Poison d'Amour

Here lies the picture which portrays the cheapest choices in this trés trés chic teahouse. It was all I could manage to do before being spotted and forbidden of taking pictures by the owners. What are they afraid of? Aren't these breads beautiful? And they were all super tasty. I don't get it.

Little side note: don't try to combine a buttery with a chocolaty, the difference feels a bit aggressive to taste. The brioche was exquisite and the pain au chocolat was also good, but I would rather have chosen another thing.

In the picture I was able to spot several prices, so here they are anticlockwise starting with the loney pain au chocolat (1.90€), pães de deus (no price in sight), tarte groseilles and another which I can't spot the flavor (3.80€), brioche parisienne and brioche sucre (1.60€), croissants (1.60€), flan tart (2€ and something) and finally the pain aux raisins (2.20€).

Butter or jam costs and extra 0.60€, ham and cheese also have an extra cost but I did not ask for them this time.

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Everytime there was no waiter around I took the chance to take a sneaky picture. We also asked for a croissant later (we were quite hungry). After we finished we took some time to explore the rest of the place. There is another vitrine with sweets but these are no lower than 3€ each and they look like the ones served in fancy dinners that have five layers and look like an art piece that we are ashamed to destroy.

Glass doors let the light in from the backyard. I go outside and take more pictures as a revenge, but this is a very lame way of being hardcore. The garden is surrounded by a clumsy green, enough to bring the stress volume down but in desperate need of a gardener.

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Open from tuesday to friday from 8h to 20h and weekends from 9h to 20h.

Love Store (closed)

I've been hearing about these brunches for quite some time already. The name suggests a romantic evening. This is also a saturday-only chance because saturday is brunch day and there is not much more to say about it.

The weather was like an annoying kid that day, having chilly moments intercalated with warm sunny light, making you confused whether you should stay in or go outside.

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The store/café is small place with a first floor and a basement dedicated to selling home products. In the main floor there are some food stuffs for sale but it is mainly were they feed the hungry people that come by. Like me.

The brunch can be manipulated to taste offering choices in the juice, warm drink and two extra delicacies. Meaning the only constant is a cloth bag with three small breads (one with poppy seeds, one with sesame seeds and one with olives) and a board with butter, strawberry jam, ham, cheese, nuts and honey.

The juice pretty much depends on the daily offer, the three options were the red berry vitamin juice, the orange juice and the pineapple and manjorana juice. As hot drink we could chose between coffee (and its variants) and the daily tea.

We can chose two of these: pancakes with banana and honey, cake of the day, salty muffin, vegetable patty, beaten eggs and natural yogurt with cereal and fruit. I went with apple cake and the yogurt. Well, the yogurt was not up to my taste, the fruit was, for me, too acid for the sweet texture of the latter (it was orange and kiwi). These are so watery they make the yogurt watery.

The totally price is 12€ for a one person brunch, but it is easy split by two. For 6€ each, you better not leave a single crumb.

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Open everyday from 9h to 19h.

S.Jorge's Pizza

There is always something happening in S.Jorge cinema: Indie, MotelX, Queer, DocLisboa, French Cinema Festival and many more. A pizza and a movie make a very nice arrangement so, as suggested by a friend, we went to try those tasty thin crusted beauties.

Prices are pretty accessible. We split two pizzas by three, and they have amazing names: 7.30€ is the cost of Quarto do Filho ("the bedroom of the son", made of zuchinni and tomato) and 7.70€ costs a Roma Cidade Aberta ("Rome Open City", with chouriço, tomato and pepper). I like the son's bedroom better, I wonder if they give them these names just to make us look perverted.

Also, a small beer costs 1.50€ and a lemonade is 1€.

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Next to the eating place there is a small balcony that is usually filled with people in the movie evenings (smokers of course). But it is a nice place to get fresh air in the hot summer.

The short session ended up being an hour documentary on Kubrick and three awkward small episodes honoring him: one was making a homage of his likeness for Napoleon, other talked about the traumatic post war life of a soldier - I Am Not The Enemy - and lastly there was one showing the Hitler portrayed in the cinema through time and was called Conference Notes On Film 05.

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The regular schedule is wednesdays to saturdays from 15:30h to 22:30 and sundays from 13h to 18h. But during the festivals it changes according to the program.

