Amazing Portuguese Seafood Restaurants in Lisbon You Need to Visit

One of our favourite experiences in Lisbon was exploring the amazing local Portuguese restaurants. With seafood being included in so many Portuguese dishes, it’s no surprise that many seafood restaurants in Lisbon made it to the top of our ‘must try’ list. And most of these were actually Alfama restaurants!

With late June/early July being the beginning of Lisbon’s busy season, I researched a lot in the weeks before we left home in search of highly recommended, but reasonably priced, traditional Portuguese and seafood restaurants in Lisbon. Specifically, I sought out places that serve delicious traditional Portuguese food that I thought the whole family would enjoy.

I tried as best as I could to get advanced reservations just so we wouldn’t face lines or a full restaurant with the kids at the end of a long day. I’m so glad I did because some of these wonderful restaurants are very tiny. It likely would have been pretty hard to find a table for our family of five if we just walked in for dinner.

Initially, I was a bit concerned about having so many Alfama restaurants on our list. I though that making our way in the evening to Alfama restaurants would be difficult due to the hills and narrow, winding roads. It really wasn’t! The Alfama restaurants that we recommend are all conveniently located to the Baixa neighbourhood. Moreover, they are only a 15-minute walk from anywhere in Chiado. We also enjoyed some great restaurants outside of Alfama that we’ve also included in our list of favourite Lisbon Portuguese restaurants.

Despite the research, you never really know what you’re going to experience until you eat there yourself. But I have to say that the Portuguese restaurants we chose were fantastic! Each of our favourite Portuguese restaurants has a great selection of traditional Portuguese dishes. We each tried something different most times and every meal was delicious and reasonably-priced.

These Alfama restaurants are, in our view, some of the best seafood restaurants in Lisbon. And we want to share them with you!
In no particular order, here are our favourite Portuguese restaurants in Lisbon!

Fantastic Portuguese Seafood Restaurants on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros in Alfama

A few of our favourite Alfama restaurants can be found on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, Cod-Seller Street. Based on the name, you won’t be surprised to hear that these are some of the best fish and seafood restaurants in Lisbon.

We loved the location of these restaurants because they aren’t deep into Alfama and are easy to access from anywhere in Lisbon. Despite being in what some would consider a touristy area, the food was amazing and the service wonderful. That said, I’d absolutely make a reservation if I was you!

Canto Saudade, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, 6

Shortly after settling into our Airbnb apartment in Lisbon, we visited Canto Saudade for lunch. It was our first taste of Portuguese food and we each tried something new and traditional. John and I really enjoyed the octopus salad. We were surprised that it was cold but it was absolutely delicious. Sydney enjoyed the cod cakes and the boys loved the seafood rice. Lucas enjoyed it so much that he regularly sought it out at each restaurant we visited afterwards.

Maria Catita, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, 30

Maria Catita is absolutely one of our favourite seafood restaurants in Lisbon, along with its sister restaurant next door, BaixaMar. The servers there are nothing short of incredible, even going to chase us down the street after dinner not once, but twice to return items that the kids had left under or beside our table.

John, Caiden and I ordered the salmon, sea bass and fried cod. Each fish was cooked perfectly. Lucas and Sydney ordered the lobster and prawn risotto and both loved their meals. This was my first time trying the rice pudding with cinnamon and it quickly became one of my favourite Portuguese desserts. The food was amazing and the price was fantastic.

BaixaMar, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, 28

We saved BaixaMar for our last evening in Lisbon. It is known for its amazing Portuguese seafood and after eating at its’ sister restaurant Maria Catita earlier, we knew this would be a wonderful end to our visit to Lisbon. And we were right!

BaixaMar is absolutely one of the best seafood restaurants in Lisbon. The staff at both Baixa Mar and Maria Catita are incredible and the food is superb. As you enter BaixaMar you’ll see a display of an incredible variety fresh seafood ranging from crab and barnacles to clams and oysters.

They also have a large tank filled with beautiful lobster. We were lucky to have been seated next to it and the kids watched them all evening.

We enjoyed our meal so much that I totally forgot to keep track of what we had but I do know that Lucas loved his seafood rice!

Other Wonderful Alfama Restaurants

Lisboa Tue e Eu 2, Escadinhas das Portas do Mar, 4

This tiny Alfama restaurant is at the end of alley at the top of a set of stairs.

Despite being hard to find, Lisboa Tue e Eu 2 is the most amazing restaurant. I tried many ways to book before leaving home but didn’t have any luck. I called earlier in the day and they suggested to come at 7:15pm. We arrived right on time and we were the first people there but this tiny restaurant filled up incredible quickly.

