This post is also available in: Bulgarian

A few ideas where and what to eat at the Portuguese capital + bonus where you can sleep.

More than two months since I have been to Portugal, this article is going to be seen.

Today I am going to tell you what you need definitely to try, where are the best bakeries and where we stayed.

When I am going to a new city, I am always looking for a place to stay near to the city centre. It might be more expensive, but this way you save money for transport and time for getting there. And we all know that most of the tourist attractions are there.

It took me a few days to browse all the possible Airbnbs, hostels and hotels. In the end, we chose the Nations Rooms. It is a hostel which I found on booking.com. Simple hostel which provides rooms for 2,3 and 4 people. It is 15 minutes walk from the centre. For 3 nights for two people was around 67€. You can find cheaper places if you don’t mind sleeping with 8+ people in a room. There are two bathrooms, a small kitchen if you want to prepare your food, very cute small balconies and Wifi. The hostel is located on a small boulevard, but it was not noisy at all. Whatever you are going to choose don’t forget that you are only going to sleep there.

Enough for that where can you sleep it is time to move forward to the delicious side of the things. One of absolutely must visit places are the Patisseries. There you can find the most popular dessert for the Portuguese nation – Pasteis de Nata. It is an egg tart pastry dusted with cinnamon. It is very tasty especially when it is just been made.

There are two places that we have tried the sweet treat. The first one is Pasteis the Belem – this is where everything started. In 1837 they began making the original Pastel de Nata following an ancient recipe. Today this is the oldest place where you can try the dessert. There are long queues if you want to get for taking away. The clever move is to sit inside and to be served. There is a lot of delicious food that you can try. The place is very big and very instagrammable. The patisserie is very close to one of the landmarks of the city – Belem Tower.

The second place is Fabrica de Nata that we were is based in the city centre and according to Dario’s opinion (our guide), it is better and cheaper. To be honest I liked both places and I can’t choose which one is better.

Next place that I am going to talk about is not Portuguese, it is Italian and it is called La Piadina. This place is a hidden gem in the Portuguese capital. Until we got there we were a bit wet from the rain, but it was worth it. They had a menu with a different type of wraps with fresh ingredients. You can choose between wrap with meat, fish, vegetarian or vegan. I chose with salmon and for a drink strawberry lemonade. For a dessert, we shared one with Nutella. The portion is from two wraps so you can choose two different ones. I loved this place because it was really tasty, very quick serving and very friendly staff.

It is time to tell you about my favourite place, it is called Wine not?. We found it on our last evening, but it left a mark in my heart. After the guys ate in McDonald’s, it was time to find a place for the princess, because I haven’t been eating fast food for a long time. There was a protest on the main street, so we need it to turn in some small ones and there it was. It took my breath away in the minute I saw its name. The atmosphere and the serving were excellent. But I won’t lie about this place is not to make your belly fool. It is for wine nights with friends, where you can taste wine and tapas all night long.

And the last but the sweetest place that we visited was the Gelateria Giallo. Everyone who knows me knows that wherever I go I eat Italian ice cream (gelato). So I have been crying to Dario for two days to go to the best place in the city and to enjoy a cup of artisan gelato. The place is very nice, situated in the old part of the city. You can find a different flavors, even vegan ones. And the ice cream is just..teriffic.

We were at one more lovely place. Where New York Times says that is one of the best chocolate cakes – Landeau Chocolat. It is located in one place that reminds me of Kapana’s area in Bulgaria, Plovdiv. It is called Lx Factorty. The cake was really amazing and when I go again I will not skip it.

• 

• 

That was my small experience with the places to eat in Lisbon. I am sure that there are plenty of more places to visit and I will be happy if you share with me some for my next time there.

Photo credit: Archive and Fork.com

4