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—GW
do Chapitô – part of a cafe,
restaurant, circus school (yes)
and cultural centre complex
located just below the Castle of
São Jorge. Chapitô doesn’t look
like much from the street, but
enter and descend into a
soothing world of green leaves,
orange lanterns and orange-
and-red walls. The hodgepodge
of tilework and statuary would
make the place seem like a hip
version of a meditation centre if
it wasn’t always abuzz with the
city’s fashionable and arty set. I
have my coffee (there’s a fairly
robust menu here, too) on a
narrow covered terrace looking
out over the Alfama rooftops
and the Tagus River beyond. But
as the afternoon fades, I gain a
bit of altitude by climbing up to
the little-visited neighbourhood
of Graça, taking in the view from
the Esplanada da Graça, on the
shadyMiradouro da Graça. Not
ready to switch to beer or wine
just yet, I perk myself up with
another bica and treat myself to
the spectacular panorama of
castle, water, city and hills
spread out under an orange and
purple sky.
L I SBON’ S BEST CAFES
Confeitaria Nacional
Praça da Figueira 18B/C,
1100-241 Lisbon,
+351 (0)21 324 3000,
www.confeitarianacional.com
8am–8pm daily
Café a Brasileira
Rua Garrett 120,
1200-001 Lisbon,
up shop in the carriage house of
a former manor house that the
family still owns. The bean sacks
in the warehouse bear such place
names as Brasil, Capo Verde or
Timor, offering an indirect
lesson in Portuguese colonial
history. It’s almost as if you can
taste that history in every
bittersweet sip.
Negrita occasionally hosts
organised tours, but java tourists
can simply check in at the new
GoHostel Lisbon, which leases
the adjacent mansion. There,
Negrita is not only served, but
you’re close enough to the
roasters that, if you sleep with
the window open, you can wake
up and catch a whiff of pure
Lisbon-roasted coffee.
Even if you’re not a coffee
fanatic, a trip to Belém (to see
the famous tower, for instance)
demands a stop at Pastéis de
Belém. They serve Delta coffee, a
popular and ubiquitous brand,
but their pastéis, baked on the
premises since 1837 (you can
watch them as they’re being
made through a glass window),
are to be found nowhere else.
These are the original pastéis de
Belém, whose recipe is still a
secret, rendering all others
(known as pastéis de nata) mere
approximations. Wandering the
succession of rooms tiled in
azuelos
, the famous and
ubiquitous Portuguese tiles, I
finally find a free table. My
pastel arrives piping hot, barely
making it into my mouth before
melting into custardy sweetness.
No Lisbon trip is complete
without a historic tram ride
through the serpentine streets of
the Alfama district, which takes
you past no shortage of
tantalising
miradouros
–
spectacularly sited hillside
terraces with great views,
seldomwithout a cafe or at least
a coffee kiosk stationed there.
For a better local-to-tourist
ratio, however, I head to Restô
L I S B O N
+351 (0)21 346 9541
Cafés Negrita
Rua Maria Andrade 18,
1170-216 Lisbon,
+351 (0)21 048 2576
Go Hostel Lisbon
Rua Maria da Fonte 55,
1170-022 Lisbon,
+351 (0)21 822 9816,
www.gohostellisbon.com
Pastéis de Belém
Rua de Belém 84–92,
1300-085 Lisbon,
+351 (0)21 363 7423,
www.pasteisdebelem.pt
Chapitô
Costa do Castelo 1/7,
1149-079 Lisbon,
+351 (0)21 886 7334,
www.chapito.org
Esplanada da Graça
Miradouro da Graça,
1100-114 Lisbon
FALA CAFÉ?
THE MANY WAYS TO SAY ‘COFFEE’ IN PORTUGUESE
Bica, expresso, café
(= espresso):
espresso shot served
in a ¾-full espresso cup
Bica cheia:
a larger bica
(full espresso cup)
Bica curta, Italiana
(= ristretto):
short espresso shot
Carioca:
weaker than espresso –
the water has run through the
coffee more than once
Galão, café com leite
(= caffè latte):
espresso with lots
of milk (x3) in a larger glass, beaker
or tumbler
Garoto:
weak coffee with lots
of milk (for children, mostly)
Meia de leite:
50/50 milk and coffee
Abatanado:
a large coffee
(double or triple the size of an
espresso cup)
Pingado:
espresso with a tiny
drop of milk
Descafeinado:
decaf (well, if
you must!)
Lissabons Altstadt ist farbenfroh
The charms of Lisbon’s old town
Bean sacks bear names such as Brasil,
Capo Verde and Timor. You can taste
the history in every bittersweet sip