Tasca Do Teimoso
A really, really popular 'hidden gem'
- Avenida (Linha Azul)
- €€
- R. das Taipas Nº 41 A, 1250-264
Lisbon's tourism continues to boom, flocking from the Americas, Asia and across Europe. The result is that neighbourhoods like Principe Real, Bairro Alto and Santos are filled with the sounds of heavily accented English rather than Portuguese. This also means that every square inch is well documented by the likes of Monocle, Time Out and endless influencers across social media. It does also mean that the average cost of food and drink is higher than you would find in places like Avenida Roma or Benfica.
Still, we live here, so we do end up in these ends every now again, and after a couple of excellent glasses of wine at Enoteca LX (do check it out), we decided to try and get in at Tasca Do Teimoso. An extremely small restaurant run by a lovely mother and son combo, which is normally always full. This is because this 'hidden gem' (as everyone likes to call it because it's on a side-street), is extremely well visited and promoted.
Fortunately, being in the midst of winter and middle of the week, we were able to saunter up without a booking and stroll in, a novel experience for Principe Real. Upon sitting down, we immediately realised why it is everyone loves it here so much. The delightful mãe was so friendly and was able to switch between English and Portuguese effortlessly. A simple menu, we settled on the winter warmers of francesinha and prawn risotto.
If you've not encountered francesinha before, it's an artery-busting dish of two slices of bread, stuffed with meat, topped with cheese and slathered in a beer and tomato gravy. It's a rite of passage for anyone who spends a significant amount of time in Portugal, and all I can say is that, it is absolutely delicious, hitting all the umamis. But finish it at your peril.
The quality of the restaurant was much more visible in the camarão risotto. Delicately light, with the strong shell-fish flavour coming from the broth the rice had been cooked in. All washed down with a delicious D.O.C red wine from Alentejo, and a couple of coffees, this was a fantastic, homely meal. If you really want to eat here though, we recommend you book ahead.
Don’t forget to order: It might be heavy in the summer, but the risotto was a star.
