Inside Restaurante Alma. Nuno Correia
A quintessential charcoal-grilled piri-piri chicken spot, a Michelin-starred tasting menu reinventing Portuguese classics, a restaurant dedicated entirely to pork, a hotel restaurant with stunning views, and more of Lisbon’s best meals
A food-loving visitor will quickly learn that sardines, cod, and the iconic pastel de nata are great, but the Lisbon restaurant scene can offer much more. Portuguese cuisine draws on global flavors from the country’s centuries of trade, and Lisbon’s restaurateurs have access to top-quality fish and seafood, unique cheeses, lovely wines, and vegetables from organic farms just outside the city. In a capital experiencing lightning-fast growth, it’s unavoidable that some neighborhoods are undergoing gentrification, driven in part by massive influxes of tourists. But Lisbon’s food scene mediates the collision of old and new, weaving together trendy wine bars, Michelin-starred restaurants, traditional and casual venues, and neo-tascas (neighborhood restaurants) that combine aspects of all of the above. From crowded Chiado to residential Santos, there’s always a lot to eat in Lisbon.
Rafael Tonon is a journalist and food writer living between Brazil and Portugal. He is the author of the book The Food Revolutions.