Ler Devagar

I have a deep fondness for Ler Devagar (Read Slowly). This junction of a bookstore/library and a café/bar/restaurant proves that there are certain barriers that exist for no reason and that prohibition only makes breaking rules more tempting. There is a belief that food doesn't go with books. But library goers are smart enough to appreciate and respect the book as an object. Who doesn't like to read while sipping a coffee? There is nothing wrong with placing a coffee plate over a Dostoevsky, Calvino or Boris Vian.

This bookstore offers trust and people feel it, that is what makes it so good. If by accident we ruin a book (accidents do happen) then we know the price to pay.

The beauty of this place is to submerge in the old books. It is virtually impossible to reach some, as the highest shelves are way beyond human reach. If you are brave enough you can try to ask for the library stairs, but the temperament of the owners is unpredictable. Sometimes they are darlings, others not.

The good part of this indiference by the owners is that we can sit quietly without asking anything and they wont bother, each one on its own, which I kind of like.

The price is a though bone to chew on, it is one of the most expensive places maybe in terms of coffee, but the space is so amazing (and they know it). I already have my prefered place near the window and the cheeses. And there go 3€ for a galão, and more 3.5€ in a tiny weenie sandwich.

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This old printing factory was considered one of the prettiest libraries in the world. On the top floor you can still see the rusty printing machines, and this is also an exhibition place.

There is also what I like to call the Moustache Chilling Room. Maybe to dark to read inside but it is relaxing for sure. On the ceiling there is a rope that when pulled triggers a mechanic hand that hits a drum or plate and makes a small sultry sound. There is no point here, but the silliness of it all is pleasant and addictive.

Under the big stairs there is another surprise: a space reserved for small children to play (yes, in a library).

There is also a small exhibition/conference room, with a big piano that anyone can play (at least we did). The funny thing is that some people join sometimes, if you are a good piano player, and it may end up in some very interesting moments.

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Open tuesdays to thursdays from midday to midnight, fridays and saturdays from midday to 2h and sundays from 11h to 22h.

O 28

This is a nice corner bar in the Mercês area. It has a peculiar geographical situation which makes the place itself also a bit different as it adapts cleverly to the wall that supports it. Also, the logo itself, cut on an iron board, has the same adaptation quality.

When you come in you enter a small breezy area with some chairs and the drinks counter. There isn't much space but a small amount of people can fit here and a bigger group can fit downstairs. This last room I can classify as DIY meets moroccan meets surrealism. The chairs and chandeliers have a more clear oriental style, and it is also noticeable the unconventional materials (I love this sort of things) like the luminous buckets full of empty glass bottles giving a weird but cool light effect, which also contributes for the surrealism part, along with the paintings hanging on the wall.

We asked for two caipirinhas for 5.50€ each, but I don't know why, I hate this drink.

Tuareg (2)

You can find the first post about this place here.

There are other sheesha places but they are less popular, if I eventualy go there it will end up here in this blog for sure.

I had a lot of bad luck with drinks. My brain works like this: I like mango +  I like caipiroska (caipirinha with vodka) = I will like mango caipiroska. Actually, no. It is far too sweet and yucky. Tuareg is not a good place for cocktails I must warn you, so stay away from those. Go for the delicious milkshakes instead, for the tea (of course) or just for smoking narguila.

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Open mondays and wednesdays from 15h to 24h and thursdays and saturdays from 17h to 2h in the morning. Telheira's Tuareg (the one mentioned in this post) it is open everyday form 20h to 2h in the morning.

Geraldine

I found Geraldine through a magazine article. It's a cultural space which activities range from clothes sales and workshops to collective diners and free movie evenings. This is not a place you can simply pop in and have a drink. It works as an office by day and only turns into an event place when the owners feel like it.

Ringing a bell and climbing a flight of stairs to enter a stranger's house has some erasmus feeling to it, it is quite odd actually, the feeling that we should be there but at the same time we are invading someone's privacy. There are some closed doors, not because of lack of trust, but they simply have nothing to offer for the guests. A kitchen is a kitchen, there is nothing very exciting about it.

The living room was full of interesting objects: a caged Donald duck, a phone with no numbers, some artworks and old gadgets. It was movie evening and an old rare burlesque was projected in a panel. We had first line sits.

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A Virgin in Hollywood tells the story of a young journalist that lacks experience, and so, as a way to get more mature, she is told to go to Hollywood and to write about her trip and discoveries. During this travel, she grows up both intelectual and sexually, becoming more confident about herself.

