Cascais (Lisbon), Portugal

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

If you order fish, you will usually receive broccoli, carrots, and potatoes with the meal. French fries are the norm with steak or other meats.

By the way, there is always a charge ($1-3) per person for the bread and olives (couvert) brought to your table. Any dishes that are set out (cheese, shrimp, dips, herbed butter, paté, etc) on your table will be charged individually. This can add up to as much as one entree. If you don't want these extras, just say no when they are brought to the table and the waiter will remove them. Most foreigners are shocked at the end of their first meal here when they get the bill for these items. The prices are usually listed in the menu under entradas (starters).

Salads here are not great. I recommend you save your money and stomach space for other items. The soups are always wonderful!! The sopa do dia (soup of the day) is almost always pureed vegetable soup.

The wine is less expensive than soft drinks, so enjoy. Please see my other entries for specific restaurants.

A last note . . . a few restaurants open for dinner at 7pm, but most open at 7:30 or even 8pm. A dinner will take about two hours . . . they don't understand rushing a meal. And you will never receive the bill at your table until you ask for it. Happy dining! (Bom apetito!)

When you arrive at this impeccably and lavishly decorated haven, you are greeted at the door. Fresh flowers, teak carvings, Thai masks and headdresses, silk fabrics, and candlelight are just a few of the details which she has painstakingly attended to. And this is only the decoration!

The food is fabulous, from the appetizers to Phad Thai to curries. My favorite end to the meal is the coconut ice cream. While the portions are not huge, you do leave the restaurant feeling full and satisfied. It's best to share an appetizer and sample a couple of dishes.

I hope you enjoy the restaurant as much as we do. And don't forget to take a look in their beautiful bathrooms.

A Day in Belem:
Mosteiro de Jeronimos
Torre de Belem
Monumento dos Descubrimentos
Pasteis de Belem, Meia da Leite (coffee with half milk)
Museu do Mar
Pretty park up the hill from Jeronimos

From Cais do Sodré station:
Praça do Comercio
Rossio
28 Line
Castelo São Jorge
Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora-fabulous azulejos (tiles)
Museu do Azulejo (take taxi from station-about 5 euros)

Columbo (largest shopping mall in Europe) if you need a retail fix.

Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of Europe. "Where the land ends and the sea begins."

Azoia (the Windmill restaurant for view and burritos)

Praia das Maças, nice beach near Colares

Sintra:
Pena Palace
The National Palace
Moorish Castle
One great pottery shop with OK prices
The Lawrence Inn, nice restaurant

Daytrip to Mafra Monastery and Palace -- wow!

Daytrip to Batalha -- beautiful monastery with amazing stained glass windows and Manueline architecture. Well worth the trip.

Estoril:
Casino
Estoril Mandarin Restaurant
Walk between Estoril and Cascais
The Jackpot Restaurant
Costa do Estoril Restaurant
Summer Artisan Fair (June through September)

Cascais:
Walking streets of Cascais
Cascais Villa (hotel highly recommended)
Pergola House (nice, historic, centrally located bed and breakfast)
Boca do Inferno (shopping)
The Marina
Cascais Cultural Center
Caffé Italia -- GREAT Italian restaurant
Piano Bar (Esplanada and restaurant overlooking water)
The Albatroz (Hotel) -- opera nights. Dinner with opera singers serenading throughout the evening. Reasonably priced and well done.