Notes from Lisbon
Back to regularly scheduled programming soon, but while I’m on vacation in Lisbon I thought I’d check in with a few restaurant recommendations and a recipe for migas. I hope you get to visit this beautiful city, we’ve had an amazing time here :)
Where I’ve Been Eating
Damas (vegan options)
Gritty-chic bar and music venue with meat/fish/vegan dishes scrawled in Portuguese on a chalkboard wall, and straightforward but excellent food. We had roasted cabbage with a spicy pepper sauce, a bowl of fava beans dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, and cilantro, and their version of migas, with cabbage, black-eyed peas, and crumbled cornbread (recipe below). Everything I tasted was perfect, so I can only assume the rest of the menu is. We were able to get a table at 8:30, but there was a line outside by 9.
The Food Temple (all-vegan menu)
Fancy and beautifully presented vegan food that feels casual because the dining area is a set of wide steps outside (reservations help with getting an outdoor spot). My favorite dishes were the homemade tempeh & shiitake skewers and the warm cassava cake with caramelized pumpkin — the mains were pretty good, all the desserts were great. There was a little set by a guy straddling a low brick wall with a few synthesizers and a pocket operator, who kept announcing “last song” and being overruled by the crowd. If I wanted to take someone on a date, it would be here.
Restaurant Odaan (many vegetarian/vegan options)
The rooftop terrace of our Airbnb was inundated every night by spicy delicious smells wafting up from below, so eventually we followed them to a small Nepalese restaurant in a courtyard off our street. The lengthy menu was full of dishes I’d never heard of, and even though some items weren’t available, everything we got was incredibly flavorful and perfectly spiced. The vegetable pakora had a ton of flavor on its own, the momos were great, and the dhido set (dhido is a sort of flour mush; you can think of it like polenta or grits) came with dal, spicy potatoes, crispy black eyed peas, sautéed greens, and thick yogurt. It was a lot of food, but I surprised myself by how much I ate, because I just didn’t want to stop.
Maria da Mouraria - Casa de Fados (meat & fish, limited vegetarian)
Apparently there’s fado music on some nights at this yellow-lit courtyard restaurant, but the food and comfortable atmosphere are a good enough reason to visit. The simplest dishes — grilled whole sardines, boiled potatoes, a chickpea salad with red onion, bell pepper, and cilantro — were made perfectly. Everything was grilled by a man working in the alley, and finished and served by a woman busy with orders who still took the time to tuck a blanket around the baby’s toes while I nursed him. There are soft rolls in paper bags, generous glasses of wine, and big bottles of olive oil and white wine vinegar for you to dress the salad yourself.
Estaminé art food drink (vegetarian option, vegan if you ask ahead)
An unusual 2-table restaurant run by a Brazilian couple who acquired a former snack shop 7 years ago to showcase Luís’s art, decided to start serving a little food, and now run their restaurant from 2-8pm serving 10-20 people each day. The menu is short but strong: there’s a whole set of tropical fruit juices that you can have alone or blended with cachaça, an incredibly plated charcuterie board, pão de queijo, and a meat, seafood, and vegetarian special of the day. The banana pie with ice cream was incredible. Make reservations.
Veganeats (all-vegan menu)
An older couple with kind smiles runs this small cafe, which serves one special meal of the day at lunchtime, and quiches, pastries, and vegan chorizo during the off-hours. We chose the black-eyed pea, mushroom & pickle quiche, which was pretty good, and the caramelized pineapple cake, which was fantastic. I asked about it, and the man told me that the caramel was made from sugar, coconut oil, and soy milk.
Zé dos Bois gallery (drinks)
Great photography exhibition when we were there and excellent vibes on the rooftop/balcony bar upstairs. Good local wines and beers, but Anthony’s amarguinha (almond liqueur) with lemon and mint was even better. It was chill before sunset, but I think things heat up at night.
Bom Bom Bom (vegetarian options, a few vegan)
Glossy natural wine bar with carefully selected music and small Mediterranean plates like çilbir or eggplant rolls with smoked scarmozza. The enthusiastic French owner/bartender brought over several wines for us to try when we said we wanted something “weird” and talked to us about Portugal’s vineyards.
Alfama Doce (no vegan options)
I actually didn’t think most of the bakeries I visited were that great, but this one stood out. Queijada de laranja (orange pastry), pastel de alfama, and pão de deus (sweet olive oil bread with coconut crust) were my favorite.
MAAT / MAAT Cafe (limited vegan, some vegetarian options)
Large contemporary art museum housed in an old power station (which has been partially reconstructed and turned into its own exhibition). Some of the art was fine, some of it was really good. A fancy restaurant runs along its waterfront side, with a surprisingly affordable cafe menu. Our vegetable risotto was cooked very well, but it was the view of the water and Golden Gate-style Ponte 25 de Abril that made the place special.
