A Fave Area in Lisboa
It stared like this: “You’ll like the bar in the back garden. You’ll like the log fire in the lobby. Only ten rooms, and all different. And you’ll love the breakfast brioche; it’s from Marquise bakery. Remember it? Just off Praca das Flores. Shall I book it?”
“Right away, Kato!”
Kato’s great find, Toctoctoc Guest House, is located on a quiet street just a five-minute walk from our favourite Lisbon square. Praca das Flores. A visit was overdue. After dropping our bags off, we headed up Rua Nova da Piedade to Marquise Bakery, just to get a hit of breadmaking aromas. We headed to the café next door for lunch in the delightful/funky garden. Tasty bites and a few glasses of house white. Hard to imagine a more nourishing city first stop. Flores Park is just a block up from Marquis (everything in Lisbon is either up or down) and we did a quick stroll around to check out what was new. In daytime, Flores is an oasis of peace and beautiful architectural beauty. Its fountain sparkles with dapple lighting peeking through the giant trees. We once contemplated moving there! But Flores has another side, it comes alive when the restaurants open at night. More on that in a moment.
En route back to check-in at Toctoctoc, we passed Worst – an Austrian café selling guess what!? Maybe tomorrows lunch! Further on, the abundance of colourful fruit and veg outside Mercearia de São Bento tempted us to peek inside, where we found shelves offering every imaginable food, packed into a space no bigger than an average living room. Amazing. The little back-room wine cellar could not be more enticing and delightful. One always needs something for the room! On checking in at TocTocToc, we accepted their offer of a tour of their charming-guest-house meets-boutique-hotel, including gardens and bar. Loved everything. Kato was right. As usual.
As you probably expected, we’d booked dinner locally, just off Flores, but first we wanted the hit of a neighbourhood bar. After a near-heart-attack climb up Rua da Imprensa Nacional, we arrived at Imprensa Cocktail & Oyster Bar. Perfect pre-dinner stuff. I don’t need prompting for oysters, especially when there’s a happy-hour price. The energy in this small bar was a perfect start to the evening. Walked up-hill some more – easier after a glass, turned right on Rua Marcos Portugal and rolled downhill to Praca das Flores. Which unfolded with book ends of O Bistro French restaurant and bar on the right, and colourful Magnolia Bistrot & Winebar on our left, (and over the shoulder the patio of Calma Restaurant). So many temptations at once! The square was coming alive with an early evening buzz. Should have moved!
We repeated our earlier stroll around and noticed that the Black Sheep wine bar had expanded – always a good sign. As ever, Flores de Pampa looked tempting as did Indanoite é uma criança, and of course, the long standing Pão de Canela, but it was time to retrace our steps down R Nova Piedade (where had lunch) and find Bar Alimentar, our dinner spot. Loved the place’s bustling bistro atmosphere – complete with candles everywhere. And the short menu of delicious food at modest prices. We were seated on barstools looking into the kitchen. Food, wine and a cooking demo! On leaving I noticed tables overlook a tiny rear garden – possibilities for future visits. Toctoctoc’s magical garden bar was awfully tempting but we opted for an early night. There will be future visits for sure.
Early next morning, sort of, I tackled the hill (would have a black rating on ski slopes) leading to the beautiful Estrella Park, and followed the pathways for a lovely circular stroll. Amazing trees – a feature of Lisbon parks. Next time I might take an Uber to the main gates and do the walk in reverse, returning ‘downhill ‘ to Toctoctoc. (Lisbon’s Ubers are as cheap as public transport. Please tip generously). Nothing like a morning hike before tucking into first, and second slices of the Marquise brioche. So good, just as Kato promised.
