A Travessa — Restaurant in Lisbon

Beautiful, special space (converted convent) - seems super-tucked away in a working class hood - and then boom - you enter this sacred space and you're a world away. I totally LOVE the hidden nature of this place and I'd give this 4.6+ stars if I could. Given the price and my expectations though, I'll try to be clear about everything. My main was INCREDIBLE - truly ethereal - skate and braised cabbage with two beautiful, unbelievably flavorful tomato "gels" (I'd call them confits) - one red, one yellow. I've NEVER had tomato anything this flavorful and the skate was perfect. To be clear, this entire dish veers away from what I'd normally order, but it was incredible. If the entire meal had been this good, no question of 5 stars. My entree (scallops w peas, pennyroyal, and, surprising, cuttlefish ink) was good, but, unfortunately, nothing that I'll remember like the main. As I don't generally eat the very cute and intelligent cuttlefish, I was disappointed that they did not disclose this on the menu. My desert came w a very small glass ball mistakenly in it, and no one said or did anything - also a detail I found disappointing. Lastly, the menu on the web did not match the menu they served - I showed up expecting one thing, but ended up having to choose others. The wine and port pairings, however, were lovely. Oh, they served the mushroom butter for the bread inside an animal bone - another small detail that I wish they'd have adjusted after learning that I don't eat red meat. I can imagine how off-putting that would be to pure vegetarians. (Butter was,...

This is a "must" for visiting Lisbon - romantic, historic, delicious. We sat down & they started bringing incredibly delicious bits... wontons stuffed w/ goat cheese w/ a pumpkin relish... thin slices of crispy-edged black pork... clams... fortunately, they did so before we looked @ menu or we'd probably have declined this €12.50/person appetizer -- which would have been a tragedy! It was the best part of the meal, and one of the best tastes we've experienced in the many AMAZING restos of Lisbon. In fact, one could just go for this part of the meal and make it an amazing light supper.

Also had John Dory fish which was wow, crisp-edged, buttery, bright... partridge stuffed and en croute which was a little "meh" in comparison... filet mignon of bull which was incredibly tender and delicious, but a little too red even for the "rare lover" in our group.

Dessert was good, but not amazing.

One of the best parts of this place is the incredible atmosphere - I wish we had a good pix to share. High arching stone ceiling, GIANT fireplace, candles everywhere... felt like a step back in time.

Out the door for 4 of us (including 3 mains, 1 glass of wine) was under €200... so not trivial, but a treat that felt like one!

PS. We slipped in on a Monday night around 8:30 pm w/o reservations - place was pretty full... so we felt lucky to...

A brilliant experience, with friendly and accommodating staff.

We made a late-night reservation on a Friday night, however half our party ran 30 minutes late. With the kitchen closing soon, the staff were brilliant in making sure we all got the full fantastic A Travessa experience.

Another unexpected and pleasant surprise was how fantastically they dealt with my dietary restrictions due to pregnancy. Usually I would have to ask about each individual dish, and whether things are pasteurized or not. Not the case here, I was assured from the outset once I explained that everything was pasteurized, and when going through the menu they pointed out the things I could and could not have. They even joked about my ‘special’ white wine (apple juice) which was served along with the tables bottle. Dining out now is sometimes a stressful experience with what to and what not to eat, whereas here the whole staff were lovely, compassionate and understood.

As an additional bonus when talking about our plans for the next day we got some fantastic recommendations from one of the waiters about things to/not to do, at some of the lesser known beauty spots.

Cannot wait to return! Thank you so much to the A...