There are few capitals in Europe as handsome as Lisbon and that means ample evening-meal opportunities with panoramas that you’ll never forget. Just check out this guide to seven of Lisbon’s best restaurants with a view of the city, which offers dining options that overlook the flowing Tagus River and the red-tiled roofs of the UNESCO Alfama neighborhood alike.
We’ve been visiting this enthralling metropolis on the western edge of Europe for almost a decade now. That’s been ample time to seek out the places that we think offer the finest eating backdrops, whether it’s a vision of an Age of Discovery square or a 180-degree snapshot of the whole Lisbon skyline.
Our list of Lisbon’s best restaurants with a view also has plenty of variety on the food and drink front. Some of these spots are fully-fledged tavernas with Portuguese fish stews, salt cod, and Douro red wine to back it all up. Others are much more low-key establishments; the sort of drop-in spot you might be searching for when it’s time for a sundowner drink and some snacks. And then there are the all-new cool kitchens, with creative sharing platters, mezze dips, and more.
Terrace Bar Esplanada
Terrace Bar Esplanada is a regular appearance on postcards of Lisbon. The reason? It occupies a high perch in the historic core of the city, just a single hill north of the Castelo de S. Jorge and a couple of zigzagging paths up from fountain-babbling Martim Moniz square.
The key here is in the altitude. The spot sits some hundred meters above the main sprawl of the capital. It’s actually smack dab on the Miradouro da Graça, which we’d rate as arguably the best urban viewpoint around. Look south and you can see a great 11th-century fortress. Gaze west and you’ll glimpse the mist rising off the Tagus estuary.
Terrace Bar Esplanada is pretty casual on the food front. It’s really little more than a hole in the wall that does crisp Portuguese wines and cold beer. There is some chow on offer, though, in the form of sweet pastries, small pasties, and – when the sardine fest of June is on – freshly grilled fish.
Go A Lisboa Rooftop – Restaurant & Bar
Go A Lisboa is an exotic kitchen housed in the Casa da Goa complex of Alcântara. You’ll need to travel to the edges of western Lisbon to get there, roughly midway between the sprawling squares of Baixa and the famous Belem Tower. The joint itself is a sprawling place, a touch more like a summer club a la Mykonos than an inner-city eatery – think beanbags strewn over the decks and hangout spaces hidden under palm trees.
Food is served all day long. Early on, you can get stuck into crispy croissants with salty bacon and scrambled egg, or homemade bagels topped with smoked salmon. Later, the evening menu comes out, heralding butter-cooked cod and spicy prawns, along with a whole medley of European red and white wines to match.
Último Porto
Último Porto isn’t perched on some soaring lookout point and it doesn’t occupy the top of one of Lisbon’s seven hills. Instead, it’s the sole eatery found in the urban docks district, which means it has a view with a difference – think big industrial ships, stacks of shipping containers, and the wide waters of the Tagus on one side.
Último Porto offers a menu of traditional Portuguese seafood. There are plates of griddled cod fish served with stacks of potato and steamed broccoli. There are broths packed with shellfish and clams. There are also sardines, which are the in-house specialty – just wait for them to fire up the outdoor BBQ and get cooking those with salt, oil, and pepper!
Design wise, this establishment offers a unique and curious blend of the industrial and elegant. The half-open kitchen is wedged between stacks of metal shipping containers. The seating spills out from an old fishing depot onto concrete quaysides.
Noobai – Rooftop Bar e Restaurante
Noobai clutches one end of the fantastic Miradouro de Santa Catarina. Come Friday evening, that’s a bit of a gathering point for anyone and everyone in the city. A bijou beer kiosk there provides the libations, while the dropping sun turns the sky and the port area below a gleaming red-yellow-orange hue.
The kitchen itself serves a mishmash of Asian fusion and vegan-veggie specialties. For lunch, there are meat-free tostadas and vegetarian sharing platters made up of gyoza dumplings and stuffed peppers. For dinner, you can opt for zingy oriental curries or go more local with codfish pies and tomato spaghetti.
There’s a long wine list that has a rotating ‘wine of the month’ offering that’s usually on deal. Plus, there are cold Portuguese beers and plenty of cocktails. For the best views of all, reserve your table for around 6pm so you can settle in before the sunset begins in earnest.
Lumi – Restaurante & Bar
Lumi – Restaurante & Bar sits plum at the top of the Bairro Alto part of Lisbon. That’s very much the nightlife vena cava of the city, which means it’s often busy in these parts come the weekend. No matter, it only adds to the vibe, ensuring there’s always a buzz at the 1950s Art Deco bar and out among the breezy tables on the rooftop.
Talking of the rooftop, that’s really what elevates loveably Lumi to this list of the Lisbon best restaurants with a view of the city and its surroundings. We’re talking a full 360-degree panorama that rolls from the wide Tagus and its red-painted bridge to the south all the way to the rising foothills of the Mountains of the Moon on the outskirts of town.
As if that’s still not enough to tempt you to book, check the menu. A fresh and creative mix of Levantine finger food and Mediterranean mezze, it’s also earthy hummus plates, salted flatbreads, grilled potatoes in tahini, and lemon-drizzled octopi.
Javá
We LOVE the views at trend-setter Javá, a joint that looks both north to the pastel-painted mansions of old Lisbon but also south across the port areas and the watersides of the city. Perhaps the best seats of all fringe the southern terraces, which gaze right over the Jardim Dom Luis, a palm-sprouting dash of lawn that’s next to the quaysides.
The food at Javá is divine. There are chickpea shakshukas topped with spicy peppers and capsicum. You’ve got griddled prawns on lemongrass sticks. There are bubbly flatbreads that go perfectly with the muhammara and hummus dips. Choose to start in the on-site summer bar to have time to sink a few cocktails – they are also downright fantastic too.
Seen
Seen is a self-proclaimed “sky bar” that’s set high on the rooftop of the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Hotel along the namesake Av. da Liberdade. It’s a classy joint with a touch of the Chicago speakeasy and the Great Gatsby about it, not to mention a breathtaking central bar space that will wow with its in-built plane tree. Super, duper cool!
The views here are all about a front-on spectacle of downtown Lisbon. Survey it from east to west and you’ll notice the outline of the medieval Saint George’s Castle, the crisscrossing grid of Baixa, the modern city, and the flowing hills of the Bairro Alto, all with the wide Tagus estuary unfolding beyond.
The menu is short but the food is fantastic. It’s about small-plate tasters that fuse east and west. Expect fresh oysters with lemon, wrapped crab sushi, homemade sourdough and whipped butter, and stacked souffles. Be sure to try the Tiki cocktails if you can’t decide on a drink.
Best restaurants with a view in Lisbon – our conclusion
Dine with a backdrop in Lisbon with this array of the best restaurants with a view. It’s got some of the chicest dining spaces in the Portuguese capital but also casual drop-in spots that do simple pastries and cold beers for the golden hour.
Mhmm…our picks run the gamut from stylish Mediterranean mezze establishments with spiced hummus and shakshuka breakfasts all the way to hole-in-the-wall drinkeries that are well-known among the Lisbon locals for dining during sunset.
We’d probably recommend booking your table ahead of visiting to ensure you can secure the place you like with the view you like, particularly if you’re planning on traveling here during the peak summer season between May and August.
