Mensagem - Restaurante e Bar Panorâmico — Restaurant in Lisbon

This Christmas Day, we treated ourselves to a delightful lunch at Mensagem, a restaurant situated within a stunning hotel in Lisbon’s Chiado district. From the moment we arrived, the experience was enchanting. The waitstaff greeted us warmly and led us to a gorgeous booth table overlooking the city. With bright sunshine streaming in, the breathtaking view of Lisbon added a magical touch to the meal and made the entire experience even more memorable.

The Ambiance and Service

The ambiance of Mensagem is refined yet welcoming, with an air of understated elegance. The natural light pouring into the restaurant, combined with the panoramic view of Lisbon, set the perfect mood for a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas lunch. The staff were attentive and helpful, offering thoughtful recommendations, including a delightful white wine that paired beautifully with our meal.

The Food

The menu at Mensagem is simple yet sophisticated, focusing on fresh, high-quality ingredients and well-executed dishes. • Starters: We began with bread for the table, accompanied by three delicious dips: an olive tapenade, olive oil, and a herb butter. The tapenade was rich and flavorful, the olive oil was smooth and fragrant, and the herb butter added a fresh, creamy touch. However, the butter was a bit too hard to spread easily, and we would have appreciated it being served at room temperature. • Mains: For the main course, I chose the salmon with a side salad, while my husband opted for Our “À Brás” Cod, a traditional Lisbon dish. • The À Brás Cod was outstanding, featuring tender codfish accompanied by a citrus sauce, caramelized onions, and potatoes, topped with dried olives. The citrus flavor was the highlight of the dish, cutting through the richness and enhancing the cod’s natural freshness. The potatoes paired perfectly, adding a satisfying heartiness to the dish. • The salmon was equally impressive—perfectly cooked and beautifully fresh. It was served with a citrus sauce that complemented the fish well, although we wished for a bit more of the sauce to fully enhance the flavors. • Dessert: Although the dessert menu was tempting, we decided to skip it in favor of exploring Lisbon’s streets and indulging in some local treats along the way.

Overall Experience

Our lunch at Mensagem was a lovely experience, elevated by the stunning location, impeccable service, and fresh, well-prepared dishes. While there were minor areas for improvement—the herb butter and a slightly more generous sauce for the salmon—the overall quality of the food and the breathtaking setting made it a memorable meal.

We’d rate Mensagem a solid 4 out of 5. It’s an excellent choice for anyone seeking a refined dining experience with stunning views in the...

Amazing food with an unbeatable view! Our server Beatriz was wonderful and helpful, provided some great recommendations.

Another waiter Amit provided excellent service! Came over to automatically refill our cups and gave the ladies at a neighboring table blankets when it got too windy! He was very nice and amazing! Great smile too!

Food was spectacular! The garlic sauce for the prawns was so tasty!

We also tried the Solero Exotic mocktail and it was delicious 🤤!!! A must try!

The main attraction though, was the Tomahawk, shared between two people. The meat still has plenty red but it was not super chewy, so it was quite acceptable. It came with three condiments, salt flakes, chimichurri and compound butter. Also included was a big serving of fries cooked to perfection and a bowl of salad greens.

Now I did mention no onions but the kitchen slipped up on this. Beatriz did offer to replace it but no harm done. Luckily it was only a few slivers of onions that I can pick out. She was really great....

Beautiful restaurant with a great view. Friendliest staff and they really tried their best.

HOWEVER, our experience was unfortunately not good on so many levels: Something as simple as bread took forever to come and not only that the bread itself was so small, the portions are tiny and the quality was not good (African chicken was overcooked with tomato sauce that tasted like canned food), some of the food we ordered in the beginning was forgotten such as a salad…we kept having to remind them. Lastly, they charged me twice on my credit card when I showed them that the first transaction already went through. I even showed them my bank statement, they insisted that they charge me again anyway to make sure. I should have listened to myself and told them no. So now I have to deal with filing a claim to remove this extra transaction.

I won’t be coming back. The service was terrible although the staff really are very nice. There needs to be...