Lisbon is one of those cities you feel you could wander forever, stumbling on a bifana (marinated pork sandwich) here, a pastel de bacalhau (cod fritter) there. It’s full of life, full of fun, full of flavour. You can of course play it a little loose with your pasteis de nata and your grilled sardines, but if you want to eat at the best restaurants in Lisbon, you’ll need to be organized.
Get a few bookings in before you embark on your Luxury Gold journey to Spain and Portugal – if you have limited time and food is a priority, you will not want to squander your time in luscious Lisbon. So, these are the best restaurants in Lisbon – pick your favorites and get plotting.
1. Café de São Bento
Often cited as the best steak restaurant in Lisbon (and that’s saying something), Café de São Bento serves a little old-timey drama alongside its filet mignon, especially in the original location in São Bento. In a dining room resplendent with rich dark wood, red velvet and golden light, order your steak fried with garlic and Iberian ham or try it cooked in the style of the traditional Portuguese dish bife à Marrare – in a creamy, gently coffee-flavoured sauce.
Image credit @cafedesaobento via Instagram.
2. Santa Joana
At the fabulous Hotel Locke Santa Joana, pioneering Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes runs one of the best restaurants in Lisbon for fun. The menu is a riot of flavour – cornbread madeleines with smoked chilli butter, deviled eggs with tuna tartare, grilled local sea bass with seaweed and Algarve cockles. It’s a dazzler. And the space sparkles too, with pink marble tables, palm fronds and tapestries. Start at the crudo bar and take your table later – you’ll want to hang out here awhile.
Image credit @santajoanalisboa on Instagram
3. Encanto
This is the best restaurant in Lisbon for vegetarians and has the green star to prove it (and a regular Michelin star to boot). In a phenomenally chic and cozy dining room adorned with dark wood and artfully filled original library shelves, guests encounter 12 “moments” celebrating the work of Portuguese farmers. Encanto prioritizes locally grown, organic produce and chef José Avillez grows some of the produce in the vegetable garden at Casa Nossa, his property in the Alentejo.
Image credit @encanto_joseavillez on Instagram
4. CURA
This is the fine dining restaurant within the Four Seasons Ritz Lisbon and it’s not to be overlooked. Chef Rodolfo Lavrador (one of Lisbon’s most adored) has curated (hence the name, Cura) a menu that articulates the depth and deliciousness of Portuguese food and traditions. Each ingredient is carefully chosen, be it buckwheat, olives, smoked eel, scarlet shrimp or corn. And the dining room is a nod to the terroir too – lots of earthy tones, deep comfort, and bold flashes of creativity.
Image credit @curalisboa on Instagram
5. Gambrinus
In downtown Lisbon, Gambrinus – open since 1936 – is an institution. If you like dark wood paneling, burgundy carpets and crisp white tablecloths, this is the spot for you. Locals love to stop for croquettes at the long, lovely counter, but it’s best to sit and properly absorb this wonderful place – partridge pie, tableside Crepes Suzette and all.
Image credit @gambrinus_restaurante_lisboa on Instagram
6. Cervejaria Ramiro
If you want to avoid a 90-minute wait, you’ll need to book a table at this, the most famous and probably still the best seafood restaurant in Lisbon. It’s a bustling, fuss-free dining room, in which the smell of buttery garlic is intoxicating. Give in to it and order a parade of gambas aguillo, giant tiger prawns, and clams in (yet more!) garlic sauce, plus an ice cold Sagres. On his visit, Anthony Bourdain ordered the prego – a traditional Portuguese steak sandwich – for dessert.
Image credit @cervejariaramirooficial on Instagram
7. SEM
For lovers of more modern sensibilities, SEM is a brilliantly relaxed zero-waste restaurant focused on regeneration and responsibility. Open shelves are packed with pickles, preserves and ferments and menus are created around micro-seasonal ingredients. All of this makes for a tasting menu rich with stories. Previous dishes have included shio koji black pork presa, winter yacon with sunflower seed praline, and tomatoes with fennel and sauerkraut granita.
Image credit @restaurant.sem on Instagram
8. Prado
If you want something super-fresh in central Baixa, Prado is the place, helmed by talented young chef António Galapito. This greenhouse-like space (a former fish factory, in fat), is abundant with dangling greenery and natural light; it’s one of the best restaurants in Lisbon for biodynamic wines and farm-to-table food. And if you don’t have the time or inclination but find yourself in the area, Prado wine bar on the next corner is a perfect pitstop.
Image credit @prado_restaurante on Instagram
9. Canalha
In 2023, chef João Rodrigues set out to create a quintessential neighborhood restaurant and accidentally gave Lisbon a new institution. This sliver of a spot in a residential area, decked out with pink Portuguese marble, rustic wood, black leather and brass has a menu that reads like a Portuguese dream: scarlet shrimp with fried egg, sobrasada and mushrooms, Iberico pork, Alentejo lamb chops. Settle in and try it all. And if you’re keen on a counter seat, overlooking the action, Canalha has the perfect example of one.
Image credit @restaurantecanalha on Instagram
10. Kabuki
Combining Japanese haute cuisine with Portuguese flavours, Kabuki is three floors of dazzling fusion, combining a cocktail bar with the main restaurant. It’s a top-to-toe dreamboat, with an exquisite wine offering and a vegan tasting menu, too. Iconic dishes include scarlet prawn usuzukuri, quail egg nigiri with truffle, toro flambé nigiri, and – for dessert – pastel de nata mochi.
Image credit @kabuki_lisboa on Instagram
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