dinner the clubbing crowd takes over the space including the small club in the back – the best in town and free. (6)
Around the corner from us is another food favorite of ours. The tiny Estamine.
Two tables with four chairs each guarantee an intimacy you don’t find elsewhere in Lisbon. The menu is small too, but the food is great and prepared & served with a love and passion that’s only possible under these circumstances. Book table! (7)
When you see a cheap no-frills restaurant serving large portions of traditional food on large aluminum platters, then you have a Tasca – a friend once told us.
Ours is named after Susana who took over the old smelly tasca 100 m from us, shaped it up and changed the platters to porcelain.
The rest of the concept is the same. Tasca da Susana is just better. (8)
Let’s be honest – there are days where we don’t feel like cooking or even going out for dinner. On these rare days we get help from Tropical da Graça – our local Churrascaria who makes the best Traditional Portuguese BBQ chikens in Lisbon. Their chips are home made. Order Chili at the side.
Take away only – good for a cosy dinner in our Guest Kitchen with river view. (9)
When we moved to Lisbon, vegans and vegetarians had problems. Especially if they didn’t like Indian and Asian food where you always have veggie options.
That is also changing. In our small and classic Lisbon neighborhood we have several good options.
One year after we opened Tings, Cafe Aberto opened in legendary Cafe do Monte’s old place.
It’s airy and light and a perfect place to combine a healthy lunch or brunch with work. Or just to hang out with friends. (10)
A few meters from Cafe Aberto is Ma Lingua. – another popular vegan & vegetarian hang-out.
Besides being a restaurant and bar Ma Lingua is slowly becoming a small cultural institution here in Graça with concerts, movies etc. (11)
Just down the hill from us lovely Liliana serves her excellent vegetarian and vegan bowls in her restaurant A Li’s that is located in the Art space Hangar.
Before we moved in at Tings we used the space as our office. (12)
Believe it or not – some people do not eat fish and sea food – the main items in the Portuguese menus. But even in a local and traditional neighbourhood like ours we have a small selection of good non-Portuguese kitchens.
And if you add a few minutes more and walk down the hill you reach Largo Intendente with new trendy Cafes and restaurant and surrounded my food joints from more than 40 countries – including a good selection of authentic Chinese ones in Lisbon’s China Town (will blog about these ones in a while).
The following are our personal favorites in Graça – places we visit frequently.
Before A Taberna do Mar opened our only ‘contemporary restaurant’ option close by Tings Lisbon was the Italian Santa Clara dos Cogumelos. Both the food and the settings are amazing in this Italian mushroom temple.
We find the place very romantic – but not Italian-Romantic like Tony’s from Disney’s Lady & The Tramp.
Luigi the owner doesn’t sing – he plays very good music from his vinyl collection next to the vintage turntable. And the place its not hidden away in a back yard, but on the attic of St Clara’s old Mercado right in the middle of the Feira da Ladra.
The place is romantic in a magical way. When you have ordered your food and enjoy your drink to Interstellar Overdrive’s spacey grooves, Luigi’s happy fairies and humorous ghosts surrounds you in and starts creating a magical romantic ambiance.
The food is one-of-its-kind and affordable compared to the Posh restaurants that pops up every month.
We have dined there since they opened. We still do – at least once pr month. Not only because the food is excellent.
If we have to pick one non-Portuguese restaurant in Lisbon, this is the one! (13)
We get the best here at Tings – at Cozinha Urbana. Sara who runs it created her menu from the Chinese/Asian tastes she grew up with in Macau.
Her burgers are the best in town (the meat is from our local butchers Luis & Edgar). Our other favorites are the Pad Thai, the Thai Soup and the Chocolate Cake. (14)
Nepalese/Sherpa. When we’ve had enough of Portuguese food and are desperat to get Asian we go to our local Sherpa joint RD Restaurant next to
Shepard Fairey’s Carnation Soldier.
They serve noodle soup, momos and a few other Nepalese classics. (15)
Lisbon is packed with Indian restaurants. Haweli Tandori only 100 meter from us is one of the oldest. We go there when we need a good Chana Masala or Tandori Chicken and if we’re a big group of friends.
It’s far from as spicy as Thomas like his Indian food, but everything is fresh and tasty. (16)
Pizza’s. When it comes to pizzas we are very picky. And until Retrogusto opened, we had problems getting a decent one in Lisbon. Now we know where to go, when we want pizza. Retrogusto makes the best in town from their garage joint 5 min from us. It’s crowded and lively, but food is worth waiting for. (17)
Chinese Food Lovers. This is the exception that proves the rule. We love Chinese food. Unfortunately we don’t have any in Graça.
But if you don’t mind walking for 6 min down to Chinatown you get a small selection of super Chinese food joints – the so called ‘secret’ restaurants. We blogged about them here. (18)
