Flying on TAP Portugal and Roast Chicken (Frango Assado) in Lisbon!

,,,,,
On Day 24 of our Round the World Trip for Food with Star Alliance, in the morning we flew from Barcelona to Lisbon, Portugal on TAP Portugal airline. After checking into our hotel in Lisbon, we had lunch at a rather tourist Portuguese restaurant and then continued to do a little bit of sightseeing in Lisbon. For dinner, I enjoyed a trend Portuguese meal at Taberna da Rua das Flores.

1:30 Star Alliance Flight #7 on TAP Portugal - The first thing we did during the day was head to the Barcelona airport to catch out flight to Lisbon. Our flight was with TAP Portugal airline, and the flight took about one hour. The flight was nothing special, but it was alright and we soon arrived to Lisbon Portela Airport. From the airport, we decided to take the Aero Bus #1 (3.5 EUR per person) to Avenida da Liberdade which was right next to the hotel we would be staying at in Lisbon.

4:34 The Fontecruz Lisboa Hotel (Marriott Hotel) - For our trip to Lisbon, we stayed at The Fontecruz Lisboa Hotel. It’s a boutique hotel in Lisbon, located along the very pleasant Avenida da Liberdade, a wide and tree lined shopping street in Lisbon. I loved the area, and the hotel was alright, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the dark black theme.

7:25 Lunch at Restaurante Bonjardim - When we arrived to Lisbon we hadn’t eaten lunch, so Ying and I were both extremely hungry. Unfortunately we just didn’t have the energy to go very far to eat lunch (Ying was pregnant and she needed to eat fast!). So we went to a Portuguese food restaurant just down the road from our hotel, and though it wasn’t the most local Portuguese restaurant, we were hungry and the location was right (this is how it sometimes works when you’re traveling). We both ordered the frango asado (roast chicken) and then a bowl of aroz Brasileiro, and a bowl of esparregado. The food was alright, not spectacular, but pretty decent, and it did feel great to eat some a big piece of chicken for some good protein. Total price - 25.10 EUR

12:08 Ascensor da Glória (Price - 3.60 EUR per person roundtrip) - One of the coolest things about Lisbon is the history of the city and the fact that it’s so hilly - and for this reason there are some old vintage funiculars in the city. Right across the square from where we ate lunch we went to the Ascensor da Glória and took the funicular up the hill to Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, which is a lookout viewpoint on the top of the hill. The views of Lisbon were spectacular and it was a good place to get my bearings for Lisbon.

14:42 Igreja de São Roque - From the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, we walked over to Igreja de São Roque, the first Jesuit church in Lisbon. The outside of the church looks quite plain, but inside it’s one of the richest churches in Lisbon.

16:52 Café A Brasileira (Price - 1 EUR per cup) - Café A Brasileira is a legendary coffee shop in Lisbon that was a favorite hangout spot for a number of famous Portuguese poets and writers. I’m happy to report the coffee was amazing, and a decent price as well.

18:48 Taberna da Rua das Flores - For dinner, we walked over to a restaurant called Taberna da Rua das Flores. I have to admit that I was hoping to have some good classic traditional Portuguese food. What I didn’t know was that Taberna da Rua das Flores restaurant only serves Portuguese food for lunch and for dinner they serve a fusion of recipes cooked with Portuguese ingredients. Although a little on the trendy side, the food was excellent. Total price - 32.50 EUR.

It was a good day, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get really good Portuguese food, but that’s alright, that’s sometimes the way traveling can be. It was still an excellent day and we enjoyed some good restaurants in Lisbon.