The best restaurants in Príncipe Real

It wasn't Lisbon's first Kiko Martins-led restaurant (that would be O Talho) but it was the one that put him in the map. It became one of the city's most popular locations. Cevicheria was born to pay tribute to Peru's national dish, by serving it with salmon, tuna and even codfish, but the best version, the one worth waiting in line for, is the pure ceviche: seasonal white fish, puréed sweet-potato, onions, seaweed and tiger's milk.

Time Out tips:

– Wait for a table with a glass (or two, or three) of pisco sour in your hand.

– To finish your meal, go for a surf & turf mini-sandwich with pork belly and shrimp.

– If you want people on social networks to know where you are, take a picture of the giant octopus on the ceiling.

Atalho Real is something of a meat tailor. They offer several cuts, several sizes and two ways to use them – in a sandwich or on a garnished plate. It isn't always easy to choose, but we recommend the seasoned entrecôte or the Black Angus tenderloin, and order the coleslaw (a hard-to-find treat in Lisbon). In summer days and evenings, reserve a table in the outer garden, with a view to the Botanic Garden – a luxury.

Time Out tips:

– Hamburgers are tailor made, and great.

– A private room is available for large groups.

– The staff isn't perfect – factor that in.

Miguel Castro Silva has a profound knowledge of Portuguese gastronomy and enjoys starting new projects under his name. After sharing his know-how with DeCastro Elias (to which he is no longer associated) and then leading Largo for five years, he established a restaurant at the romantic Praça das Flores, where he serves reinvented traditional dishes and a lot of oven-based courses. Our recommendations: the cockle “xerém” (maize porridge), the duck livers with onion jam and the “maronesa” veal with rice and mushrooms.

Time Out tips:

– The outdoors tables are a nice hangout for staying cool in hot weather.

– The chef likes to work with seasonal and Portuguese-sourced produce.

– To learn more about the chef's work, read the book he released in late 2016.

Life at 321 Rua da Rosa is a happy marriage between Mexico and Peru. This harmonious relationship produced beef, chicken or pork tacos, and white fish or tuna ceviches, served with the corresponding country's national drinks: on one side margaritas and several tequila cocktails, on the other pisco sour. It's a felicitous mix; the mood is cosmopolitan, you can have dinner and enjoy some drinks at the same place. To top it all off, ask for the churro garden to make the evening sweeter.

Time Out tips:

– Just so you know: the restaurant's acoustics aren't particularly good.

– Words from our critic's review of the place: “De puta madre.”

– The artwork in the hall is called Favela Vidigal, and it's gourgeous.

Rare and unique in Lisbon, this bio pizzeria is a must for people who like thin-crust pizza. The restaurant is unpretentious and simple, but you can expect to eat well here. You can also watch as the dough is rolled in front of your eyes until it gets smooth and inelastic. You can taste organic mozzarella from Italy and legumes from a bio farm in Portugal, among other bio products. On Sundays, they also have fresh pastas and risottos with the day's produce.

Time Out tips:

– One of the five star-picks for Time Out critics in 2016.

– Be original: try the pesto pizza.

– Order the burrata, seasoned with olive oil and basil.

Don't trust a place that goes by “by”. It usually means the chef created the menu, shared his ideas, taught some tricks and then went “bye bye”. That's is not true about Less, a restaurant at the Embaixada; chef Castro e Silva gave it his name and a menu with some of his oldest recipes. The menu is not huge but it is big enough to ensure you will be well fed, with dishes such as marinated sea bass with fresh herbs, Alentejo pork gyosa or lemon and trout eggs risotto.

Time Out tips:

– Despite being a fan of Portuguese cuisine, the chef likes to add international touches from all over the world.

– The venue is owned by Gin Lovers, so you know what drinks to order.

– Good for summer lunches (it's nice and cool).

On his third restaurant, chef Kiko went Asian. The Asiático has been firing on all cylinders since its November opening: a nice restaurant, full of cute details and plush furniture, very well lit, with an open-air terrace featuring a fireplace. The menu is small – only 13 dishes and four desserts – and it crosses the Asian continent, from Nepal to Japan, including some authorial flourishes with haute cuisine techniques. The house suggests sharing dishes, from Vietnamese pho soup to Thai roast beef with som tam salad, from Indian lamb to sweet curry.

Time Out tips:

– The trip to Asia begins at the door, with jars of spices, Japanese baking powder, dry mushrooms and beans.

– Reservations accepted only for lunchtime.

– You can sit at their beautiful bar counter and order anything on the menu.

One of the first restaurants in Lisbon to find the proper balance between a good mood, modern Portuguese food and affordable prices. All of this inside of a hostel, back in the days before the big tourist swarm came to Lisbon. In the meantime other places with similar concepts appeared, but The Decadente is still a good bet when: 1) there's many of you, and you don't want to spend much money; 2) there's many of you, and you want to have drinks in the same place as dinner; 3) there's only two of you, and you want a cool place to be.

Time Out tips:

– The outer terrace is heated in wintertime, and there's an outdoors bar.

– Two safe bets: “the Miradouro's best steak” and the seafood risotto.

– On weekends brunch is served from 12pm to 4pm.

In this day and age, if you're opening a pizzeria you need a way to stand out. That's what the Multifood group did in Lisbon, by bringing the poolish method. That means several stages of leavening employing various types of flour (including hard grains and stone grinding), allowing the dough to sit for three days on average. The result? Lighter dough. Order the Margherita DOP, the Montanara or the Pugliese to try it out. While you're waiting for a table (there's always a full house), order cheese or sausage from the lobby display.

Time Out tips:

– The outdoors area is gorgeous (and once made a Time Out front cover).

– Careful with prosecco drinks: they go down well but they're (burrp) strong.

– One catch: they don't take reservations and fill up really quick.