Belcanto

Belcanto is located on top of the hills in Bairro Alto. A neighborhood notorious for its night life shenanigans. Chef José Avillez runs a restaurant empire in Lisboa with multiple restaurants with different themes and cuisine. He draws influences from around the world but most of his dishes are Lisboa origin. Here are Belcanto’s awards:
1) 2 Michelin star in 2014
2) 2 Michelin star in 2015
3) #91 on the San Pellegrino 2015 World’s Best Restaurants
The service is what is expected from a restaurant with its accolades. The atmosphere is very elegant but lively too. Everyone in the restaurant is having a good time and enjoying the experience. The wait staff all speak English and did a great job of explaining the dishes. Also, one of the waitresses was smoking hot. I’m talking about jaw dropping beautiful and I was stumbling with my words when she first came by to welcome us to Belcanto. For those who personally know me, I’m rarely at a loss of words and I always have some smart a$$/sarcastic remark to make in every situation. However, I was completely speechless for one of the few times in my life cause she looked exactly like Penelope Cruz. 5 stars for Belcanto! No need to read any further!
Now, the food. Belcanto has an a la carte and two tasting menus. We decided to go with the Lisboa tasting menu cause we wanted a Portuguese dining experience focused on traditional dishes. Here are the memorable dishes:
1) Garden of the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg — The dish has an interesting name. It was a poached egg served with crunchy bread, mushroom and topped with gold flakes. The slow poached egg’s yolk was near perfect and slightly runny. The texture was smooth with the gold flakes added a crispy composition to the dish. It was a great distraction from my ray of sunshine, Penelope Cruz.
2) Suckling Pig Revisited — The suckling pig was served with fried potatoes, orange ouree and salad. The interesting part of the dish was the fried potatoes were chips in an edible bag. The salty chips and the crunchy suckling pig skin meshed very well together. The saltiness was balance with the sweet flavors of the orange purée. I don’t know about the salad cause it was too healthy for my taste and I had my creepy glaze on Penelope. That’s actually supposed to be «creepy gaze» not «glaze». However, I wouldn’t mind glazing her face with my saliva. Still there? Just kidding. Just kidding about the just kidding.
Overall, I thought Belcanto was a good dining experience. However, I wouldn’t say it would rank in my top 10 dining experiences but I did have a wonderful time being a total creep and talking to my future ex-​wife, Penelope N. Okay. All jokes aside. The progression of the dishes was great but I didn’t find the flavors to be very intriguing. Lastly, I would say Belcanto is a 3.75 when compared with other restaurants in its class.
US 2015 Michelin 3 Stars Count: 12 Down. 0 More.
2015 Michelin Rated Restaurant Count: 37
San Pellegrino 2014 World’s 100 Best Restaurants Count: 24
San Pellegrino 2015 World’s 100 Best Restaurants Count: 27

The Belcanto menu is no we the 360 menu. Priced at 145 euros each. You also have the option of getting a wine tasting menu however, we did not get it. Recommended to have reservations because some of the food options aren’t served at certain times of the day. All the dishes were well presented and each capture a unique or distinct taste. There are roughly 13 courses plus 2 desserts and if its you’re birthday, u get a slice of cake with a candle lit on top. Be prepared to be seated for a long time because this particular course is about 3.5 hours long. Excellent waiting service. Warning. You will get sleepy at some point during your dining experience. It has a very classy and gentle romantic ambience perfect for a romantic celebration.

There are several Michelin star restaraunts within Lisbon, but this is the one we were dying to go to. And, it turned out, we were not disappointed. We had lunch there which was a great idea since we were there 3 ½ hours — not kidding started our 1pm reservation and rolled out at 4:30pm happy, full and slightly inebriated. The food is beautiful, service wonderful and a truly amazing experience. If you can, GO!

WOW!!! You will do your self a disservice if you visit Lisbon and do not come to this restaurant. Fantastic is not worthy.

