Visitors to Lisbon following the lights and the glamour of Lisbon’s fashion street, Avenida da Liberdade, might miss “our” street.
Our street is actually 2 streets and none of them is ours 😉
Where the Elevator tracks start, you have, running south the Rua das Portas de Santo Antāo and running north, Rua de S.José.
One is more touristy with all the outside tables on the pedestrian street and the vociferous restaurant staff greeting the people walking by and trying to hand over the menu.. … the other, is our favourite.
Rua de S. José is a point in case for the city that in the twenty first century regained all the colourfulness and the diversity it first had back in the fourteen hundreds when it became a global hub.
What is special about the area is the harmony of the cultural and ethnic mix and the feeling that you’re actually sharing your experience with the locals away from brouhaha of the places designed with the tourists in mind.
Today I want to talk about all gastronomical alternatives available ‘around the corner’ in the upcoming posts we shall review the best options in the neighbourhood.
The first one is a tiny little place, right after the traffic lights with the misleading sign “Pastelaria Alvario” it is misleading because it is not a “pastelaria” a place where you have sweets and snacks but rather a restaurant. When step in, past all the signs with the day’s specials and the little transparent fridge where stands a radio playing fado tunes, you find four or five tables, not more.
The service is very correct with the cook shouting from the oven to precise whatever your waiter is telling you about the menu.
Unlike many of these popular restaurants they tend to have a diversified offer often covering the most popular dishes of the Lisbon local fare.
One that you should try is the ‘pataniscas com arroz de feijão’. Pataniscas are pieces of shredded ‘bacalhau’ (Codfish) previously coated in a wheat flour batter and deep fried. And the ‘arroz’ is rice that is cooked on a mirepoix, a mixture of chopped onion, maybe some carrot and beans. Red beans.
It is very enjoyable to seat there in a quiet and friendly atmosphere, listening to the fado background while figuring out what to do next to get the night started and all that for less than 10 euros per person including a drink and dessert.
the elevator hostel 