the_lisbon_connection blog

An amazing morning walk!  March already feels like summer!

Populi is a trendy place at Praça do Comércio and you can see why the moment you walk in. The décor and environment are young and cool. It has a nice crowd, with quite a few tourists, but not the crazy-lets-take-pictures-of-everything-folks either. Food was nice but it’s a bit pricy.

If like me you have lived or travelled to Salamanca , I am sure you remember there were quite a few quests you had to complete such as finding the frog on top of the skull’s head at the uni facade or the astronaut and the ice cream cone on the Cathedral’s wall.  Well this week I found an interesting quest that could be made in Cascais .  Try finding the two D**** on the Police Street!

Restaurant week it’s this awesome initiative someone who clearly loves to eat, came up with. Basically for a week, a group of high priced well known restaurants agree to prepare a special three course menu for only 19+1€. The 1€ is given to charity. It’s a good opportunity to try those places you always wanted to go but price has prevented you to do so. So last night I went to La Trattoria, a Lisbon long time classic for Italian food. I had the best mushroom soup I have had in my life and then a delicious truffle pasta. Definitely a place to repeat!

As a pseudo sushi lover, trying new places is always great fun! You can find a lot of sushi places in both Lisbon and Cascais and not for a very high price! Sushi and Gin This place used to be known as Infusão. This new project of mixing sushi and the gin trend, has only started a few months ago. Still for me the best thing in this place is the sushi! There is a all you can eat menu for 20€ and the sushi has good quality and is delicious! The bad part? I loved the idea of Sushi and Gin as I love both sushi and gin but I dont think it's working out the best. The first and second time I went there there were only a couple of gin brands and no gin bar that could make you a good mixure! There is only one brand of wine so the alternative is also not so good! Again the sushi is great!!!

Brunch at Chef Nino - Lx Factory Brunch is such a lovely invention! In Portugal brunch is done a special way!  There will be no mimosas and eggs are an option, not a rule! Still it’s quite amazing to get everybody together for a late breakfast/ light lunch altogether. I normally go with friends and we just love to sit around, take our time trying all the delicious options, enjoying the good company and the chance to catch up with everything that’s been going on in each other’s lives. Yesterday I tried another great Brunch in Lisbon! This time in LX Factory! I had been to Café da Fábrica about a year or so ago on a beautiful summer day. This time we tried Chef Nino’s brunch. They don’t accept reservations and the place is quite small, so the best way to get a table is to be there right when it opens at 12:30. We arrived a little past one and had to wait around 20minutes but the staff is very nice, they will keep your phone number and give you a call whenever the table be...

Last weekend we paid a visit to the Invicta , as portuguese like to call it. Porto for us, Oporto for everybody else! Even though it was cold and rainy we manage to have a great time! These were the high points: Rua das Flores , the urban art that has been done in the buildings which are being renovated, and the electrical boxes are a different type of art fun to see. Also many cool restaurants and cafes have open. Explore the old city, from  Sé  down to  Ribeirinha  and get  a nice view of the old little alleys and streets of Porto. A stroll alongside the Ribeirinha and Gaia , great place for pictures and beautiful view of the city. To complete the scenery cross the beautiful Ponte de São Luis (the one resembling the Eiffel Tower) to Gaia (I recommend crossing the bridge on top and head back on the bottom part – both views are wonderful). In Gaia you can go to the Caves for free, where they explain all the process of making P...

Comme Ça  – loved this place! The food, the decoration, the crowd, the waiters and the live music which made our dinner so pleasant. The concept is fun, all dishes cost 12€ served with potatoes in the oven and a mixed salad and it’s enough for two people to share. We had the rosbife in a mushroom soup and the little stakes with herbs sauce, all of it delicious! Ohh and a nice bottle of João Pires (Portuguese white wine which has a little taste of moscatel, a sweet Portuguese liquor!)