Madpizza (Alvalade)
Come to life in Lisbon's garden of Eden
- Alvalade (Linha Verde)
- €€
- R. José Duro 25A, 1700-259
As an immigrant living in a popular tourist destination, a joy of embracing a smugness which only comes from pretending you're a local is exploring neighbourhoods that attract fewer holidaymakers. In the north of the city, not all that far from the airport, but the diametrically opposite compass point to Bairro Alto and Santos is the fancy locale of Alvalade.
With its name traced back to a battle between two former kings of Portugal in 1323, Alvalade has since been associated with Portuguese aristocracy. José Alvalade himself, founder of Sporting Clube de Portugal (aka Sporting Lisbon) in the early 20th Century owes his name to his grandfather, the first Viscount of Alvalade. To this day, Alvalade is still seen by many Lisboeta as a place only for the well-heeled.
It is in this backdrop that makes so much sense about Madpizza's Alvalade branch. As we arrived one lunch time seeking out what we had read was a lovely garden area we were blown away by the huge al fresco dining space at the back of the restaurant. Half covered, half not, we are willing to say this in one of the best outdoor seating areas in the whole of the city.
Surrounded by life-giving foliage with the spring sunshine lighting up the yard, we opted for the mixed arancini starter to share. Spicy nduja, creamy gorgonzola and mozzarella all featuring as easter egg treats tightly packed cannon-balls of rice each delivering a fantastic flavour from beyond Portugal.
Madpizza's marketing is that it serves up great food in a healthier way, a noble effort in a world that continues to embrace obesity and Ozempic instead. So for our mains we took in the spinach laden Santorini and the pork ragu tagliatelle, the pasta being gluten-free.
Missing the density of normal wheat flour the pasta was extraordinarily light. The ragu delivered a one-two meaty punch from the pork and nduja, enveloped in a tomato sauce that shined as much as the sun did across the garden. The pizza, more of a flat bread base, was equally light. A fantastic lunch time option considering the afternoon demanded a few hours at the desk to finish off the work day.
Washed down with a glass of wine each and reinvigorated with an espresso each at the end, we left the restaurant beaming with the smugness of discovery. Given its size and layout, Madpizza Alvalade is the perfect place for groups to come dine in the sunshine. What's more, you'll feel just like a local in doing so as well
Drinks: 2 glasses of white win and 2 espresso.
Don’t forget to order: The arancini for a wild ride of flavour