OUT AND ABOUT in Lisbon

PLACES FOR BRASIL-ING

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Guest spot – Places for Brasil-ing by Mr. Andre Kirkelis

Being Brazilian isn’t how it seems from the H&M Catalogues, the shampoo commercial or ‘Brazilian Parties at Selfridges. So, this is a little attempt to help you to get a different conception about the Brazilian mood.

FNAC
The Portuguese love Brazilian music so this country is a fine place to find good stuff to listen to. Like wines, there are many different styles to suit all tastes. Try listening to each different one. Try a MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) like Caetano Veloso, try a traditional Samba such as Cartola, Velha Guarda da Portela or Martinho da Vila, also try good forró (this word derives from ‘for all’ music played at parties during the building of the Brazilian railways) with Luiz Gonzaga, Gilberto Gil (also plays MPB) and Falamansa (more pop).

There is much more – Brazilian music is vast. I suggest you spend an hour an hour or two listening to stuff randomly without the fear of being ‘wrong’ as DJs do.

LISTENING LIVE
1) Basic step: go straight to ‘Casa do Brasil’ at night. Cheap beer, nice forró and samba rock. I think you can have dance classes at certain times too. Good fun.
2) Live music: You have two options. Find out about Brazilian concerts in the newspapers (the ‘DNA’ supplement in Diario de notiçias on (day) and the ‘Y’ supplement from Publico on (day)), street billboards or at FNAC. The best artists always come to Lisbon. There is going to be a Ney Matagrosso and Seu Jorge concert very soon at the Coliseu. Buy tickets at FNAC. Second option is bars at Docas, Expo, Cascais and around Lisbon (Bairro Alto and Principe Real. Watch this space for more details.
3) Disco-Axé – for the hardcore guys. Lots of Brazilian waiters, cleaners and construction workers go in big crowds to Armazen 21 in Cais do Sodré. They play carnival music like Ive Te Sangalo, Trio Elétrico bands and Brazilian pop music. Pulsing, vibrant music, not many gorgeous people but good practice if you are planning to go to the carnival in Bahia!

FOOD – Plenty of choice so let’s go:
1)Atira-te ao rio: on the other side of the river Tagus. Take the ferry from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas, walk along the river towards the 25 de Abril bridge and it’s at the end. Ask for Brazilian picanha (steak), it comes with farofa, couve and black beans. A refreshing beer is the best accompaniment whilst you sit back and enjoy the cityscape.
2)Go to the Alcantara-Mar train station (close to Santos) and cross the line towards the river. Ask for a Brazilian ‘Mineira’ restaurant. It’s pretty good. Food from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. Enjoy the desserts especially the ‘doce de leite’.
3)Drink caipirinhas. They know how to prepare them everywhere. Lime, ice, sugar and cachaça. The secret is the right cachaça. Don’t drink 51 cachaça, ask for cachaça mineira. Trust me. Bad cachaça and also caipiroskas (made with vodka) are just for foreigners!
4)There isn’t a bossa nova/lounge/Brazilian/chi-chic/banana bar here. And they are just a romantic notion to make rich foreigners feel exotic or impress people with their exotic knowledge. If you want this kind of thing you’ll have to travel to Paris or London and go to ‘Favela chic café. Trendy bars for foreigners!

SHOPS
1)Food: near Rato is Emporio Brasil. It sells lots of the best fruit in the world. Great maracuja juice, januticabas, caldo de cana and pés de moleque. Try everything! It’s not toxic, it’s exotic. Tell your friends.
2)Bikinis: Brazilian bikinis are everywhere. Look for Rosa-chá, Companhia Marítima, Salgar and Slama. Normally Cascais has the best shops for this. Cool and make your derrière look better!
3)Lingerie: Brazilian goods are coming! Go to these shops: Agencia 117 (Rua do Norte, Bairro Alto), Comprima (Lapa) and a little boutique in Rua Ferragial (Baixa). Very comfortable, trendy and again does miracles for your bottom! There are a few shops in Rua do Norte which sell Brazilian stuff and other cool things.