Café Esplanada do Miradouro do Monte Agudo (drinks, snacks like ice cream)
A slightly run-down, out-of-the way mirador with a well-stocked tiny cafe, plenty of slingback deck chairs facing the view, and a few dogs running around. We were there in the middle of the day when there were only a few other people reading and drinking coffee, but it’s probably a beautiful place to watch the sunset.
Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara / Miradouro (drinks, limited vegan options)
Sprawling shady cafe with a great view of the city. A lot of tourists but plenty of seats and perfectly fine espressos, beers, or croissant sandwiches.
Ice cream
Santini (vegan options: sorbet)
A Portuguese chain that had lots of fruit flavors in particular; banana-açaí and melon were some of our favorites.
Nivà Cremeria Gelateria Italiana (vegan options: sorbet)
I have to shout this one out purely for the ricotta and fig ice cream we got. It’s right across from the Jardim Botânico de Lisboa, which is full of amazing cacti and huge trees.
Take-away snacking
Get yourself some soft portuguese rolls (decent ones at the local chain Panaderia Portuguesa) and creamy queso oveja (we got ours from a stall at the touristy Mercado da Baixa). Or wander into the Bangladeshi areas of Alfama for chanachur or other packaged snacks. Fruit is really good and amazingly cheap at most small shops; we’d buy bags of figs for less than 2 euros and eat them at a mirador.
Skip
LX Factory
Touristy commercial area full of tchotchke shops, boring food, day-drinking, and one really beautiful bookstore.
TimeOut Market
People told us to go but it was just what I expected: overwhelmingly crowded and full of stalls with basically the same menu of expensive mass-produced dishes.
daTerra
A vegan restaurant chain with a buffet of generally bland and uninspired dishes.
Missed
Santa Clara Dos Cogumelos
I can’t believe I didn’t know there was a mushroom restaurant in Lisbon ahead of this trip. It seems like you need to make reservations in advance. If you go, please tell me how it is!
O Velho Eurico
I heard good things about this restaurant, which serves an updated, fancier version of typical Portuguese food, but didn’t make reservations soon enough.
What I’m Cooking
Migas with Portuguese cabbage and black-eyed peas
Migas just means crumbs and there are a million ways of making this dish whose base is black-eyed peas, Portuguese cabbage, and fried cornbread crumbs. I made this one after eating something like it at Damas, one of my favorite places we visited in Lisbon. It’s so simple but hearty and comforting, and a great way to use up particularly hard bread. Like soup or stew, I think the flavors meld well after a few hours or even the next day, so you could make it ahead of when you want to eat.
Some notes on ingredients: Portuguese cabbage seems to be closer to collard greens than regular cabbage, so I’d probably use either that, chard, or lacinato kale. Cooking your own beans is great, especially because of the broth that gets created, but if it’s easier to use canned beans, go for it. Chickpeas or butter beans might be nice instead of black-eyed peas. Be liberal in your use of olive oil, a lot of the taste comes from that!
Ingredients
1/2 cup black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, or 1.5 cups cooked
handful of fresh herbs, like rosemary, thyme, or oregano
3-4 slices stale bread, enough for >2 cups bread crumbs (Portuguese cornbread would be typical, but it’s not buttery like American cornbread, so a dense sourdough might be better)
Olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 Portuguese cabbage or 1 bunch collard greens, chard, or lacinato kale, washed and then rolled and cut into thin strips (chiffonade)
1-2 cups vegetable broth or reserved bean broth
salt and pepper
Method
Cook the black-eyed peas, unless you’re using canned beans. Put them in a small pot and cover with water. Add a small palmful of salt and the fresh herbs. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook until you can smash a bean with a fork, about 40 minutes. Keep the cooking broth.
Put the bread slices in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes, until the bread is soft enough for you to break into small pieces with your fingers. Break it all up until the pieces are smaller than croutons.
Heat a Dutch oven or deep-bottomed pan with plenty of olive oil and add the smashed garlic. Squeeze some of the water out of the bread and add it to the pan. Fry, turning the bread often and adding more oil if you need it, until it’s nicely browned, about 10-15 minutes. It should get a little crispy on the outside but will stay soft and slightly wet on the inside. Taste a piece and see if you like it.
Remove the bread, add another couple glugs of oil, and add the onion slices. Once they’re translucent, add the cabbage or other greens and sauté for a few minutes until you get some nice browning.
Add the vegetable broth or bean cooking water and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the cabbage is very soft.
Mix in the cooked black-eyed peas and cook for a few more minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Cover the dish with the fried bread crumbs, drizzle a little more nice olive oil on the top, and serve.