Restaurants

The prices indicated here are for starter, main course and dessert, with wine, per person. (Note that some fish or shellfish dishes will be more expensive.) Tax (IVA) is included.All restaurants listed here accept major credit cards. Note that many Lisbon restaurants close for the entire month of August.

€€€€ over 45 euros

€€€ 30–45 euros

€€ 20–30 euros

€ below 20 euros

Lisbon

Bairro Alto

100 Maneiras €€–€€€ Rua do Teixeira 35, tel: 210 990 475. Open Mon–Sat for lunch and dinner. An intimate, elegant restaurant that is foodie heaven, offering a very reasonably priced 10-course tasting menu; each dish is a surprise and the menu changes daily.

Cervejeria da Trindade €–€€ Rua Nova da Trindade 20, tel: 213 423 506. Open daily for lunch and dinner (until late). A famous old beer hall and restaurant, in a former monastery decorated with azulejo -covered walls. Extremely popular Portuguese cooking and seafood specialities at good prices; light bar snacks also available.

Pap ’Açorda €€–€€€ Rua da Atalaia 57–9, tel: 213 464 811. Open Tue–Sat for lunch and dinner. Under glittering chandeliers and against exposed brick walls, this is cool but disarmingly informal and popular with a wide-ranging clientele. Traditional and creative Portuguese dishes with fabulous and filling açorda real (a thick shellfish stew with lobster and shrimp) as the main speciality. Attentive service.

Principe do Calhariz €–€€ Calçada do Combro 28–30, tel: 213 420 971. Lively restaurant just beyond the Bica funicular, this is a good place to discover local dishes, particularly from northern Portugal where the owners come from. Try coelho à caçador (rabbit, hunter's style).

Tavares Rico €€€–€€€€ Rua da Misericórdia 37, tel: 213 421 112. Open Tue–Sun for lunch and dinner. A stylish and immensely popular restaurant-café with ornate ceilings, mirrors and chandeliers. Classic French cuisine has been served here for more than a century.

Central Lisbon

Alcântara Café €€€€ Rua Maria Luísa Holstein 15, tel: 213 637 176. Open daily for dinner. This see-and-be-seen Alcântara restaurant is a handsome place, equal parts industrial and post-modern, is the goal of many of Lisbon's socialites. The menu is unique, but receives some mixed reports. Still, customers get what they come for – buzz.

Bica do Sapato €€€€€ Avenida Infante D. Henrique (Cais da Pedra), tel: 218 810 320. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Trendy restaurant in an old warehouse on the waterfront across from Santa Apolónia station. The funky decor is cool but not overdone. Excellent and fairly priced creative Portuguese menu and a good list of local wines.

Bocca €€€€ Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca 87-D, tel: 213 808 383. Open Tue–Sat for lunch and dinner. A glamorous yet intimate restaurant where chef Alexandre Silva serves up Portuguese classics with a creative twist. Bound to impress the palate and the senses, this is the ideal restaurant for an occasion, with a hip buzz and modern interiors hued in earthy colours.

Bonjardim € Travessa de Santo Antão 10, tel: 213 427 424. Open daily for lunch and dinner. In a street full of restaurants near Rossio, this large and lively place is terrific for low-key, filling Portuguese cooking. The roasted chicken with crisp fries seems to be the signature dish. Annex across the street.

Cafe Buenos Aires €€ Calcada Escadinhas do Duque 31 B, tel: 213 420 739. Open Mon–Sat for dinner. This shabby-chic Argentinian restaurant is a romantic, candlelit, atmospheric place to tuck into superlative steaks and delicious salads. It's perched beside a staircase leading steeply up from the Rossio towards Bairro Alto.

Casa da Comida €€€€€ Travessa das Amoreiras 1, tel: 213 885 376. Open Tue–Fri for lunch and Mon–Sat for dinner. An elegant but not stuffy, handsomely decorated restaurant in northwest Lisbon near the aqueduct. Fine Portuguese and French cuisine served outdoors in a patio setting in an old mansion. A good place to blow the bank.

A Confraria €€€€ Rua das Janelas Verdes 32 (in York House hotel), tel: 213 962 435. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Inhabiting the former 17th-century convent of the refined and retreat-like York House, this is a cut above a typical hotel restaurant. Eugénia Cerqueira creates a daily menu with imaginative interpretations of Portuguese cuisine. The classic-looking restaurant spills out onto a quiet courtyard. Excellent desserts.

Gambrinus €€€€ Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 25, tel: 213 421 466. Open daily for lunch and dinner (until late). A sophisticated and elegant restaurant, one of the city's finest and most famous, in this street of restaurants, close to Rossio. Specialises in traditional Portuguese and Galician dishes, which means fresh seafood.

Leão d'Ouro €€€ Rua de Dezembro 105, tel: 213 426 195. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Big, bright, centrally situated, azulejo-lined restaurant, dating from 1640, just off the Rossio. Seafood is the speciality. Try the cataplana fish stew or the seafood rice with shrimp, lobster, mussels and prawns.

Martinho da Arcada €€€ Arcadas do Terreiro do Paço/Praça do Comércio 3, tel: 218 879 259. Open Mon–Sat for lunch and dinner. Lisbon's oldest café, under the arcades at Praça do Comércio, dates back to 1778 and has a colourful history littered with political and literary figures – it was a favourite of poet Fernando Pessoa. Today, it is a national monument and still a great, atmospheric place for a bite to eat.