AN OLD FAVOURITE

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Galeto – Av. da Republica, Saldanha (next to Macdonald’s).

Walking into Galeto is like stepping back in time. Think Bugsy Malone (the children’s version with a miniature Jodie Foster in it). All piles of fresh fruit and high stools around 7 or 8 islands. Each island has several waiters of the old school hurrying backwards and forwards inside. The food is good quality and the service, although not always cheerful, is fast. It is a perfect place to go if one of you is ravenous and the other isn’t because you can literally have anything. I‘ve been known to opt for a bowl of soup followed by a plate of broccoli with mayonnaise whilst my partner launched into Steak Tartar which is prepared in front of you by your waiter.

Particularly to be recommended is the tomato soup ‘gratinado’ which comes with an egg in it and croutons on top, the banana split or peach melba, the plate of cold meats, the snack menu which has a list of ‘combinados’ that are based on a slice of toast plus toppings, anything off the menu of the day (these often have names which mean nothing to me so I have to ask the waiter in order to decide) and the steak hamburger with mushroom sauce is perfect comfort food. Main courses are usually served with chips and ‘esparregado’ which looks like green mash and in fact is spinach mixed with béchamel sauce – nursery food par excellence (and I suspect a clever way to make Portuguese children eat their greens). It is also a good place to eat alone due to the lay out and the endless people watching opportunities. There’s always a celeb or two to be spotted and even if they’ve all stayed home it’s a good place to figure out how Portuguese society functions.

One word of warning ... don’t eat the butter or cheese spread! It is inordinately expensive! 1€60 for cheese spread on my last visit and we ate two…nearly £2! In fact it is not the cheapest restaurant by any means and the prices go up after 11 pm but it’s worth it for the experience and you can always choose cheaper options. Pick up a box of biscuits on the way out to finish off the trip.

ITALIAN

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As in every other city in Europe there are plenty of Italian restaurants to choose from in Lisbon. From the new and funky to the more traditional to the chaotic pizzeria type, they are all, in my experience, a good choice.

In Bairro Alto there are several alternatives. The cheaper Mama Rosa in Rua de Grémio Lusitano (14) near the square with the taxi rank is always reliable – great Greek salad and garlic bread. More expensive are Stravaganza (Rua de Grémio Lusitano, 14 | e-mail: stravaganza@restaunet.pt), Casanostra (Travessa do Poço da Cidade, 60), Massima Culpa (Rua da Atalaia, 35-37) but if you make the right menu choices it won’t break the bank. Stravaganza has the advantage of having tables outside in the summer and all of these restaurants have agreeable décor.

Around Rua da Artilharia 1 (up towards Amoreiras from Marques Pombal) There are several to choose from. Mezza Luna is always full (so book a table) and has an intimate feel to it. The food is very good especially the appetizer, the meat dishes and desserts (although don’t have the raspberry tart as it is disappointing). A trattoria, which has recently been re-vamped in a very up-to-the-minute style, also has excellent food, very attentive service (we were waited on by at least 3 different people) and a great little bar with a wall of Absolut vodka (I recommend the Mandarin). The only issue I had was that the tables for two are very close together so there’s a distinct lack of privacy – better to go in a group. The third option is completely different. It is a huge pizzeria style place called O Caruso. It has three big rooms one of which is a bit more formal and has a more varied menu. The pizza part is cheap and busy. At the weekend, the place is packed with large groups of teenagers celebrating birthdays etc. At lunch time is full of office workers and has a nice terrace to sit outside as it is off the main road inside Patéo Bagatela.

Still in the centre is O Gusto near the Assembleia da Republica. It has been beautifully designed with well chosen, modern tableware and funky colours. The food is wonderful, the service is pleasant and efficient and there is a good side room with a big round table which would make a lovely location for a birthday or some such celebration. Not cheap but not over-priced either. It is a sister restaurant to O Porco Preto in Praça das Flores which has the same attention to design features but focuses on traditional Alentejan pork dishes.