Proposta interessante mas a comida demasiadamente gordurosa e sem sabor, só salvou o ovo folhado. Nada justificaria estrela michelin

Belcanto is a spectacular Michelin starred restaurant that is likely the most affordable Michelin starred restaurant I’ve been to. Their wine list is divine and their food is exceptionally interesting and creative. The staff were helpful and kind, and I have nothing bad to say about the entire experience. My husband, who has a range of allergies (including deathly allergies to shellfish and nuts) was not poisoned at all by our culinary adventure, which has happened at places with more Michelin stars (like Gordon Ramsey’s in London). If you’re visiting Lisbon for a birthday or other special occasion, make sure you visit Belcanto!

Best service and food I may have ever had. So delicious and interesting! The service was outrageously good and the wines amazing. The food is certainly a homage to Portuguese cuisine which was wonderful too. Get a reservation and just come!

Very creative food. Attention to detail is amazing, as well as the respect for the ingredients and beautiful presentation. Staff is top notch, like you would expect in a Michelin starred restaurant.
Wine list is extensive, with excellent wines.
One of the best in Portugal.

Before my first visit to Lisbon, I made sure I find and reserve a nice place for dinner one night. Since I love food and kind of have to eat anyway, why not, right? I must confess, the place not only met but exceeded all of my expectations, especially the service.
From the moment we walked in, to the moment we left the table, everyone was extremely nice and accommodating. I had to have wine (who wouldn’t?, well except for my friend)…since there was only one drinker at the table, my faith was in the hands of «by the glass», and we all know how that can go. Anyway, our waiter suggested that we look at a bottle that he thinks would be the best, based on what I told him about my likes, and he would pour it for me by the glass (what?!) As he uncorked the bottle, I was blown away; relief was written all over his face. The meal was a match, not a single flaw. Dishes were elegant, flavorful and went well with the suggested wine… later port (oh, yeah). I have never had such a sincere service in a restaurant before. They all really cared about what we thought of the food and wine. By the end of the night, we were suggesting that they should open another location in New York, and believe me, they would do very well here.

My best meal in Portugal by a long shot, and one of the best in my life. One Michelin star does not do this place proper justice.
I had the Lisboa menu, a 20-​course tasting that aims to tell «moments» of the city’s history through food. Everything was amazing, with the «Ferrero Roche» foie gras balls, golden egg, smoked mackerel, and suckling pig sticking out in my mind. They even added an additional course at the end for my birthday — a nice touch, given that most places simply added a candle to your final dessert course.
The chef, Jose Avillez, was present at the restaurant and was gracious enough to agree to meet me even during the busiest times in the kitchen. The service staff is mostly excellent (except the sommelier who oversold some of the expensive wines), and overall it was an incredible final night to an incredible week in Portugal.

Toward the end of our cruise around the Atlantic, we had a stop in Lisbon. Due to an outbreak of terrible food on the cruise, we were looking for nice restaurants in our ports of call. Luckily, Belcanto had an available lunch booking on the day we were here, so we booked it and went in.
I’m really glad we found this place. We had an amazing meal. We went for the tasting menu which comprised of three amuse bouche (and the other half was jealous because the first one was based solely on olives, and since he hates olives, didn’t get one). The olives were interesting, and I think my favorite was the olive tempura. This was followed by a «ferrero rocher» that was actually a bit of foie gras. Clever! Finally we had some barnacles. I’d never had barnacles before had they were exactly how you’d expect them to taste.
We opted to get the full wine pairings with the meal. We had two options, one that gave us a glass of wine with every course, and one with every other course. Clearly the correct choice is every course. And it was. The wines were a spectacular selection of Portuguese wines. I had only had Portuguese reds until this meal, but all the whites we had were absolutely wonderful.
Each course was interesting in its own way and they had specially designed plates for each of them. One of them looked like a massive seascape full of delicious seafood. Another consisted of black and white gnocchi to resemble to streets of Lisbon. A third was an amazing sous vide egg with gold leaf and truffle (and apparently is one of the reasons they were granted a Michelin star). There was a lovely seafood and beet dish that was tasty and colorful. The main course was a suckling pig belly that they painted the sauce onto. It also came with a bag of crisps with an edible bag. Dessert was a taste of orange with an orange cream surrounded by an orange jelly with sorbet and other flavors and textures of orange. They served it with white port, and I didn’t realize I liked white port until this meal.
Everything about the meal here was spectacular and it was a real pleasure to dine here. The service was amazing, and even the bread came with three types of butter: salted, smoked and walnut. If you’re in Lisbon and want a fantastic meal, this is definitely the place to go!

