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Old 11-19-2018, 12:44 PM   #11
Bisbo
H.S. Freshman Team
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
I highly recommend a small fado bar in the Alfama neighborhood called “A Baiuca” R. de São Miguel, 20 Lisbon. It’s a very small restaurant where you share a table with the other diners. The food is good, and the fado is fantastic. Far from a staged show - its just a bunch of the locals getting up and singing, accompanied by 2 guitars. The night we were there, the singers included our waiter, an old woman from the kitchen, and a guy sitting on the steps across the street. Really enjoyed it. Make sure to get a reservation if you can - it seems to always be crowded. We saw some other fado while we were there, but this was, far and away, our favorite. The Alfama neighborhood is a great place to stroll around, too.

Mouraria is another interesting neighborhood to explore. Like Alfama, but totally without tourists and tourist establishments. The residents seemed to be more Arab than Portuguese. Lots of narrow alleys with small restaurants. There are also amazing photos of fado artists and ‘village elders’ on the walls of the streets in and around ‘Beco Das Farinhas Street.

Took a very good food tour called ‘Lisbon Awakens’ offered by Culinary Backstreets http://culinarybackstreets.com/tours...bon-food-tour/. It lasted most of the day, and included stops at numerous small restaurants and very old shops known for their specialties (samples included). It’s a small group (maybe 6-8 people) walking tour. We tasted all kinds of food, wine and liquor. There are a couple of other food tours offered by the company if this doesn’t suit your schedule. I would highly recommend booking a tour that was led by our guide, Celia Pedroso, if she’s available - she is a writer and food critic, knows her stuff, and is exceptionally nice.

Had dinner one night at a very interesting restaurant called Minibar Teatro, R. António Maria Cardoso 58, 1200-026 Lisbon (Home) (there’s a button in the upper right hand corner that switches the site to English, if its in Portuguese). It’s owned by Jose Avillez, one of the big chefs in Lisbon. Order the ‘Epic’ tasting menu - it contains all kinds of interesting things that are not what they appear to be - expensive, but very fun, unique and delicious.

Mercado Ribeiro is the 'Time Out' food hall mentioned by others, with an adjacent vegetable/fruit/meat market. The food hall offers some real high quality stuff - lots of the big chefs have small food stands there. Everything is good. I particularly recommend the “Chicken All Around” stand - it’s owned by Chef Miguel Laffan and features piri-piri chicken, a national dish. I read an essay - actually more of a love note - by a food writer from Texas who absolutely raved about the chicken and fries there. It totally lived up to its advance billing.
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