Further out but certainly worth the short drive is Casanova at Bico do Sapato (near Lux, past Santa Apolonia). Another more informal spot where the tables are in a Wagamama style and you share with other people. The food is good, you can see into the kitchen which is always a good sign, there is a great terrace overlooking the river and they have an ingenious service system with red lights hanging down over the tables so that you can switch them on when you want attention – making it the fastest service in the city!

There are of course many, many more….if you’ve had a good or bad experience…comment below!

INTRODUCTION

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Food is very important to the Portuguese. They love their national cuisine and rightly so. It is wonderfully varied and well-made. A beach restaurant that looks to a Brit like it should only be serving sarnies and burgers will offer you fresh, grilled fish or gorgeous seafood at amazingly low prices. If you didn’t eat much fish or seafood in the UK, now is the time to experiment. Although the Portuguese love their meat too, you will be missing out on some of the greatest joys of eating in Portugal if you don’t try it. Learn how to deal with peeling prawns, eating a whole fish (head, eyes and all) and cracking crabs claws and you will enter a whole new world of culinary pleasure.

If you’re a vegetarian you have to work a bit harder for your pleasures. A typical tasca will perhaps only offer you a salad or an omelette but there are now plenty of places offering much more especially the host of excellent Indian, Italian, Thai and international restaurants in the city. In fact, Lisbon has a staggering amount of restaurants to satisfy all tastes and budgets. It’s just a question of finding out what you like, discovering your favourite haunts and then your only worry will be how not to pile on the pounds!

The evocative smells of freshly baked cakes, barbequing sardines and piles of fresh, ripe fruit are evocative of the capital. With all this on offer, we have to forgive them their distain for our own national cuisine and embrace theirs. If you’ve previously lived in Italy or even Spain it might take a while to really appreciate Portuguese food but for me the pleasure lies in its simplicity, the abundant fresh produce and the whole eating experience. These pages will help you start exploring or if you’ve lived here for a while share your knowledge.

LUNCHING LIKE A LOCAL

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Lunch is an institution in Portugal. No grabbing a sandwich at their desk for the average Portuguese worker, they often take an hour and a half to two hours for lunch and sit down for a full meal at one of the many restaurants that cater for this. Bread, cheese and olives or soup to start, followed by a main course, perhaps dessert or fresh fruit and then coffee (of course). Maybe even some wine for the men although less likely for the women. If they don’t have time to sit down, they will still go to a restaurant where they can stand up at the counter (balcão) and eat one of the dishes of the day. There are innumerous places to eat lunch with the locals all over the city with their menus written on paper table cloths hung in the window to advertise their fare.

Some good places are found in Bairro Alto – Tasca de Manel at no. 24 Rua do Barroca is very pleasant with a good selection of dishes at reasonable prices and a very friendly owner who will suggest good wine to go with your meal.

Still in the BA another good option is O Cantinho de Bem Estar(Canteen of well being) at 46 Rua do Norte. A tiny little place so get their early. Great salads to start, a wonderful pork dish served with a coriander and butter sauce and baked apple, fantastic home-made chips and irresistible desserts washed down with jugs of house wine. Reasonably priced too so I’ve never left without a heightened sense of well being. Behind Avenida de Liberdade on Rua de Santa Marta is also a good place to try. It is almost unbelievable that behind one of the main avenues of the city you can find such a typical neighbourhood. A whole street of tiny tascas all serving great dishes of the day. Or across the Avenida try the standing up at the balcão option in the Bela Ipanema. The staff are extremely friendly and efficient and at around 5€ for a meal it’s well worth dropping in. All of the traditional bairros of the city have these kinds of lunch stops especially the Alfama, Principe Real and Campo de Ourique. In the centre, Bernard on Rua Garrett (104) in the Chiado is best for a bowl of soup and an empada da galinha (small chicken pie), a slice of pizza or a salad. Good for breakfast too with a huge array of fresh cakes. Not cheap if you sit down as it’s in tourist central but if you stand at the balcão (order and pay at the till first) it’s fine.

The possibilities are endless ... what’s your favourite?