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4.2.7 Torre de Belém

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Avenida da Brasileira Location HERE . Open daily 0900-1730; closed Mondays (Website HERE ) It’s reopened after a lengthy refurbishment. It looks better than ever. HOWEVER You need to read the part on ticketing. Carefully. Monument, fort, protector of Lisbon from enemy ships, and now symbol of the city, the Torre de Belém, an outstanding example of Manueline architecture, was originally completed in 1521, but has been extensively rebuilt since then. It was given UNESCO World Heritage status, along with the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, in the 1980s. What’s inside? Not a great deal. The recently refurbished walkway leads, via an open drawbridge, to the lower level, where cannon are laid out behind the windows. From there you can go up to the main platform of the Tower (CAUTION steep, very shiny, and uneven steps). The Tower within the Tower has two further levels that can be accessed by visitors, but, basically, that is that. Whether that is worth the €15 per person entrance fee (half price fo...
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5.1.21 O Lutador

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Rua da Junqueira 10C Location HERE . Open 0900 hours until midnight. Closed Sundays. Conveniently located close to the Museu da Carris, LX Factory and Congress Centre, and in the shadow of Ponte 25 de Abril, is this old school Portuguese restaurant. You can have the menu in English, and the staff can manage to speak it fairly fluently, but most of those visiting are locals. At lunchtime, and into the evening, it gets busy, and with good reason. Dishes like fish and seafood rice are deservedly popular. Many punters choose fresh fish, priced by weight, which they can share if it’s a larger one. The fish is brought out to you so you can see what is going on the grill. Meat eaters can choose from choices like the flaming sausage, Alheira, Prego, Pica-Pau, and Bitoque. And the inevitable Bifana. Vegetarian options are available, although Brás de Legumes is most of them. Even details like the garlic olives are excellent. Some choose to accompany their meal with a glass of wine; many others k...
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5.4.12 Delphi Cheesesteaks

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Rua da Cintura do Porto de Lisboa Armazém A Porta 20 Or access it via Cais do Gás Location HERE . Open 1300 - 2000 hours Wednesday and Thursday 1300 - 2030 hours Friday 1200 - 2030 hours Saturday and Sunday Closed Monday and Tuesday. Location, location, location Contrary to the image projected by all the advertising, fast food from the USA is not all about Very Cheap Burgers. The city of Philadelphia brought us the Cheesesteak, which, in its original early 1930s form, didn’t have cheese in it - that came later, in the 1950s. Many vendors offering cheesesteaks are independent - which might explain why it’s not universally known. So what’s in “ The Classic ”, as they call it here? Thin slices of grilled steak, American cheese, and fried onions is the filling. But equally important is the soft roll into which all of that is loaded. The roll is then cut in half, and that’s how it is served. You pick it up and enjoy. A fork is provided to make it easier to collect the bits of steak and chee...
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5.4.11 Mezze

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Rua Ângela Pinto 40D Location HERE . Open 1200 to 2300 hours; closed Sunday and Monday. It’s in Arroios Market! Not just Middle Eastern, but Syrian. Your table awaits ... Order à la carte, or, as most punters seem to do, try a set menu option. There are four of these: vegan, vegetarian, fish and meat. The dips, including humus - with which most will be familiar - and a tomato based dip which is beyond merely enjoyable, make for an excellent opener. For main course, I had the lamb, which was superb. Nicely and differently spicy, accompanied by a salad side plate and Iraqi bread, the generous portion also containing potatoes. Filling, but not too filling. ... and the food is rather good Service is good, there when you need it, not overwhelming. And the staff seem happy to serve you. The whole experience is just what a restaurant should be doing - making you feel restored, not just in the culinary sense, but restoring your spirit too. A chilled vibe. And seriously good value. Metro Alamed...
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7.2.24 June 2026

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Still no sign of the final report into the accident on the Elevador da Glória, and so we start, once more, with the alternatives to using funiculars. Don’t slog up those hills just because the funiculars have been suspended. Minibus 51E gives an alternative to the Santa Justa lift, and an alternative to the Glória funicular; Bairrobus 19B gives an alternative to the Lavra funicular; Bairrobus 22B gives an alternative to the Bica funicular. DAYS OFF NEWS Strike (Greve Geral) today, June 3rd. Which you may already know. Public holiday (Corpus Christi) tomorrow, June 4th. ALSO Public holiday (Portugal Day) next Wednesday, June 10th. Fewer buses and trams, the Metro on a weekend service, and some attractions may close. Some traditional restaurants may also close. CHECK to avoid disappointment. Also, Lisbon has its own Public holiday on June 13th, which this year falls on a Saturday. There are associated events on the 12th, like parades, so surface transport may be, if only briefly, disr...
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5.1.20 Café Império

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Avenida Almirante Reis 205A Location HERE . Open daily 1200-1600 and 1900-2300 hours On the southwest corner of the intersection of Alameda Dom Henriques and Avenida Almirante Reis, Café Império is the “ downstairs ” of the former Cinema Império, a grand building designed by Cassiano Branco, the same architect who designed CineTeatro Eden on the western side of Restauradores. The latter has been restored to its former glory, and is now the Eden Aparthotel, while the “ upstairs ” of the former has become a place of worship for the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (the cinema closed in 1983). It is, though, completely separate from Café Império. Entering from Av. Almirante Reis, one can visualise the space as part of a cinema. There is a ground floor level, with tables laid out around the opening that enables diners to look down into the rather larger basement level, which has several large tables laid out for work, reunion and family gatherings. There is also a distinctive mural, ...
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7.2.23 Volta - Explained

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Your bottled water and canned drinks just got ten cents per container more expensive. The name of the culprit is VOLTA. I put all my cans and bottles in the recycling as a matter of routine, but it seems that a lot of people don’t. So, in order to apply a nudge to all of us and get recycling rates up, a national scheme has been launched , and its name is Volta. Meaning Return. The plastic bottles, and cans, have the extra charge added at the till. You can identify a Volta bottle or can by the symbol on the outside of the package. If you want your ten cent deposit (or, as soon happens, multiple of ten cents), then you take the empty containers to your local supermarket - my local Pingo Doce has a machine in the foyer - and return them. The machine has instructions (including in English, should you wish) and doing the depositing is straightforward. When you’ve finished, press the Pagamento button and get a credit voucher. When paying for your next bag of groceries, you can scan the vouch...
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