Dining in Lisbon (Part 1 ;)

As I sit to write this, we are sitting at one of three fabulous neighborhood parks we’ve found. Shady with lots of trees and far west of the touristy downtown. Feels like mostly a locals place with a playground and a kiosk, or quiosque, where you can get an enormous variety of things to eat and drink. We are biding our time until we need to head to the airport and soaking up the last of the relaxing life in Lisbon with white wine (at noon). Free wifi, tables in the shade, and no one to worry how long we sit here. I almost typed how much I love cafe culture, but this is different, it is kiosk culture. The landscaping separates the part on all sides from the road making it an oasis in so many ways.

And so, food.  Where to begin as there is so much to say about food here. Perhaps that is why I’ve not posted on it yet. Hard to know where to begin. But a comment on a prior post was a prod, so here we go.  

When I think about describing the food we’ve found in Lisbon, it falls into two categories – the groceries we have purchased and then, of course, the meals out.  It might seem odd to want to write about grocery shopping here, but it has been a revelation, actually. There is so much more we can say about restaurants, so I’ll put my thoughts on grocery stores in a different post about the daily life we’ve enjoyed. I’m going to highlight our favorites with descriptions here in Part 1. I think a gallery of all the other fabulous food and restaurants we found will be Part 2.

Restaurants x 2

Some meals have been more memorable than others, but almost all have been great. Since we didn’t have to eat every meal out, we were a bit picky about where we went, relying heavily on Google reviews. (Gotta start contributing to that.)  There are two places that we went to twice – Rosa da Rua and Tanoa Cafe.

Rosa da Rua

Named for the north/south road Rua da Rosa that was a highway for us in and out of the neighborhood, it was at the northern end.  Located all of 30 steps from our building’s door, this is a superb find. Given our schedule, the best option for us was having lunch there. It is a buffet for €15 each and we did this twice. They offer traditional Portuguese food clearly cooked from scratch.  The building is, as expected, an old one with several tables. When we chose to go it wasn’t packed but we’ve walked by evenings to see it full. We made reservations for lunch the first time, and then realized that wasn’t necessary and the second time just walked over.

The food is at the back of the space on two tables to each side. On the right, the cold and salad table. Cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce. But then green pea salad with cod, couscous with some veg and raisins, a pasta salad, and beets with orange (sorry again, E). 

The hot side changed a bit between the two visits.  Both times, we found some hot things were the same. A spinach lasagna with Béchamel, vegetables in large chunks like a ratatouille, rice and mashed potatoes. The first time there was also a traditional beef stew and catfish that even Trev adored. The second time instead of stew it was an enormous bowl of mussels which Trevor was all over. There was also a chicken curry that was divine. 

The other standout which we had both times was the in-house Sangria. They have both red and white, but our waiter recommended the white. Lots of orange and lemon peel, blackberries, blueberries, cherries and strawberries in a huge, globe glass. Talk about a drinking lunch. In fact, the first time we ate lunch there, I had a coffee after and he brought us both a small glass/shot of ginja. It is a sweet, after meal liquor. Quite sweet and serves as a dessert, too. 

Tanoa Cafe

Best brunch ever. No, really. This is right next to, if it hasn’t unseated our previous #1 – La Avenue in Montreal.  (Take notice, fellow Eastporters, that isn’t too far away.) One of the tiniest places among a city of tiny restaurants, Tanoa Cafe has 8 tables, 4 on each side. Iit is tight, with each table handling 2 though somehow they are able to squeeze in groups of 3, 4, and even 5.

It is also on Rua da Rosa, at the other end. You can google them to check out the menu. Our first time there, we had their Motivation Juice which is ginger, orange and green apple. Presented with mandolin-thin apple slices and an edible flower. We both had cappuccinos, and yes, these were the cappuccinos where we had that mutual “we are getting an espresso machine” look at each other.

