Practically all of the restaurants that have opened in Lisbon’s Bairro Alto in the last couple of years offer international or fusion cuisines. For authentic Portuguese food, you have to look for the older, more established restaurants. Many of them maintain their recipe for success, while others have looked to reinvent themselves amid the new competition. One that has stood the test of time is “O Barrigas.” It is one of the longest-running Portuguese restaurants in the neighborhood, and remains quite popular, especially on weekends.

That’s when I visited it, a Saturday when all of the tables were taken by both locals and tourists. Still, I managed to get a table in its small space, and waited to experience it for the first time.  While the proliferation of new cuisines in the neighborhood keeps the gastronomic choices in the city exciting with their often surprising and unusual menus, sometimes all you want is a good old traditional Portuguese meal, and that’s what I had at “O Barrigas.”

A list of Portuguese wines is written in chalk on a blackboard, while the bottles are displayed on another wall. I ordered the house wine, from the western region of the country. On the walls without the wine displays are a number of black and white photos of what look like family memories, while the background music is all Portuguese (this time it was a “Madredeus” compilation).

Three different dishes were brought to my table, all of them of bacalhau (cod). For those familiar with Portuguese cuisine, the menu only lists traditional dishes you already heard of and probably already had somewhere else. This restaurant does not make its own creations, but does what has already been invented quite well. Everyone at the table was pleased with their choices.

The only disappointment came at dessert time, when the only choices were fruit and four traditional desserts, including the always popular chocolate mousse and flan. That’s what we all went for.

“O Barrigas” is one of those options that always feel like a good choice when you’re wondering where to go for dinner. You won’t have any surprises (negative or positive), yet you’ll find yourself at one of the cosiest restaurant spaces in Bairro Alto. That atmosphere is its strongest point, together with its friendly service, the unpretentious menu mixed with a more personal and refined decor. It’s also reasonably-priced, another reason why it’s recommended for a good Portuguese meal in Bairro Alto to both the Lisbon resident or the curious tourist.

Address: Travessa da Queimada, 21 (Bairro Alto)
Phone: (+351) 21 347 1220

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Bairro Alto, Food & Drink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.