Where to do lunch in London: Lisboeta
Welcome to the first post in our restaurant review series.
It’s no secret that us Doers are all prolific foodies. If we had a pound for every restaurant swap, recipe swap or recounting tales of our dining experiences, our accountants would be very happy! So it got us thinking - if all our clients and colleagues are asking us about foodie finds, why are we not sharing it with everyone?
And so our review series was born.
Lisboeta - 30 Charlotte St, London W1T 2NG
What is it? A celebration of Lisbon food by chef, Nuno Mendes
Price range? ££££
Must have dish? Bacalhau à Brás, Chouriço & Beef Tartare and Lamb Chanfana (we couldn’t pick just one)
What we loved? The quality of the food was fantastic, the service was impeccable and the decor was gorgeous
What we didn’t like? It wasn’t a cheap meal (and we didn’t have much booze)
Would we go again? Absolutely.
A little bit more…
Back in March, I went to Lisbon for a 4-day getaway. It was the first time I had been there having been on my list for many years and I loved every second of it. What I hadn’t expected was just how good the food is in Portugal and having done extensive restaurant research, we absolutely excelled on our choices and I feel like I got to taste the very best the city had to offer. I came back with a wider repertoire of Portuguese dishes and a longing to try more. Fortuitously, I read about Lisboeta coming to town shortly after returning via both LOTI and Resi’s newsletter and got very excited. We booked the first available table (May) and counted down the seconds.
The service was excellent from the moment we arrived. Every member of staff we passed said hello and welcomed us with a warm smile. The decor was beautiful - not pretentious but very stylish, warm and inviting without being chintzy and really felt like I had been transported back to some of my favourite foodie spots in Lisbon.
We started with a white port & tonic (very refreshing on a warm day). Then we ordered some bread, which is delivered from Coombeshead Farm (who I avidly follow on Instagram and have high up on my must visit list), which was served with the most delectable butter alternative - a whipped pork lard and an olive oil which was good enough to drink! From the moment we tried the bread, we knew we were in for a good meal.
We opted for the choruiço and beef tartare (which was outstanding and I could’ve had a few times over), Bacalhau a Bras - a cod/potato/egg dish that we became obsessed with in Lisbon and the Plumas de Porco Preto - some of the juiciest pork I have ever had! We then shared the Lamb Chanfana and the Arroz de Marisco, which were both very hearty portions but we couldn’t leave a morsel because they were so tasty.
The lovely waitress did an excellent job at convincing us to order dessert, even though room was certainly lacking. Such a good job in fact that we ended up going for three different ones. The Abade de Priscos (egg yolk and pork fat custard with a port wine caramel…never had anything like it but it was DIVINE), the Tarte de Amêndoa (almond and butternut tart with olive oil) and the Farofias (poached meringue with orange and cinnamon). I don’t usually do dessert at restaurants - usually more of a cheese person or a digestif - but these were up there as some of the best and most interesting puds I’ve tried in a long time and wholly recommend not missing out on!
The bill was over £200 for three of us (and only 2 boozy drinks), which was a lot. We were all very full and there was certainly not a lack of food but comparably to what we paid for similar food in Lisbon a few months prior, it did feel like a lot of money. The joys of London dining! I would happily return and absolutely recommend trying but could probably get to Lisbon and back and have a couple of meals there for the same price.
