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59
‘
Y
ou’re asking me
where you can get a
good coffee?!’
Alfonse, a Lisbonite who has just
helped me navigate a local
restaurant menu, looks
incredulous. ‘Why, here!’ he
sputters. ‘There,’ he adds,
pointing across the street.
‘Anywhere!’ In Portugal, Alfonse
explains, going out for coffee is ‘a
social ritual and a tradition’.
Even the lowliest metro station
kiosk wouldn’t dare serve a
substandard cup.
In other words, I’ve come to
the right city.
Visiting cathedrals and
castles is all well and good, but
my most memorable travel
moments generally occur before
or after sipping some kick-in-
the-pants coffee in the most
charming, scenic or authentic
surroundings I can find. And
Lisbon, Europe’s most
caffeinated capital, offers these
moments at every corner.
The basic unit of coffee here
is the
bica
, a small shot of
espresso usually consumed with
a heavy dose of sugar. Of course,
the familiar varieties –
cappuccino, latte and so on – are
available and recognised
everywhere, although they
sometimes go by other, more
Portuguese names (see overleaf).
Starting at about €0.55 a cup
at a neighbourhood
pastelaria
(a
bakery cum confectionery shop)
to not more than €1.50 at the
swankiest haunts (more for
L I S B O N
BEAN THERE, DONE THAT
For Lisbonites, coffee isn’t just a drink – it’s practically a religion.
Join us for an
expresso
tour of Europe’s most caffeinated capital
larger, milkier and more
complicated coffee concoctions),
it’s a habit I can indulge to excess
without busting my budget.
Coffee is traditionally
partnered with the
pastel
(plural:
pastéis
), a dollop of creamy
custard baked into a puff pastry
shell. The surface is lightly
singed in spots, giving this tart a
slightly smoky flavour – making
it the perfect accompaniment for
a strong shot of java. Unless you
request otherwise, that’s the way
the pastel is served here.
In the Baixa, old Lisbon’s
riverside centre with its grid of
pedestrian shopping streets,
Confeitaria Nacional dates back
to 1829 and is one of Lisbon’s
oldest cafes. Upon entering, I’m
bathed in golden light, much of
it emanating from the pastry
case where pastéis, almond
cookies and egg cookies all vie
for my attention. As for the
brew, it’s their own (packets of
the beans are available for
purchase, and are also sold at
department store El Corte
Inglés). After taking in the
swirling rococo-style interior, I
enjoy my coffee and cakes at a
seat outside, watching the Praça
da Figueira and the hustle and
bustle of downtown Lisbon.
From the Baixa, it’s an
exhilarating vertical trip on the
famous neo-gothic Santa Justa
Lift up to Largo do Carmo – a
short walk fromPortugal ’s most
respected literary figure,
Fernando Pessoa, and the
beverage that fired his creativity.
He’s guaranteed to be hanging
out at Café a Brasiliera – well, a
bronze sculpture of him is
anyway (Pessoa died in 1935). The
art nouveau cafe is the
birthplace of the bica, and they
have been serving their own
roast since it opened in 1905 – a
blend the waiter correctly
describes as ‘strong in taste,
strong in caffeine’.
Abandoning the tourist trail,
I travel a fewmetro stations
inland to learn more about this
national fascination with the
elixir of
Coffea canephora robusta
and the more flavourful and
expensive
Coffea arabica
. Near
Intendente, I arrive at the source.
‘There has been a Portuguese
presence in all the places where
coffee is produced,’ says Helena
Pina, president of Cafés Negrita,
one of the last commercial coffee
roasters still operating in
Lisbon. Negrita has been a
family-run business since Pina’s
grandfather helped start the
company back in 1924, setting