The menu had a variety of items but the son of the owner recommended the squid which wasn’t on the menu. Caiden wasn’t interested so he chose the charcuterie board but the rest of us took a leap of faith and I’m so glad we did.

This incredible dish of squid with lemon, cilantro and rice was absolutely incredible. It remains one of our most memorable meals in Portugal.

Beco a Serio, Calcada de Sao Vicente 42

In planning our day exploring the streets of Alfama, I was looking for a place for lunch that was delicious but representative of the small Alfama restaurants I had read about. I also wanted something that was easy to find! This special little restaurant is located in Alfama, very near the Monastery de Sao Vincente.

Beco a Serio has the sweetest staff and the most delicious sangria we had in Portugal. We tried a few new dishes here and they were all incredible. John and I had the alheira while the kids each had amazing bacalhau a bras.

Don’t forget to read more about our day in Alfama and to find out more about the delicious Portuguese food that we enjoyed, check out our upcoming post.

Farol de Santa Luzia, Largo de Santa Luzia 5

Farol de Santa Luzia is also located in Alfama, right across the street from the well-known Miradouro de Santa Luzia. While being near one of the most famous locations in Alfama, it is not a tourist trap.

The food was delicious and the prices were very reasonable. We made our reservation on The Fork and the restaurant hadn’t received it but they quickly told us not to worry and they found a nice table for us, despite the restaurant being almost filled to capacity.

I had read about traditional Portuguese cataplana before our visit and I absolutely wanted to try it. It was on the menu so I definitely wanted to try it. That said, like many restaurants, the cataplana was meant for two people. No one else in the family want to try it so I ordered the two portions for myself (yeh, I know). I’m so glad I did!! It was so good! And I actually ate the whole thing!

As for the other meals, Sydney really enjoyed the shrimp and mussel risotto and John enjoyed his pork and mussels. While the boys thought the steak was ok, it wasn’t stellar so this was a lesson we learned here and elsewhere in Portugal…. the seafood is much better than the steak in most locations. Despite the blip in our stream of wonderful meals, I would still class Farol Santa Luzia as an amazing seafood restaurant in Lisbon.

Great Lisbon Portuguese Restaurants outside the Alfama District

Fabrica Lisboa, Rua de Madalena, 21

Ok, so this isn’t a seafood restaurant. But Fabrica Lisboa is a wonderful little spot for breakfast or a snack. It’s located on Rua de Madalena which is the dividing line between Baixa and Alfama. Because Fabrica Lisboa is on the left (walking up the street), it’s technically, in Baixa. Our wonderful Airbnb apartment in Lisbon was located on Rua de Madalena so we walked past this little place more than once.

On our last evening in Lisbon we decided that we wanted to try it the following morning for breakfast rather than eating at the apartment. We just loved it! It’s so eclectic. You can spend your time looking around at all the cool gadgets around the restaurant. And the food was great too! I wish we had visited earlier as it would have been our regular morning stop.

Carmo Restaurant and Bar, Largo do Carmo, 11

If you’re in the area of the Convento de Carmo and you’re looking for a great Chiado restaurant, check out the Carmo Restaurant and Bar. I had made lunch reservations for the day we were having a morning walking tour but they weren’t necessary, at least for lunch. But that is no reflection on the food! It was a nice restaurant with wonderful food. From the Caesar salad that Sydney had chosen to the cod confit with leeks that John and I chose, we all fully enjoyed our meals.

In summary …

While we feel that our list of favourites includes some of the best seafood restaurants in Lisbon, obviously we couldn’t try them all (even though we would have loved to!!) There are many more so don’t limit yourself. Just do your research to find exactly what you’re looking for.

We aren’t foodies at all. We like tasty, inexpensive food that is plentiful enough to feed a few teenagers. There are a few popular Portuguese restaurants in Lisbon that were highly recommended that we didn’t visit simply because they weren’t really the type of food or atmosphere we were looking for on this trip. There are also a few places where we really enjoyed pasteis de nata and ice cream. You can get more details on those in our other Lisbon posts, including the best things to do in Belem where we visit the bakery that created pasteis de nata!

If you like delicious food with a homey atmosphere, you can’t go wrong with any of the Portuguese restaurants on our list. So enjoy!! Portuguese food is amazing!

Note: We also visited the Algarve region. If you’re there, check out the amazing food and fun activities in Carvoeiro.