Lisbon: A Good Life
Everyone seems to have a plan to go to Lisbon, or been there already. At first sight, Lisbon may not have the elegance of Paris, or the stunning beauty of the eternal city Rome. But the appeal of a European capital was obvious: the magnificent 12th century Moorish castle, the stately cathedrals, the narrow cobbled streets, the glossy tiled facades and red roofs of old buildings, the neighborhood plazas, the beautiful gardens, and the fantastic views. Add great food and authentic, genuine and warm people on top, and it would be only a matter of time for Lisbon to become a destination.
Lisbon is now booming with tourism and has reinvented itself as a cool travel destination. There are many independent stores of local designs, lots of ‘artisanal’ coffee shops and bakeries, barber shops for hipsters, and contemporary art galleries.
But underneath the shining new façade, Lisbon still has its down-to-earth charm. Off the beaten path, Lisbon is a place for a peaceful and good life.
Most of Lisbon was rebuilt after the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake that destroyed almost the entire city. To strengthen the endurance of the city to future potential earthquakes, the city was rebuilt in the ‘Pombaline style’ under the direction of the progressive Marquis de Pompal. The Pombaline style used a flexible wooden structure implanted on the walls, floors and roofs that allowed the buildings to shake but not fall. The buildings were put into test at the 1969 earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, and responded well with slight damages.
The facade of the Pombaline style buildings is usually covered with colorful tiles. During the last 10 years, enormous restoration effort has been put in to bring back the glory of these tiled façades and other pastel colored stucco exteriors. Nowadays, beautiful buildings line up the narrow cobble streets, showing off the superb Portuguese craftsmanship.
Scattered among the pastel colored and tiled splendor and the sun-baked terra cotta roofs are the gardens. Gardens in Lisbon anchor the neighborhoods where everyday life orbits around them. In Principe Real, the intimate Jardim do Principe Real and the calming botanical garden gives a glimpse of the local life: Young parents pushing strollers, friends getting together before an evening drink, teenagers having a picnic at their school break.
In the residential Campo de Ourique, the beautiful Jadim da Estrela and Jadim das Amoreiras carries the memories of the locals: childhood friendships, milestone birthdays, family picnics…
My favorite park in Lisbon is Jardim Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Park). Although it is not very big, its layout and planting allows surprises at every turn. Benches are hidden in the densely planted bamboo; birds occasionally break the silent mirror of the large round reflection pool; sculpture from local and international artists are scattered throughout.
The garden is not only a beautiful and peaceful place to be, but also carries a cultural significance. It is named after one of the 20th century's great philanthropists, Armenian Calouste Gulbenkian. The well-known Calouste Gulbekian Foundation is dedicated to promote arts, science and education in Portugal. The private art collection of Calouste Gulbenkian, one of the largest in Europe, is housed in the Gulbenkian Museum and well worth a visit.
Shops
Globalization has made shopping in travel less fun. It seems that no matter where you are, you see the same brands and stores, Gucci, Chanel, H&M, Zara…I have been avoiding major shopping districts in all major cities for years. Lisbon is no exception. If you are looking for the usual suspects, Chiado is the perfect place for you.
If you are looking for something different, I have a few recommendations.
Chiado
The only shop that I really enjoyed in Chiado is Soul Mood, a boutique in a demure square carrying off beat German and Spanish brands, such as Oska, Elemente Clemente, and Studio Rundoholz. The buyer for the store has a unique eye of shapes and style. The items are architectural with amazing volume and proportion. The interior of the store is cool, sparse minimalism and a perfect backdrop for the pieces.
Although LX Factory has become a major shopping and entertainment destination for tourists, I found that most of the stores in LX Factory are just the outposts of the same stores in the downtown, with a higher price tag. It is a better place to have a drink and people watching than shopping or dining.
Sao Bento
The unexpected find for shopping was discovered on my way from Barrio Alto to the residential Campo de Ourique in a tiny neighborhood called Sao Bento. The streets are lined with local small boutiques, pottery shops, concept stores and coffee shops. Definitely worth a stop.
Barrio Alto
Barrio Alto is the restaurant and bar district, and has the infamous Pink Street (named after the hot pink painted street) to justify its reputation. Naturally you can spot drunks (mostly Brits and Spaniards) at 10 o’clock in the morning. But Barrio Alto also has a tamer side. Cork & Co is a bi-level store filled with eco-conscious designs, from decorative bowls to stylish bracelets and bags. It is a great place to buy some unique gifts.
Another store worth visiting in Barrio Alto is also culinary oriented. Cutipol (Cutipol kitchen and bath store, R. do Alecrim 115, 1200-015 Lisboa, Portugal) is a luxury homeware company based in Porto, Portugal. I first spotted their flatware at Hopson Grace, a luxury homeware store in Rosedale, Toronto. The slender and attractive style stood out, along with the matte finish and the perfect weight, a sign of great quality. Their flatware is used in high end restaurants and among others, the 2017 Met Gala. The smallish Lisbon store is always packed with their flatware, dinnerware, kitchen and bath accessories. It is a beautiful and dangerous (you want to buy the whole store) place to be.
Intendente
Intendente, the formerly notorious red district of Lisbon, is having a makeover. The hype around it was emphasized by a recent New York Times article. However, the neighborhood still feels patchy, and the makeover is concentrated on one street: Largo do Intendente. The store I like the best is A Vida Portuguesa, a stylish made-in-Portugal concept boutique. Its owner Catarina Portas turned a 19th-century ceramics factory into a showpiece of the Portuguese design, displaying vibrant textiles, organic cosmetic products, pottery, books, shoes, and stationary.