We also both ordered the same thing the first time around. It wasn’t planned, it just sounded the best to both of us, and it was. Avocado toast but so much more than what has been a trend. Two sourdough slices, so think oblong in shape, toasted with a Goldilocks (not too much, not too little) schmear of smooshed avocado. On top of that, sliced cherry tomatoes, both red and gold, some microgreens and sprouts. On top of each slice, a perfectly poached egg with a yolk as orange as possible. (Sorry if that killed it for you, S) 

There are some crunchy things sprinkled on top, we still don’t know what they were.  Almonds or cashews perhaps. There is a small assembly/salad of greens and tomatoes on the side and a small schmear on the plate of beet puree. (Sorry if that killed it for you, E) The final element, a zig zag drizzle over the whole plate of balsamic vinegar, the thick syrupy kind as it should be. Exceptional.

Our last meal in Lisbon was going to be the morning we left. So where else would we go but Tanoa. The staff, which I neglected to mention earlier, are wonderful. Young, attentive, happy, helpful, and on it. The young man actually remembered us which is incredible as it was two weeks ago and they get a steady flow of tourists. I now understand why Google reviews point out the staff is helpful. He was and they all stop by to make sure everything is good, but not in a hovering way.

We went in ready to do a 100% repeat of the previous meal. That kind young man, though, suggested we change it up a bit just to try something else new. We took him up on it and ordered 1 Avocado Toast to split and 1 Royal Benedict. I think they are known for their Benedicts. Normally, on a travel day, we try not to eat too creamy or too rich, but what the hell.

Such a good, good decision. The base is a bolo do caco, a traditional Portuguese bread from the Madeira Islands. It is split and on top a light layer of cream cheese and a warm layer of smoked salmon. A perfectly poached egg on top and then a Goldilocks amount of hollandaise sauce.  A sprinkling of greens with a few sliced cherry tomatoes. And a flower on top. Again, exceptional.

Ok, so I’m pretty far into this post and have only described two places.  Buckle in, or tuck in if this has made you hungry, and let’s keep going – bearing in mind that this is just Part 1 on Lisbon food.

Trev had found three places with exceptional reviews that he wanted to try and eat at. One of them was Rosa da Rua. The other two were close to our rental, this of course being a real plus in us deciding to rent where we did. One, Flor da Laranja, literally was around the corner (so that is two ridiculously good places less than one minute from our door) and the other, Mercearia do Seculo, was an easy five minute walk away.

Mercearia do Seculo

On Rua de O Seculo, the name mercearia translates to Grocery Store.  It is run by a couple and lives up to all the great reviews. He runs the front of house and she is the one behind the food.  What struck us most was a comment she made to us. We ordered a salad with dried tuna to share. It included oranges and almonds and toast rubbed with tomatoes. Before it came, she brought some olives and beans we’ve never seen before to start. When we asked her, she explained they were Lupini beans. The comment was that she told us it was a superfood, full of great vitamins and very good for digestion. How often do you have a chef talking to you about why they chose things based on their nutritional importance? It was impressive.

In fact, through a comical back and forth involving both us and her (!) on phones, we learned this plant is in the genus Lupinus. Think Texas bluebonnets or the Lupines found everywhere on our end of Maine. I’m not suggesting trying to eat these seeds, as research makes it clear you must prepare these correctly or bad things can happen. But how surprising to find a delicious bean from a related plant. She explained that it is often offered as a snack to go along with beer, much like Americans get beer nuts. True to that, we found it in a few other places when we had a beer. 

For our entrees, Trev ordered the octopus and I ordered the chicken with lemon sauce. It was exceptional. I know I’ve used that word above but this meal truly was amazing. Portions were perfect, with great vegetable accompaniments – mashed beans, sweet potatoes, spinach, mashed potatoes and mushrooms, and broccoli between us. We shared a bottle of white wine and enjoyed the meal so much. 

We shared a piece of chocolate cake and tried some Porto for the first time. The setting is small and intimate, and feels like you are in their home. We only noticed one other person in the kitchen, helping with plating and cleaning. This small and intimate feeling was repeated again in the last place we dined before leaving Lisbon.

Flor da Laranja

The name translates to orange blossom and is a Moroccan restaurant. We learned the woman that runs it is from Casablanca but has been in Lisbon for many decades.  Her goal, clearly stated on her menu, is to celebrate and share the food and culture of her beloved Morocco. And that she does in spades.