Confesso que foi a famosa estrela Michelin que me fez ir a este Belcanto. Pedi o «Menu do Desassossego», pois queria experimentar algo realmente diferente naquela casa. Estava muito muito bom, de facto. Entre as entradas de cavala marinada e braseada com confettis de legumes avinagrados e pinhão; cremoso de perdiz e a horta da galinha dos ovos de ouro, que junta ovo, pão crocante e cogumelos. Como prato de peixe foi servido salmonete com molho dos fígados, ovas vegetais, raízes e tubérculos. Prato de carne… cordeiro com puré de escabeche de legumes e pequeno ensopado. E, para sobremesa, uma «simples» tangerina com um sumo gelado, espuma, sorvete, bolo, crème e gomos de tangerina.
Bom, foi uma experiência gastronómica incrível, mas o preço não me deixa oferecer a esta casa as cinco estrelas. Foi óptimo experimentar, mas será difícil repetir.

Prestes a comemorar um ano, em Novembro, da atribuição de uma estrela Michelin, o Belcanto, do Chef José Avillez continua a receber elogios e prémios, como o recente Garfo de Platina do jornal Expresso. No coração do Chiado, fazendo juz ao maravilhoso Teatro S. Carlos e inspirado na proximidade do berço de Pessoa, o menu do Desassossego vale cada cêntimos dos 95 euros que custa, mas que pode ser partilhado até um máximo de 8 pessoas, entre as cavalas em escabeche ou as ovas vegetais ou cordeiro em puré de legumes. No Belcanto pude provar a raia Jackson Pollock em homenagem ao pintor centenário, em que era recriado no prato uma das obras com o filete de raia, as batatas confit e as cebolinas pinceladas com tinta de choco e texturas de verde (azeiton) e laranja (cenoura).

Não são todos os restaurantes que são premiados por uma estrela Michelin. Só os estabelecimentos que confecionam pratos irresistíveis, e muito bem apresentados, é que merecem uma distinção tão importante. Por esse motivo, foi com as melhores expetativas que fui jantar com um grupo de amigos no restaurante Belcanto, atualmente sob a direção do chef José Avillez. E todas as expetativas foram ultrapassadas. Em primeiro lugar, senti sempre um bocado de pena quando tinha de começar a provar cada prato e destruir a beleza visual que se prolonga das entradas até às sobremesas: é fantástico como, a partir dos alimentos, se consegue conjugar tão bem diferentes texturas, formas e cores e fazer disso uma arte.
No final, entendi o verdadeiro significado da expressão «comer e chorar por mais». É verdade que me deliciei com todos os pratos, sobretudo com o cordeiro com puré de escabeche de legumes. Mas há outros sabores que ainda faço questão de provar num regresso ao restaurante, como o Bife à Belcanto ou o Pastel de Nata em mil-​folhas, o último para sobremesa. Aceite uma dica: se o tempo estiver convidativo, aproveite para continuar a pôr a conversa em dia com os amigos num dos banquinhos do sempre agradável Largo de São Carlos.

excellent! un super moment garanti pour qui apprécie la grande cuisine toute en finesse et raffinement! pas d hésitation :un gastronome français (ou autre bien sur!!) né peut qu etre ravi!