Eat’in and drink’in Lisbon

sushic restaurant on the south side of Lisbon

Amazing fusion sushi @sushic

One of the many things that make Lisbon such a great city is quality of the food – both buying from markets if you are self-catering and from the multitude of restaurants and bars. Fish – fresh or salted, especially cod – and shellfish take pride of place here. Furthermore there is often a good selection of wine with many bottles listed at reasonable prices.

There are a huge number of places to eat in Lisbon – it would, at best, take years to try them all and may well be an impossible task. Here are a few favourites:

sushic – fusion sushi
I first tried the wonderful sushi from sushic at the summer edition of the Adegga Wine Market in Lisbon on Saturday 4th July, where their sushi was paired with top Portuguese wines in the Adegga Premium Room.

Delicious oyster tempura

I was so impressed that we took the ferry across the Tagus on Thursday evening a full sushi experience. sushic is housed in the ground floor of the Mercure Hotel in Almada, a southern suburb of Lisbon which tends to be viewed as less fashionable and smart than Lisbon north bank.  Our meal didn’t disappoint nor did the wine list, full of interesting wines mainly Portuguese but also some from outside including New Zealand. Importantly the wines are fairly priced with many bottles between 15€ and 30€.

Salmon

sushic, 1 Rua Abel Salazar No9 – 9A, 2805-213, Almada. Tel: 211 911 965

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Sea Me

Sea Me – interior

Choose your fish from the counter by the open plan kitchen

Sea Me is a shiny, buzzy, modern seafood and fish restaurant close to the Largo de Camões. It is very popular and even if you have booked a table you may well have to wait a while at the busiest times. You can choose your fish and shellfish from a cooled counter by the open plan kitchen. Sea Me offers a range of dishes both traditional grilled fish but also innovative sushi like their delicious tempura prawns in a light batter with thin almond chips attached as well as blow torched sardines.

Tempura prawns with almond chips

Blow torched sardines.

The wine list is extensive with a particularly strong selection of Portuguese whites again at reasonable prices.

Sea Me, Rua do Loreto 21, 1200 Lisboa. Tel: 21.346.1564

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Garrafeira Alfaia

2013 Nossa Calcario Filipa Pato 100% Bical.

Garrafeira Alfaia is a small, friendly wine bar and shop run by Pedro Jorge in one of the narrow streets of the Barrio Alta. You can rely up Pedro to choose something good to drink. One white you should certainly try is the 2013 Nossa Calcario from Filipa Pato, an excellent winemaker and daughter of the renowned Luis Pato. This white is beautifully balanced. It is just unfortunate that Filipa has chosen for no good reason as far as I can see to use a wax capsule that makes opening the bottle a pain in the arse.

You can chose from a selection of Peticos – small dishes generally a little larger than tapas but very similar in conception. Pedro has very good ham and the game sausage. if you require some more substantial dishes you can eat just across the road at the restaurant that is also owned by Pedro.

To finish you may well find that Pedro can offer you a decidedly interesting aged white Port. Garrafeira Alfaia is an ideal venue for a soirée de la modération.

Garrafeira Alfaia, Rua do Diário de Notícias, 125 Barrio Alto, Lisboa Tel +351 213 433 079

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Brief details of another couple of other favourites
Taberna das Flores – a brilliant very small restaurant run by André Magalhães. You can’t book and queues form early on in the evening but well worth the wait.
Rua. de Santa Marta 27E, Lisboa, Portugal
+351 21 352 1816

André Magalhães

Restaurante Casa dos Passarinhos
This is a popular and very good value restaurant on the eastern edge of the Campo d’Ourique. Brilliant value – turbot for two costs around 25€. Win per bottle from 5€ – the week’s specials.
R. Silva Carvalho 195, 1250 Lisboa, Portugal, Phone: 21 386 2346