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Once again I put myself in choosing the evening’s restaurant and I went for Caso Sério, a small restaurant in the tourist area but it was well reviewed and had 30% off on TheFork. I didn’t take many photos, so the scene above is from the end of the meal, but it gives an impression of the homely nature of the venue. What is in the photo is just about the entire size of the restaurant, although they have a small number of external tables as well for those who like eating outdoors. The noise levels were also relatively low, so it felt a comfortable dine and we were never rushed during our time in the restaurant.

In the background is Bev complaining about something and in the foreground is the very acceptable, or at least from a big brewer, Super Bock Stout. I was concerned that there might be some fado performance here as I’m not hugely engaged with musical entertainment, but I was pleased when the waiter confirmed that there was no such show on the night that we were there. Bev and Susanna did their usual thing of saying they couldn’t possibly drink more than one glass of wine each, but then ended up having just about a bottle each. Steve and I didn’t say anything.

The menu is relatively limited in size, but it’s of a scale that they can clearly cope with and there was sufficient choice. I ordered the chick peas with cod fish and I was going to have a mixed board which had a selection of local meats and cheeses. The waiter, who was friendly and personable, suggested that they were too large to have one each, which I was sceptical about. Susanna and I shared a mixed board and in the end we just ordered another one so we ended up with the equivalent of one each. The chick peas had a depth of flavour from the cod and the individual items on the mixed boards all tasted of a decent quality, with one of the spicy sauces adding heat to the arrangement. The bread was a little bit generic, I thought that they could have been a little more exotic with that.

I’m not going to win any photography awards with this image, but it’s of the lemon cheesecake. To my delight, there was a lot of lemon in this and it had a suitable sharp taste which had some zing to it. The dessert choice was this or chocolate cake, so although I was perfectly pleased with this dessert, the dessert menu was rather limited in its scope.

The pricing was really quite low for the quality, my two beers, mixed board, chick peas and dessert came to around £18. One reviewer wrote:

“This restaurant severely undervalues itself. This is Michelin-level food and you’re missing out if you don’t come here during your time in Lisboa, assuming you are a tourist. Servers are very friendly, speak excellent English, and are more often than not literally within an arm’s reach if you need them. My only complaint is that the dessert menu could use some expansion into Portuguese classics, but the rest of the menu shines so brightly that this is hardly a fair criticism.”

It’s a positive review, although I’m not quite sure that I would go as far as to say that the food was Michelin-level. However, it all tasted freshly made and the ingredients used seemed to be of a good quality. The standout element was the engagement from the waiter, who was pro-active and personable, although I’m not sure I agree with his assessment that the mixed board was too much for one. But, that’s no complaint as it’s much easier to under order and then add to it rather than just over order and then leave some of it.

Given that the restaurant is a thirty second walk from Lisbon Cathedral, so in a touristy area, I thought that the whole experience was very agreeable and I’d come again here. Perhaps next time I might work through their seemingly relatively large range of roasted sausages and other tapas options, I can imagine that’d be rather nice in their homely restaurant.

As the name of the bar suggests, the owners are trying to market this venue as a craft beer bar and I think it’s quite a new opening so that’s all positive. This is the bottled beer area at the rear of the shop, which was a little understocked but I imagine that’s linked to their being relatively new.

The beer list seemed slightly odd to me and somewhat padded out with Deuce and Black Sheep beers having an oddly strong presence. These aren’t big hitting modern craft beer bars, such as just one example of thousands being Funky Fluid which I keep going on about and which we’d had in the previous bar, but rather more generic. This isn’t necessarily a complaint, as I like venues that sell beer that isn’t just generic mass produced lagers and it’s always positive when there’s plenty of choice, but I suspect this is why this bar has managed to get only a relatively small number of check-ins on Untappd.

The seating is far from ideal, the seating at the bar is a little too low and the seats in the main part of the bar are all either beer barrels or very low and uncomfortable. I’m all for rustic seating but it didn’t really add a great deal to the ambience of the bar, it just made it feel slightly awkward. However, the service was impeccable, the staff member was friendly, engaging and knowledgeable with the welcome being warm and hospitable.

I went for the Deuce Wheatbeer which was unexceptional but tasted OK, it’s far from the best wheat beer going and perhaps the bar could have been braver with its choice of draft options.

Hopefully this post doesn’t sound too negative, as all bars trying to cater for the craft beer market should be welcomed and the staff member here was doing a marvellous job at engaging with customers. The rest felt a little formulaic and missing the mark though, the beer choice didn’t feel well curated and the bar furniture is ill-fitting to its environment. The external signage focuses on the craft beer and mentions that it’s the taproom of Vadia, but I’m not sure where the link with that brewery is as I couldn’t see any of their beers on draft. But, I’m sure it’ll all work out well here, with a friendly welcome and keen prices that should make it popular. It’s one venue that I’d say really needs to become Untappd verified, so that the beer menu is more transparent and also to encourage beer drinkers to head slightly off the beaten track to get there.

