A Portuguese cuisine restaurant in Lisbon where bacalhau is king

©Sandra Henriques Gajjar/Lonely Planet

Clube do Bacalhau

Bairro Alto, Chiado & Cais do Sodré


Bacalhau (dried salt-cod) is the most popular dish of traditional Portuguese cuisine, and this vintage candlelit restaurant dedicates nearly a whole menu to it, turning old recipes like pataniscas (fish fritters) into a contemporary, lighter version.

The menu, divided by ship parts, is hard to navigate (appetisers are under Bow and Port; mains under Anchor) but the cod carpaccio and punheta (raw cod with olive oil and garlic) are excellent. It's housed in a repurposed salt warehouse/ship-engine garage, which is easy to miss, so look for the rusty pulley system above the door (once used to hoist ship engines coming in for repair).