Restaurant Sunflower: Best Seafood Lisbon, Portugal

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Best Seafood Lisbon is part of the #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL where I break my 100 country count mark. See the World Map for where I’ve been.


TPOL travels to eat and drink (see Food & Drink Guide). For me, it’s not about the Michelin restaurants and it’s not about the off the beaten path bullshit. It’s about good food and good drinks wherever I can find it (see Food in Milan: Tourist Places But Good Nonetheless). In Lisbon, the Restaurant Sunflower was near the beaten path of Rossio, one of the main squares in Lisbon, in an alley tucked away from the food hawkers. It proved to be one of the best restaurants for seafood.

Rossio

Rossio Square

Near Rossio is a street full of restaurants. Having learned my lesson from Mexico City (see Don’t Pay $30 for Tacos), I was reluctant to enter any of them, especially when the maitre d’ was barking at every tourist to come inside. Another warning sign was the menu with international flags aplenty.

If you see flags on a menu, that’s a flag itself.
I was looking for typical food but not tourist quality.

The Alley

In an effort to flee from the relentless pushers, I went down a random alley and into a small cocina.

1.60 euros for a beer and espresso

The Restaurant

The place is tiny but I found somewhere to sit. I ordered a jug of wine which paired nicely with the bread, soup, and olives.

This would be a nice souvenir to have.

The Menu

Look at these prices. I went with cod, the chef’s specialty.

The Best Cod

I normally don’t like cod, or at least the way I prepare it out of the Costco frozen bag. The last sentence should not be in this post because there is no way to compare the chef’s specialty to what I make at home.

The empty plate tells it all.

The Bill 

I can compare the price to those of the tourist trap restaurants. I can’t imagine that the food compares.

One more espresso.

Overall

I could tell you a romantic tale about how a local artist recommended this restaurant and how it was authentic. The truth is I was smart enough to avoid the main street and lucky enough to find this place.

TPOL’s TIP: Be sure to check the hours. I went for round 2 on my second day, but it was closed for lunch.


Best Seafood Lisbon is part of the #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL where I break my 100 country count mark. See the World Map for where I’ve been.

4 COMMENTS

  1. In Lisbon for seafood. Cervejaria Ramiro has the best grub with reasonable prices to boot. the only issue is the place is always super busy and you may encounter a long wait and crowded place.

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