LISBON - Portugal - page 119

One of the mall's restaurants, Chimarrão, serves Brazilian cuisine and offers an im-
pressive €11 Rodizio: an all-you-can-eat buffet of salad, veggies, and endless beef, ham,
pork, sausage, and chicken. They also have daily €7 specials, desserts, and tropical juices
and fruits. The largely Brazilian staff doesn't speak much English, but it doesn't matter
(daily 12:00-16:00 & 19:00-23:00, tel. [phone]).
At the opposite end of the mall on the same floor, you'll find Loja das Sopas, which
offers hearty soups with €5 fixed-price meals (find a table in the food court nearby). A
lot of these places have castle views. Companhia offers up healthy, big-bowl pasta salads
topped with tropical fruits.
Rua 1 de Dezembro: This street, which stretches from Rossio Station to the Elevador
de Santa Justa, is lined with cheap restaurants. It's lively for lunch, but dead at dinner.
Walk the street and determine the prevailing menu of the day. Most options are self-ser-
vice, with speed being the priority for the busy office workers who eat here. The Ca das
Sandes sandwich shop chain has a location here, offering salads and healthy sandwiches
that you design Subway-style (daily 9:00-20:00). Tasquinha do Celeiro is a self-service
vegetarian joint at #53.
Restaurante Beira-Gare is my choice for a quick, cheap meal near Rossio Station.
A classic greasy-spoon diner, it dishes out cod and vegetables prepared faster than a Big
Mac and served with more energy than a soccer team. The house specialty is a pork sand-
wich (bifana no pão). Consider their soup-and-sandwich special (Mon-Sat 6:00-24:00,
closed Sun, stand at the bar or grab a table, in front of Rossio Station at Rua 1 de Dezem-
bro, tel. [phone]).
Restaurantes Leao d' Ouro is actually two restaurants set side-by-side. One is your
basic place serving decent food at fair prices, and next door is its hardworking cafeteria
cousin, offering a cheap-and-hearty buffet all day (€6 at lunch, €8 at dinner, long hours
daily, just a block from Rossio Station at Rua 1 de Dezembro 105, tel. [phone]).
Rua dos Douradores: This street, cutting from Praça da Figueira through the Baixa, is
lined with very competitive little eateries. It's fun to browse down this lane on an empty
stomach. If you're craving Indian food, stop at Restaurante Gandhi Palace, which has
a friendly staff and nonstop Bollywood movies on TV (Rua dos Douradores 214, tel.
218-873-839).
Lisbon Connections
By Train
If leaving Lisbon by train, check to see if your train requires an advance reservation (look
for a boxed “R” in the timetable).