Lisbon

Lisbon was the second last stop on a month-long Europe trip. Needless to say the travel fatigue was kicking in and memories were starting to blur. Excitement levels were still high but there was little energy to chase any ambitious bucket lists.

Luckily, we had no set plans for Lisbon and were perfectly receptive to whatever the city had to offer. Fortune works in mysterious ways. Turns out, Lisbon is great for filling up on beer and potatoes.

From the moment we set foot in Lisbon, there was hardly an afternoon that went by without takeaway pints of Sagres and Super Bock - the two most popular local beers in Lisbon. And what could be more ideal to go with crisp refreshing beers than junky loaded potato fries with custom toppings! Almost every stop and every craving was satisfied with refills of beer from happy hour cafes and I wouldn’t have it any other way 😋

But that’s just the start. Lisbon is a port and home to some of the best seafood and meat delicacies. There were three distinct experiences that’ll stay with me for a long time.

Lisboa Tu e Eu 2 is best booked in advance but we decided to take our chances and walk up. We got lucky and after a few rounds up and down the hill to find cash, we finally sat down for what turned out to be a great introduction to traditional Portuguese food. After making ourselves cosy, snuck between a cute couple and a huge family, we started to sense the delicious aromas and get a feel for how good the food looked. The instant urge to order everything on the menu was almost telepathically felt around the table. As fun (and expensive) as that would have been, we decided to agree on a handful of items and confirmed with the staff that it would fit neatly under the traditional Portuguese category. The end result, a “Codfish a Bras”, a “Pica Pau” and an “Alheira”, served with “Vinho Verde”. Translation: Codfish mixed with rice-like potato shavings, small pieces of tender beef in a light gravy with crunchy pickles, portuguese sausage and more potatoes, served with green wine. That’s a mouthful but I wouldn’t have it any other way 😉 For me, the Pica Pau and the green wine stood out the most. Fun fact for the non-oenophiles: green wine has nothing to do with the color of the beverage.

O Trevo is a great local canteen-style food joint for lunch. Here, you wait in a crowded space by the counter until a random old person asks you if you want a seat. In the multilingual menu, you painfully scroll down to the English section and then order a lot of sour cherry liqueur and some port! That’s right, the perfect daytime combination of sweet and sour. At first, we were not sure about the cherry liquor but we got hooked on to the decadent nectar-like consistency and ended up ordering a lot more to finish off the meal. What else, you must try their steak and cheese Bifana - a mouthwatering traditional pork sandwich marinated in a weird mix of spices from around the world - white wine or beer, garlic, and an assortment of aromatic spices like black pepper, oregano, and paprika (according to Google).

Bifana is one of my favourite “snacks” to grab and go from really any joint in Lisbon, my favourite one being The Bifanas of Afonso. It is cheap, fresh and easily available. And there is something special about lining up for something as simple and elegant as a piece of meat put in a bun/bread.

One extraordinary and emotional experience was that of a 4-course set menu dinner at Velha Gaiteira. Velha Gaiteira is a cosy setting with hearty homestyle dishes cooked with a lot of love. Not only is the food wholesome but the service quite special. On the first night, unaware of how (now obvious to me) busy and popular this place was, we rocked up thinking walk-ins were okay. Juao tried his best but was unable to accommodate us. Luckily, we were able to find a table for the next night and it was clear to me why he was hesitant earlier. Juao, the owner, manager and sole server, is the most cheerful and authentic person I met during my whole trip! He is genuinely passionate about food and invested in making sure that the customers have a great time. He tirelessly entertained us for 2 hours, making recommendations, accommodating requirements and answering questions. And the best part, he did this all with a contagious grin on his face, the whole time. For such experiences, I usually leave a decent Google review but I wanted to materialize my gratitude further so I left a tip bigger than my bill and I have no regrets 😀

Sticking to the “going with the flow” approach in Lisbon turned out to be quite fruitful. On one of the evenings, we grabbed some beer and snacks and headed up to Miradouro da Senhora do Monte to see one of the most glorious sunsets of the entire trip. The only downside of this was that there were no public toilets or restaurants nearby to get the beer out. But, it is a small price to pay for what was otherwise an experience that has influenced how I travel. Looking for hilltops to witness sunsets is now part of planning a trip to a new city!

Perhaps due to travel fatigue and also a general disinterest in vintage items, the flea market in Lisbon was quite an underwhelming experience for me but I still recommend it for people who like to shop. Contrastingly, a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me was the end-to-end ride on Tram 28. After queueing up for an unusually long 30 minutes, our tram ride began just before the sun had started to set and we got to see Lisbon in a dim orange light as we passed bike riders and other trams. Conveniently, the tram ride ended on the doorstep of Manteigaria - a specialist pastry shop featuring crunchy and gooey Portuguese tarts! Not only did we grab tarts that evening but we also came back to Manteigaria at midnight for more sugar!

I look forward to seeing more of what Portugal has to offer, especially Porto and the wine regions of Douro Valley.