Tágide €€€€€ Largo da Academia Nacional de Belas Artes 18, tel: 213 404 010. Open Tue–Sat for lunch and dinner. Classic Portuguese and French restaurant west of the Praça do Comércio in an elegant, old house offering magnificent views of the water-front, cathedral and square. Popular with the expense-account crowd.

A Travessa €€€ Travessa Convento Bernardas 12, tel: 213 902034. Open Tue–Sat for lunch and Mon–Sat dinner. A Belgian-and French-influenced menu with dishes such as mussels, stuffed aubergine and bacon-wrapped dates enlivens this good-looking place near Parliament. Mussel feasts on Sat nights.

Alfama

Casa do Leão €€€€€ Castelo de São Jorge, tel: 218 875 962. Open daily for lunch and dinner. The only restaurant located just inside the castle ramparts and serving a wide range of traditional international and Portuguese dishes. Excellent views.

Porta d'Alfama €€ R. de São João da Praça 17, tel: 218 864 536. Open Mon–Sat. A simple Alfama restaurant where you can sit out on the cobbled street and eat simple fare like grilled sardines. There's regular live fado.

Restô do Chapitô €€ Costa do Castelo 7, tel: 218 867 334. Open daily for dinner, lunch Sat–Sun. Inside the arts co-operative Chapitô, this restaurant serves up hearty Portuguese food, and is a stunning place to eat by virtue of its stunning views – it's high above the city, and has an almost treehouse feel.

Bélem

Pastéis de BelémRua de Belém 84 –92 , tel: 213 637 423. Open daily. This legendary purveyor of custard tarts cooks up Lisbon's finest pastéis de nata, and its warren-like, tiled interior seats huge numbers of people, all wondering at the deliciousness of these still-warm, delicate pieces of heaven, made to a secret recipe.

O Caseiro € Rua de Belém 35, tel: 213 638 803. Open Mon– Sat for lunch and dinner. Closed August. In a convenient location between the Coach Museum and the monastery, this is an informal but intimate restaurant serving simple but tasty local dishes. Specialities include porco á alentejana (pork, Alentejo style).

A Commenda €€€ Praça do Império, Belém (inside the Belém Cultural Centre), tel: 213 627 327, 213 612 400. Closed Sun dinner. Fine river views top the sophisticated atmosphere of this excellent restaurant. Good traditional Portuguese food. The Sun ‘brunch’ is famous and includes fruit juices, bacon and eggs and a glass of champagne.

São Jerónimo €€ Rua dos Jerónimos 12, tel: 213 648 796. Open Mon–Fri for lunch and dinner, Sat for dinner only. A sleek, beautifully designed restaurant with warm woods, attractive dimmed lighting and leather chairs, just around the corner from the Jerónimos Monastery. The menu is creative Portuguese.

The Docks

Price ranges are the average for restaurants in the Docks.

Doca do Alcântara €€–€€€ By Alcântara train station. Next door to the Doco Santo Amaro, the main passenger dock's nightlife includes Dock's Club and Blues Cafe. Floating restaurants, such as O Barquerio are popular for business lunches and evening pleasure-seakers.

Doca do Bom Sucesso €€€–€€€€ Belém. This small marina in Belém has become a popular nightlife spot for business people and politicos. Restaurants are predictably upmarket and fashionable, including Vela Latina and Spazio Evasione.

Doca Jardim do Tabaco €€–€€€ Avenida Infante D. Henrique, Pavilhão A–B, tel: 218-824 280. Between Casa dos Bicos and Santa Apolónia railway station is a series of popular docks converted into restaurants. They look out over the Tagus as well as the Alfama district. Restaurants include Jardim do Marisco.

Doca de Santo Amaro €€€–€€€€ Alcântara Mar. On the Rio Tejo near the 25 de Abril bridge, Doca de Santo Amaro is the best-known dock and has a lively bar-and-restaurant scene. Most places open daily for lunch and dinner. The best idea is to stroll along the dock and choose a restaurant that looks appealing. Some to keep an eye out for include: Doca 6 (Armazém 6); Doca Peixe (Armazém 14) and Doca de Santo (Armazém CP).

Outside Lisbon

Colares Velho €€–€€€ Largo Dr Carlos França 1–4, Colares (Sintra), tel: 219 292 406. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Closed Mon. A lovely, small restaurant in the village of Colares, several kilometres down the mountain road from Sintra. The dining room is like the library of a country estate. Dishes are imaginative and professionally done. Homemade desserts and good daily specials.

Cozinha Velha €€€ Palácio Nacional de Queluz, Largo do Palácio, Queluz, tel: 214 350 232. Open daily for lunch and dinner. One of the most atmospheric restaurants in Portugal, this was once the old kitchen of the royal palace, but has now been converted into a dining room. It has a garden patio and a decor that will transport you to the 17th century. The regional cooking is excellent.

Lawrence Hotel €€€€ Rua Consigliéri Pedrosa 38–40, Sintra; tel 219 230 963. Open daily for lunch and dinner. The Dutch owners call this ‘a restaurant with rooms’ rather than a hotel, and Portugal's prime minister is among many who declare it their favourite place to eat. Opened in 1764, it's the oldest hotel in Portugal (Byron stayed here in 1809), and its restaurant is renowned.