Lisboeta

Lisboeta isn’t Nuno Mendes’ first love letter to his home city - those who remember Taberna do Mercado in Spitalfields will clock similarities between the two, but Lisboeta is a more refined rendition and all the better for it.

The dinky entrance belies just how big Lisboeta is - a long limestone counter extends far into the back reaches of the restaurant, where it duly meets the navy blue tiles and service lights of the open kitchen. Smart greyscale tiling, whitewashed walls and spherical pendant lighting gives the downstairs a cosy, moody vibe, but upstairs feels different entirely; it’s brighter up here as tables get the benefit of natural light from street-facing windows, and the dark blues have lightened to cool teal.

Bread duties are outsourced to Coombeshead Farm, whose sourdough comes with whipped pork lard for liberal dunking and spreading. A recommendation for wafer-thin, dry-cured black pork leg is spot on too - at £20 it is very spendy, though. Dainty Goan pork pies are gently spiced, but the lard pastry is a thing of beauty, crumbling away as you bite into it.

If you’re thinking this all sounds quite porky, well, prepare yourself for more. Pink slices of grilled black pork arrive with the deep, rich, moreish funk of fermented red pepper paste - a fantastic idea, equally well executed. A bacalhau dish with crispy potatoes is much less refined and though comforting, it is missing the sharpness and detail of other standout dishes. The same is true of a red prawn and razor clam rice sharing pot - delicious, but a little one-note. Contrast this with the mushroom acorda - a gorgeous, brothy jumble of grilled mushrooms, egg yolk and sauce that looks uncivilised, but comes together into something complex, joyous and uplifting.

A visit to Lisboeta isn’t complete without trying the abade de priscos - an egg yolk and pork fat custard, gently slumped in a shimmering port wine caramel. Love it or loathe it, it exemplifies Mendes’ adventurous cooking - not everything is a hit, but the highs are stratospheric.

Touted by some as the authority on Portuguese food, chef Nuno Mendes’ road to opening Lisboeta has taken him all over the world. Having grown up in Lisbon where his interest in food was first ignited, he then pursued his passion at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Following his training Mendes found his way to London and has worked at a series of high profile restaurants, most notably the celebrity favourite, Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone, and his own Mãos in Shoreditch.

Mendes' Lisboeta sees the chef go back to his roots to champion the food of his childhood city, Lisbon. Lisboeta literally translates as ‘a person from Lisbon', and here you’ll find small plates known as petiscos to enjoy with a glass or two of carefully sourced Portuguese wine from small scale producers. Think cod skin crisp with melted onions and potatoes, alongsie wood smoked cauliflower with pickled beetroot, and Cornish mussels with coriander, lemon and white wine.

The restaurant is set across three floors of a Fitzrovia townhouse and has been carefully designed to evoke the rhythm of life in Lisbon. Here you’ll find a cellar which is home to a unique kitchen dining space where guests are treated to an immersive and entertaining culinary experience. Upstairs, architect Joao Guedes Ramos’ vision continues with traditional awnings accessorising the blue washed frontage of the building. The welcoming first floor evokes the feeling of café culture with a long, seated bar made from repurposed tram wood and limestone sourced from Lisbon. You’ll find a more traditional dining room space on the first floor where banquette seats and whitewashed walls that create a relaxing ambiance. For something really special ‘The Adega’ allows guests to overlook the glass fronted kitchen to watch the dynamic team at work.