The actors act a bit in a forced and fake way, the dialogues seem too fantasizing, the emotions exaggerated and the movie cuts too obvious, this gives it a clumsy feeling that makes everything hilarious. It ends with the main character finishing her story and blinking an eye straight to the movie viewer, pure gold.

The familiarity of this experience was what I most appreciated. People would ring the bell and join the crowd that was already in the living room, saying hello to everyone. We were around 20 in the end, and everyone was there for the same reason. I have nothing but respect for this free initiatives.

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Open wherever there is an event announced! So stay tuned.

Grémio do Carmo (2)

You can find the first post about this place here.

Grémio is perfect so I don't mind writing again about how good it is. It is a small space full of life and character. This place is full of details that I keep on discovering. This time I noticed a little sled and the word Rosebud came to mind. I haven't seen Citizen Kane yet.

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This time I came to try something new (and Grémio has a lot of creativity in terms of products) so I went for the beetroot muffin (1.50€). We were recomended the chocolate cake and mama's orange cake, but I am already bursting with chocolate at this point, beetroot sounds more interesting. My friend asked for a cold coffee with milk (same price as the cake) and I demanded my Little White Lies.

My personal favorite spot next to the library was already taken, so we sat in a little table to which we added an extra chair. Curious chair it was, assembled like a kinder egg prize.

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Open from mondays to saturdays, from 10h to 20h. Closes on sundays.

Príncipe Real Garden

Príncipe Real's garden is not that big but it is diversified. One of the things I like the most are the benches circling the trunk of an old three while being covered by its shadow. The metallic structure serves as protection from the branches as they may tend to fall while the tree grows older.

It's a great place for couples to date, for singles to appreciate freedom from relationships, for drunk people to sleep and for doubtful characters to do weird stuff. Well, doesn't matter.

There is also a fountain with some interesting life forms (not really). A clumsy pigeon was dragging my attention to it due to its left paw being a little bit retarded, like he was constantly making the Angelina Jolie's move.

A little children park keeps the children entertained, some picnic tables are spaced across the way, and you can also go down some stairs to the Reservatório de Água Patriarcal Museum. There are some kiosks where you can drink delicious cold beverages made with syrup like capilé or groselha. I also read that the garden is now part of a digital garden web that has a hotspot for who wants access to internet. I give no guaranties.

And no words for what we found: someone was walking a bunny. A bunny! This was a first for sure.

Our path was shaped by the tiny streets filled with light and green, a modern take on what The Situationistes called dérive, we followed the sun.

Esplanada Príncipe Real

Located in the middle Príncipe Real garden, this is a nice place to relax and peek into other peoples' lives through the transparent walls and windows that make one of the main characteristics of this coffee shop. In the warm summer nights it couldn't feel better to be in the outside esplanade. Take the advice.

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We shared two enormous cake slices that the shy waiter brought to our table. Each one was 2.85€, apple cake and chocolate "brigadeiro". They are not the best cakes in the world, at least not the ones we chose, the apple cake was too dry and the crust should have been softer. I had some difficulty cutting it in half to split, I felt like a little Moses that instead of sea was breaking the cake apart.

The chocolate one, well, I am kind of tired of chocolate I must say, so it must be really amazing to make me ask for it (so as you can figure, this was my friend's choice).

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When going out I noticed two blue bikes laying on the wall outside. Transparency proves once again to be useful, as you can stop for cake and still don't loose sight of your means of transportation/dog/child playing outside.

I remembered some sort of witty sayings about glass houses: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. No one should criticize the others when they don't constitute a good example themselves.

This was adapted to be funnier later, and even a character for which I have the greatest admiration commented on it, mister Demetri Martin:

There's a saying that goes "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Okay. How about "Nobody should throw stones." That's crappy behavior. My policy is: "No stone throwing regardless of housing situation." Don't do it. There is one exception though. If you're trapped in a glass house, and you have a stone, then throw it. What are you, an idiot? So maybe it's "Only people in glass houses should throw stones, provided they are trapped in the house with a stone." It's a little longer, but yeah. 

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Open on mondays and tuesdays from 9h to 20h, wednesdays from 9h to midnight, and thursdays to saturdays from 9h to 2h and sundays from 9h to 23h.