Lisbon Day 3: Alfama and our First Michelin Star Restaurant
We were greeted with a beautiful, sunny, crisp morning on the last day of November, leaving us with one more day in Lisbon. Having had such a productive first day, we relished the opportunity to take the day at a slower pace, finding new neighborhoods to explore yet also retracing some of our steps to revisit our favorite places. Our first mission (as always) was to FIND COFFEE. Juliette’s research had us targeting Copenhagen Coffee Lab in the heart of the famed Alfama district. One of the oldest sections of Lisbon, this is a great area to just wander around and lose yourself in the cobbled roads, tight alleyways, unique buildings and colors…just be prepared for lots of hills and elevations!
After a pretty intensive uphill climb, we perched in CCL with coffee and some of our favorite pastries from our time in Scandinavia: cardamom rolls! This gave us a little bit of time to plan our day and reflect on how unique of a melting pot we had found in Lisbon. Again, for being such a small country, it truly was a crossroads for so many empires, having a clear influence from Spanish, Phoenician, Germanic, Nordic, Jewish, and Moorish cultures.
This cultural mix was VERY apparent when we went to the Castelo de Sao Jorge, overlooking the city. Note that, while it looks like there are many entrances and paths to the castle on google maps, there is only ONE actual entrance, facing to the east of the city. We found this out the hard way, literally having walked around the entirety of the battlements, but getting to explore some neat areas, especially the Jewish quarter.
The castle is a textbook example of how centuries of conquest shape a culture. Our guide shared with us the many stories of how the castle changed hands, originally starting as a Moorish settlement before being conquered by the Christians and then being taken over by the Portuguese government. With each era, the ruling party would tear down the existing castle and use the materials to build on top (#efficiency). This made for a really interesting tour and exploration of the surrounding ruins and restored fortifications.
If you plan to visit the castle, we recommend you block off about 2-2.5 hours and eat lunch beforehand! We did not do the latter, barreling out of the castle in search of lunch. We were partially satiated with another pastel de nata, acquired right outside the castle gates, but we knew we needed something real. Luckily, another one of our destinations, the Prado Merceária was not too far off. Here we enjoyed a simple lunch of some table wine and a fantastic focaccia bread sandwich. We highly recommend for a quick bite!
It was getting late in the afternoon at this point and we had to prepare for one more high-profile activity in Lisbon for our final night. We made a quick stop back at Fábrica Coffee Roasters for some espresso (told you it was our favorite!) before heading back to our hotel. Tonight we would achieve several things: 1) we would celebrate a late anniversary dinner, 2) we’d go to our first Michelin starred restaurant, and 3) we’d leave very happy having feasted on wine and delicious foods. Spoiler alert, there were three dessert courses!
We dined at Eleven, one of the many Michelin starred restaurants in Portugal. Eleven was situated within walking distance from our hotel, so we enjoyed a crisp evening walk to the restaurant which sits in the middle of a park. We showed a few minutes early and were ushered in right as it opened for the night.
We can only describe the 7 course tasting menu as one of the most inventive and unique culinary experiences of our lives! It really opened our eyes to what a good wine pairing can mean to a dish. From the “gold bar” fois gras to the roasted lamb to the popcorn and ice cream dessert (1 of 3), every single dish stood on its own yet told a cohesive story and lended itself to plenty of rich conversation. It was also pretty funny, shamelessly trying to resist the urge to take photos but failing miserably!
On the walk back to our hotel (much appreciated because we were bursting at the seams by now), we recounted the culinary adventure and found it a very fitting way to end the trip on a very high note. We felt accomplished having seen, learned, and explored everything we came to do, and would rest very easily that night for a full day of travel the next day.
All-in-all, we highly recommend Portugal for the culture, friendly people, affordability, and ease of access from the east coast of the US. If you visit, we hope you’ll find it as enchanting as we did!
-GP