Santa Clara dos Cogumelos — Restaurant in Lisbon

I love mushrooms, and when I heard that there was a restaurant in Lisbon whose entire menu was built around fungi, I knew that I had to go. I wasn't disappointed - in fact the experience exceeded my expectations. First, I should say that the proprietor and genius behind this innovative menu, Luigi, is an absolutely delightful man. He happily took the time to explain the menu and the origins of some of the more exotic mushrooms on offer. To start, we shared a Burrata with Chanterelles, pumpkin and sage. It was creamy, sweet, earthy and delicious. For mains, my partner had a Risotto with Porcini and Black Trumpet mushrooms, topped with orange zest, walnuts and rosemary. Oh my... the depth of flavour of this dish was incredible. I had a giant ravioli filled with lamb, potato and egg yolk, in a sauce made with the rare Amanita Ponderosa mushroom. Rich, meaty, wow... Then dessert was a other level. I'll admit, as much as I love mushrooms, I've never considered using them in desserts before, but my eyes are now open to a whole new realm of possibility. My partner had the Creme Brulé with Truffle and Licorice. This dessert was very rich and intense - truffle is a very powerful flavour, and you either love it or you don't. She loved it, but if you're not a hardcore fungiphile this may not be an "entry level" dish. I had the Porcini ice cream. Ohhhh... so, so, so good! Just mind-blowing. This is a hidden gem of a restaurant off a little praça on the edge of the Alfama. Maybe a little more expensive (although not much) than some of the traditional Portuguese restaurants around, but very reasonable for the quality and imagination on offer. I highly recommend Santa Clara...

Let's start with the bad things!!! The place is very nice, it's located on top of an old marketplace (today a huge flea market), besides the great "National Pantheon" and if you are lucky to be there early enough, you can even see the Tejo from your table! Now the good things ;) The service is just perfect, they speak pretty much every westeuropean language, are funny and very respectful, they know very good how to handle time with breaks and smiles in-between. The owner of the restaurant is one of this people who just gives positive energy, which you can both feel in the room and taste in your food. The music was very nice, very mixed, not too loud, just beautiful. And naturally the most important and best thing in this restaurant: the amazing food! Their concept is basically this: let's cook very good and tasty food and make it better with some delicious mushrooms! (Some of the plates are just the mushrooms :D). We have had less than an hour before coming there some bread and olives and were not extremely hungry, still wanted to try as much as possible. After trying two different wines, we got the "vihno Verde" For starter we had the shiitake in a butter & garlic sauce, with some koriander and bread!!! I know it was awesome! Then we split a "Tagliata com Tartufo" which could not be better! The meat (perfect medium) accompanied with a cream sauce (I suppose), some slices of Tartufo and the best selerytuber puree in the world! And yes they have desserts and they are awesome too! We had a chocolate & carrots cake with a homemade mushrooms ice-cream and caramelized chestnuts, just the best. Many thanks again to the whole team and...

Lovely service, stunning location - Above the fleas market and behind the Pantheon - the decor is simple, coZy and warm. Music in the background was great too.. vinyls were playing! It gave an extras to the whole experience. I love mushrooms and this restaurant made my day! The food was scrumptious! Excellent presentation too! We had gnocchi and filled pasta. Outstanding texture of the dough. Cooked to perfection.. the filling was great and the sauces as well : amazing. The waitress recommended us some dessert.. the mushrooms ice cream - with a touch of salted caramel and marron glacé- made me emotional to the point that I felt I was about to cry. Even the Aperitivo was just delish. Wines top!! Guys thank you very much! It was lovely and if I ever come back in Lisbon I will definitely come back! I didn’t spot the fried mushrooms on the menu DAMN! I was to full after starter and main and I wanted a dessert otherwise I would have ordered that ones too :)! Pictures don’t give justice to the food itself! Sorry about...