The latest hotspot in Intendente is 1898 Home & Suite, a boutique hotel in a gorgeous, cleaned-up building around the corner from A Vida Portuguesa. The lobby and bar is a great place to have a drink and hangout.
Restaurants & Bars
Food is very good in Lisbon, and very reasonably priced, still.
The most touristy food destination is definitely the Time Out Market. Converted from Lisbon’s domed 19th-century market hall, the Mercado de Ribeira in 2014, it is a buzzing food hall with the finest independent regional food stalls, with the communal seating in the centre. Some of Lisbon’s Michelin-starred chefs also open their outlets here, such as Henrique Sa Pessoa (of Alma fame) and Vítor Sobral (of Peixaria da Esquina). One thing to keep in mind is that the market is extremely busy on the weekend, and is almost impossible to find seating. The best time to visit is weekdays during the day, also avoiding the typical meal times.
Just off the Time Out Market, we had one of the best lunches at Restaurante Rio Grande (Tv. Remolares 32, 1200-052 Lisboa, Portugal) . It is amazing that the restaurant was full of locals and we were the only tourists, although it is literally right around the corner from the market. We had the typical Portuguese pan-seared cod, squid potato skew, beer and half litre of vinho verde, the light and refreshing white wine. The bill came at €35 for two.
The reputation of low price of high quality food in Lisbon has attracted many food celebrities and TV/Netflix shows, such as Anthony Bourdain (sadly, no longer with us) and ‘Somebody Feed Phil’. The popular shows also make some of featured restaurants extremely popular. For example, the seafood restaurant Ramiro has become so popular with the tourists that there is always a long lineup outside. Although we have been to Ramiro long before it became popular and really enjoyed our meal, there are other equally good or even better seafood restaurants in Lisbon.
Peixaria da Esquina is a Portuguese seafood tapas restaurant in the residential Campo de Ourique neighborhood. Opened in 2015 by the acclaimed chef Vítor Sobral, the low-key restaurant serves fresh-caught seafood raw, cured, marinated or grilled. Our dinner started with a glass of Douro branco and paper-thin octopus carpaccio topped with cilantro, sweet potato chips and a drizzle of olive oil (13.50 euros). We then moved on to the marinated dishes, such as citrusy salmon with passion fruit, ginger and cilantro (9.60 euros), followed by Sobral’s superlative version of amêijoas à Bulhão Pato — a steaming bowl of plump clams seasoned simply with lemon, garlic and more cilantro (17.50 euros).
Another great place to have seafood is A Cevicheria, a popular Peruvian restaurant in the trendy Principe Real neighbourhood. Go early to avoid the very long lineup. It is a bright, small restaurant with a giant foam octopus hanging from the ceiling. We found that the best place to sit is the open kitchen/bar, a perfect place to chat with the chefs about the dishes. One must-order dish is the ceviche puro of white fish in lime juice with red onion, tiger’s milk and rich dollops of mashed sweet potato crowned with sweet-potato chips. Dinner for two, about 50 euros.
After our dinner at A Cevicheria, we stopped at Gin Lovers Bar & Restaurant at Embaixada in Principe Real for a drink. Embaixada is a concept store in the Palacete Ribeiro da Cunha, with the gorgeous nineteenth-century neo-Arab architecture. Gin Lovers, located on the ground floor of Embaixada, is (surprise, surprise) dedicated to gins, serving more than 60 best gins around the world. Even if you are not a gin drinker, it is still a perfect place for a nightcap in a beautiful setting, with the chill background music in the background.
There are still plenty of reasonably priced good eats in Lisbon if you search harder. I came across Tantura by walking along the restaurant-packed Barrio Alto neighbourhood. The place looked cozy and very low key, with an inviting open kitchen. I ended up having one of the best middle-eastern meals (a strange claim for Lisbon, for sure). The menu was not very long and the food wasn’t complicated, but the meatballs in pita bread were so tender and tasty that my mouth starts watering whenever I think about it.
The back story of the restaurant is a romantic one. Israeli couple Elad Bodenstein and Itamar Eliyahuo fell in love with Portugal on their honeymoon and decided that Lisbon needed an Israeli restaurant. Maybe it is love that makes their food so delicious and comforting.
In recent years, Lisbon has also become a destination for the innovative and lavish fine dinning experiences. Ceia (Campo de Santa Clara 128) has delivered such experience to us perfectly. Located in a tiny boutique hotel Santa Clara 1728 in Alfama neighborhood, the restaurant serves high-end tasting dinner menus around a communal table with only 14 seats. The ambience is intimate, elegantly simple, and refined casual. The hotel itself is also worth visiting. Remodelista wrote a feature story a few years ago.
Our experience started with a warm welcome from the room manager Alexandre Coelho and the sommelier Mario Marques with glasses of bubbly in hand, followed by a tour of the hotel lobby and the beautiful courtyard garden. Their warm and thoughtful aura made us feel like at a friend’s dinner party right from the start.
The food by chef Pedro Pena Bastos emphasizes on Portuguese ingredients and local producers, but the style is modern with international influences. The usual suspects of cod, octopus, shrimp, beans all made appearance, but much more refined in both flavor and presentation. What a way spend a lovely evening with amazing food, great wines, impeccable service and fantastic company!
Rice bean
pink shrimp, yellow beet, lime
Artichoke, oyster
Corn, seaweed, Indian cress
Veal, peas, spearmint
Patridge, endive
