Where to Eat: Cervejaria Ramiro in Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is a food-lover’s paradise. Between the heavenly pasteis de natas (portuguese custard tarts), traditional Portuguese tapas, the free-flowing caipirinhas, and the high-end food stalls in the Time Out Market Lisboa, the gastronomic choices are endless. If you happen to be visiting Lisbon and are looking for a dinner that will knock-your-socks-off, look no further than Cervejaria Ramiro. Just thinking about our dinner experience at this restaurant brings me tears of joy. The food was THAT good. In fact, it was one of the most memorable dinners that Kevin and I have had while living in Europe.

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Cervejaria Ramiro is one of the many restaurants in Lisbon that specializes in seafood and beer (‘cervejaria’ literally translates to brewery in Portuguese). There’s nothing fussy about the way they serve seafood. Everything tastes like it should (no heavy creams, no thick sauces) – most of the seafood is served freshly grilled, topped with a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt…and it’s utter perfection.

Even though the restaurant is no longer an ‘off-the-beaten-path’ secret (thanks to Anthony Bourdain’s visit back in 2012), it maintains a friendly and unpretentious atmosphere, and is still very much-loved by tourists and locals alike. Consequently, the wait to get into the restaurant can get a bit insane. We arrived at 7:30pm on a weekend (considered to be a very early dinner time by most Europeans), and already there was a long queue of visitors. Luckily, thanks to the beer-serving vending machine located at the front of the restaurant, our 30-minute wait time flew by, and before we knew it, we were seated on the second floor of the restaurant.

TIP: If you can, I would definitely try to get seated on the second floor as it’s a bit more quiet and relaxed than the main ground floor.

The ordering process can be a bit confusing at Cervejaria Ramiro. Instead of proper menus, there are tablets containing pictures of the various seafood offerings available, with no prices listed anywhere (none that I could read anyway). For us, this was fine…fate stepped in (by fate, I mean our friendly waiter) and told us not to worry, and that he would bring us the perfect seafood spread for two people. And that was that.

TIP: There are a few reviews on TripAdvisor from customers who didn’t like this approach and found it to be ‘bamboozling’. We didn’t find this to be the case at all (although, neither my husband or I are particularly picky eaters). If you happen to be picky about what you eat, or want to order a particular item, just let the waiters know!

Our perfect seafood spread consisted of: a cold bottle of white wine, two grilled langoustines, a pan of sauteed shrimp with garlic and olive oil, a pan of steamed clams loaded with parsley, and a stone crab whose body was almost as big as my head!

We also had a large plate of bread, which was warm and toasted, coated in buttery garlicky goodness. This was perfect for soaking up the juices in the pans, and for dipping into the creamy crab roe. It was….so good.

The whole meal tasted fresh but also decadent…and we were both on the verge of tears (of happiness of course) as we stuffed our faces with seafood soaking in the lively and boisterous atmosphere around us. Best of all, the bill came out to be less than 80 Euro (unheard of in the States OR in London, where a similar meal would likely cost the same amount on a PER PERSON basis).

TIP: If you can, try to save room for ‘dessert’. The restaurant is famous for serving a ‘steak sandwich dessert’ a.k.a Prego. No, it’s not a sweet dessert. Yes, it seems to be the thing locals eat after a multi-course seafood meal. And that’s why I love Lisbon.