Varanda Restaurant — Restaurant in Lisbon

Wanting to go somewhere special to eat for dinner with a friend in Lisbon, we decided to make a reservation at Varanda in the Four Seasons hotel. This is synonymous with style and quality and we were not disappointed. Sitting in this fabulous location, with an absolutely luxurious decor, we soaked it all up before ordering.

Looking to get the most of the food, we each chose the Signature Menu as it looked like the best way to enjoy the gastronomic talent in the kitchen. The starters of Pan seared scallops, ginger, lemon confit and voatsiperifery pepper and red mullet, braised fennel with lemon thyme just sat so well together. Both were well-cooked, and the skill of the chef was evident in every mouthful.

The Mallard duck roasted with pecans and cranberry, smoked salsify and liquorice sounded so good that we just had to go for this. We are both fans of duck, and this was excellent. The balance of flavours was pretty much perfect. If you want to eat well in Lisbon then this could well be the choice for you.

After chatting for a while in the beautiful surroundings, we decided that we still had room for a dessert. There was a great selection of petit fours, but the main dessert of the Sudachi with Pennyroyal Granita was an absolute taste sensation! It was sweet enough to be a treat but it wasn’t overwhelming. A great way to end a fantastic meal....

Ever since the first time we discovered the weekend brunch at Veranda in Four Seasons, it has become our favorite place for special occasions or getting together with friends. The food materials are top quality, the preparation deserves Michelin stars (if there were a category for brunch!) The ambiance is elegant and pleasant, and service thoughtful and personable. Going to Veranda for its brunch is always a guaranteed enjoyable experience. We thank the management for creating such a wonderful place for us to look forward to going; we thank the restaurant team to keep the place always the highest quality one can hope for! A small note: with the season change, the hot food section has been moved outdoor. While embracing the fresh air, we noticed that the cooked dishes are replaced with grilling including various meat and seafood. We like grilled food especially with top quality materials. However, grilling is common in Lisbon restaurants. We appreciate even more of the different sauces and styles of meat or seafood that the chefs used create while the section was indoor. It’s of course our personal taste. It doesn’t mean that we don’t enjoy the food that the brunch generously offers. Just a suggestion that if, in some ways that won’t add too much extra work, that the hot food section would keep some cooked food, we’d thoroughly...

Visiting the Varanda restaurant at the Four Seasons Lisbon, I finally understood why it’s often labeled « the worst Four Seasons in Eurasia »

The location is completely isolated from anything interesting in Lisbon and the imposing building resembles a drab 1950s Soviet block rather than a luxury hotel.

Walking into the restaurant, we found a nearly empty room (one couple of tables sold to a congress at a special price) and a buffet that looked indistinguishable from a basic Hilton breakfast

As for seating outside, the terrace is in full sun with no real shade, making it unusable during midday hours, and there isn't much ambiance to redeem the experience

The so-called “light renovation” hasn’t addressed the underlying issues: the atmosphere still feels dated, the food remains generic, and the only thing luxurious about Varanda is the bill.

In short, the consensus is right: it’s a NO go—even after renovations, this is an embarrassing misstep under the Four...