From the exterior it’s not particularly clear what depth of quality there is to this bar with regards to the beer options. It’s only because they’re listed on Untappd, although for reasons unknown to me they’re listed twice, that I was excited to see what they had available. This expedition was just Steve and myself, then we were walking via another bar to the evening meal option I had taken it upon myself to choose to meet up with Bev and Susanna who were charging around some museum.

The beer menu and quite continental given that Funky Fluid is from Warsaw, and is one of my favourite breweries, and Garage is a brewery that I’ve been to in Barcelona. I promptly then ordered one beer from each, making this not a particularly Portuguese experience for me in terms of the brewing. In addition to this draft selection, they’ve also got a large fridge full of bottled options and there seemed to be bar snacks available as well.

The interior of the bar is quirky, informal and inviting. There are only three tables upstairs, with the bar and a slightly larger seating area downstairs. The service was prompt and welcoming, it all felt suitably on-trend without being formulaic.

The Kylian hazy IPA from Funky Fluid, it’s not their most exotic of beers but it was smooth and rich in flavour.

The P9 from Garage Beer of Barcelona, there was quite a kick to this fruity sour and had one of the strongest flavours of raspberries that I’ve experienced in a beer, I thought it worked well.

This was one of my favourite of the craft beer bars in Lisbon because of its laid-back approach and it also seemed to have more locals than tourists in contrast to some of the more central venues. I have to confess also that I enjoyed having a little taste of Warsaw in the middle of Lisbon, that was an unexpected treat. It is quite a small venue though and the bar location creates something of a pinch point, so other than for people who like crowds it’s probably best to visit earlier in the week or earlier in the evening during weekends.

The pink elephant is a sign that there’s a Delirium bar inside, an international chain of beer venues which are in some quite eclectic locations. They’re mostly in Northern Europe, although there are none in the UK, but they have some out-lying franchises including Lisbon, Rome and Vienna alongside the two far distance locations of Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. It’s all something of a mix and I hadn’t expected there to be one part way up a hill in Lisbon.

This wasn’t far from our non flaming sausage lunch-stop and it was just Steve and I at this point, with Bev and Susanna rushing off to get value from their Lisbon cards. Steve and I were more looking for a calm and refined beer stop, but that’s our natural sophistication….

The beers are chalked up above the bar, but they are also listed on-line. Customers order at the table and then the drinks and the bill are brought over, with the staff seating customers when it’s busy.

The pink elephant led bar.

This is the Delirium Noel Christmas beer and although late February is just a little past the festive season it had a pleasant element of spice to it and quite warming.

This was more decadent, the Delirium Black Barrel Aged strong ale, weighing in at 11.5%. Decent flavours of caramel and bourbon, full bodied and rich, much smoother than its ABV suggests. I enjoyed sipping at this one, a proper winter drink.

It was generally busy for a Saturday afternoon, but there always a few tables available for walk-ins. The beer selection was wider than I had anticipated, with plenty of options from other breweries although I stuck to Delirium’s offerings since they were tempting enough. They do serve food here such as burgers and nachos as well.

There’s been some significant effort made with the interior design here, it felt an inviting and comfortable venue. It had that mixture of customers enjoying themselves whilst not causing havoc around them, meaning it was busy and vibrant without the risk that a fight might randomly break out.

Plenty of bottle tops, although not as many as Piw Paw Beer Heaven in Warsaw have.

And bottles. The on-line reviews of the venue are generally very positive, although it’s a little difficult to work out what happened here a few weeks ago, either a misplaced attempt to have a date or a translation error.

“I just got kicked out from this place when I asked the waiter for her recomendation where to go for a fun night out in lisbon. Short after the manager showed up and told me it was my last beer (and first) then I had to leave. The manager told me that I had asked her to follow me to my room…. I’m confused. Poor managing”

And this review of:

“What kind of bar doesn’t let you stand?”

Which is one of the few the bar has responded to, noting:

“Of course you can stand, as long as the place you choose to stand doesn’t disturb the service or other customers.”

I’m always interested by the back story to these sort of reviews.

This was a little expensive for around £10 for the two drinks, but this is cheaper than these beers would have likely cost in the UK and so I was content in my little decadent treat. Steve went for a coconut fruit beer from Mongozo which he particularly enjoyed and they have a range of these fruit options which were tempting. The service was timely, friendly and engaging, with the range of beers being wider than I had anticipated. Belgian beers are somewhat of a hole in my knowledge that I’ll have to do something about at some point, particularly if I’m going to find tempting options as good at the beers that were served here. All rather pleasant.

I took what is perhaps an obligatory photo for tourists which is of the number 28 tram in Lisbon, a tram line which has been in existence since 1914. To accentuate the vintage theme, the trams that operate the line are from the 1930s to ensure that there’s a heritage feel as it goes through the windy and narrow streets of the city centre.

We didn’t go on the 28 tram as it always looked too busy when we were near it, I think it requires some pre-planning to join it at either end of its route, but here’s a photo of a somewhat spacious tram that we did go on in Lisbon. Bev looks suitably excited by the whole thing. Here’s an interesting article on Wikipedia about the history of the trams in the city right from the beginning in 1873, meaning it’s their 150th anniversary this year.