This place is so popular it is hard to get in. She only serves dinner and you must have a reservation. We tried with email to no avail, so our plan was to walk by and catch her when the doors were open during the day (her prep time). Given our schedule, we could only plan dinners on weekend nights and she’s only open Saturdays, not Sundays.  We realized some flexibility was going to be required on our part to make this happen.

When I finally happened to connect with her, she was, well, all business. I would suggest a day and there was a reason it wouldn’t work – already full, not open that night, having a private engagement, booked to cook a private meal elsewhere. She is in demand.  It didn’t look good and then we landed on the Friday night before we left at 8:00.  I actually left a smidge early from work. Thankfully, things were slow.

Once we arrived and were seated along with the other parties also arriving at 8:00, we counted. The space was bigger than Mercearia do Seculo inside and with the groups seated she was serving 19 people at 6 tables. One was a large group of 7. And yes, she did it all. We never saw anyone in the kitchen helping. She brought everything, took orders, served everything, and even talked with tables. Astounding.

That meant we did wait for various things to arrive. But that only gave us time to admire the interior and have a nice conversation. When food did arrive, we could savor it even though the impulse is to wolf it down. It is so good. Being from Morocco, you could hear the French words fall out among the English with us and Portuguese with others. It just didn’t feel right, at least at first, to take photos. It truly felt like being in her dining room or home and in fact there is a sign on her door that asks no one take photos from the outside. The longer we were there, the better it felt so we did get a few.

We started with dates and four small slices of bread (as if from a baguette), two topped with tuna (and a blend of flavors/spices that was crazy good) and two topped with petit rounds of cheese we think was goat.  Ordered a bottle of Alentejano (wine region south of Lisbon) Monte Velho red and had an appetizer of dolmas. I love dolmas and these were, as expected, the best we had ever had. Supple grape leaves, not woody, with just enough lemon and flavor to do their job, get us ready for more.

Before the entrees came to the table, she brought four small dishes of vegetables.  Carrots that were not not or cold, lightly cooked (perhaps blanched) with garlic and parsley, eggplant with tomato, spinach with preserved lemon, and fava beans with olives. Who knew olives warmed with the beans could be so good. Or that carrots with a light sauce of oil, garlic and parsley could be so heavenly.

We shared two entrees. (We did business, A) One was chicken with preserved lemon and the other an artichoke and lamb tagine. I took a short video of the tagine because when she uncovered it the sizzling was wow. Couldn’t get it to load, sorry. Which I could convey the aromas. They were both perfect. Such warming flavors and also bright with the lemon.  It was… yeah, exceptional.

We turned our attention to dessert. Flan was on the menu and that is familiar so we were leaning that way. But when she came to our table and we asked about another one – Pastilla Knaffa [kuh-noffa] – she got very, very excited, clap slapped her hands like a flamenco dancer, and said “oohhh, that is the dessert you must have once in your life.”  Bingo.

She told us about it after we were deep into eating it. First, I’ll try to describe what we were eating. Light, crisp layer like a crispy crepe or a pastry leaf really.  Lay that down, sprinkle chopped up almonds, cinnamon, and a decent drizzle of a white sauce. She says you normally add fruit if you have it and she chose strawberries which seemed perfect. Then another round of the same. The sauce she said is light cream, a couple of spoons of Dutch mead, and orange blossom water. Oh my, it is heavenly.

Then we learned how special it is. She told us when a couple marries in Morocco, after the party is over, and most guests have gone, it is very early in the morning and just family remain. And Pastilla Knoffa is served. She called it something like The Pearl (not sure it all came through in translation) but it is to reflect the beauty of the bride, her white dress, to celebrate that.

She has a tiled (it is Portugal, after all) and framed saying next to the door that says “Flor da Laranja agradece a todos os que, com amor, regaram esta flor.” That translates to “Orange blossom thanks everyone who, with love, watered this flower.” We are so thankful we were able to eat here. It truly did and does feel like we were part of something special.