All the Michelin-starred restaurants in Lisbon for 2024

100 Maneiras reopened in 2019, next to its previous location in Bairro Alto. The atmosphere is dark, with speakers in the bathrooms playing speeches from dictators and politicians – frankly, we’d expect no less from Ljubomir Stanisic. A year after the restaurant’s rebirth, it earned its first Michelin star. The goal here is to tell stories through three tasting menus. The first, named História, takes us to the chef’s origins. It unfolds over 17 moments, an experience that is physical but, above all, emotional. If you prefer shorter narratives, there is O Conto, a condensed version of the first menu, presented in 11 moments. Finally, Ecos do 100 offers a vegetarian menu, committed to sustainability.

2 Monkeys was one of the biggest surprises of the first Michelin Guide gala dedicated exclusively to Portugal. In less than a year, the restaurant earned a Michelin star. With only 14 seats, arranged around a large counter that wraps around the kitchen, 2 Monkeys starts from a straightforward premise: ‘two chefs, two origins, one unique experience.’ The menu is fixed-price, with everything else left as a surprise. Dietary restrictions are checked in advance, but it’s made clear that there are no alternative menus. From there, the dishes follow – about 14 courses – and it’s never revealed whether they’re creations by Consulting Chef Vítor Matos or Executive Chef/Resident Chef Guilherme Spalk.

Henrique Sá Pessoa is a familiar face, having appeared on TV cooking shows for years, but it’s at Alma, where he holds two Michelin stars, that his talent is best demonstrated. Focused on Portuguese ingredients, he offers two menu options: in the Alma menu, you’ll find the chef’s classic dishes, such as carne de porco à Alentejana with potato terrine, red pepper paste, and bulhão pato sauce; in Costa a Costa, as the name suggests, you dive into Portugal’s coast, paying homage to fish and seafood – if you’re lucky, you’ll be served the classic and ever-evolving dessert, Sea and Citrus, which looks as if it’s come straight from the ocean floor, as a triumphant end to this menu.

It is perhaps the most iconic Michelin-starred restaurant in the country, all thanks to José Avillez and his perfectly aligned luxury team. With two Michelin stars and ranked 25th on the 50 Best, Belcanto is an experience from the moment you step through the door. In a refined yet relaxed setting, designed for everyone to feel at ease and savour the experience as it should be, the chef offers two tasting menus. The Classics menu showcases the restaurant’s most emblematic dishes, while the Landscapes menu tells the story of an ever-evolving Belcanto, with dishes that change, reflecting a kitchen that continues to grow in experience.

Every dish by Pedro Pena Bastos is eye-catching and requires complex techniques. The dishes at Cura are beautiful, certainly, but more importantly, they are full of soul and flavour. Keeping a keen eye on the season and the best Portuguese ingredients available at any given time, Pena Bastos presents two menus – a ten-course and a five-course – in a restaurant that’s as bold as the Ritz was when it first opened. The service is impeccable, as you would expect, and manages to never teeter into overbearing.

Joachim Koerper, who had previously worked at other Michelin-starred restaurants, opened Eleven in 2004, when the gastronomic scene in Lisbon was far less established than it is today. Perched at the top of Parque Eduardo VII, the restaurant earned its star after just nine months – the first for Lisbon at the time. Although it lost the star, it regained it soon after and has held it ever since. There is an à la carte option for lunch and dinner, but nothing compares to the tasting menus – there are several, including the lobster menu, featuring seafood from start to finish. Make sure to ask for a window table to enjoy one of the best views over Lisbon.

When Belcanto’s dish of carrot cooked in a variety of ways with cashew milk began to stand out amongst the meat, fish, and seafood dishes, José Avillez realised there was a whole array of opportunities to be explored in the world of vegetables. While this was hardly a brand-new realisation, at a restaurant like Belcanto, he wasn’t able to dedicate himself fully to this new project. So, after many trials, the chef opened Encanto. João Diogo Formiga heads the kitchen, and just nine months after opening, the restaurant earned its star, becoming the first vegetarian restaurant on the Iberian Peninsula to achieve this feat. There are no à la carte dishes, only a 12-course tasting menu.

After more than two decades in Portugal, Vincent Farges opened his first restaurant under his own name in 2018. The kitchen at Epur has large windows overlooking Largo da Academia Nacional de Belas Artes and the dining space is split across three distinct, tall interior rooms with views of the River Tagus. True to form, the chef follows the style of French cuisine, which he masters so well, while also embracing Portuguese ingredients from small local producers. There are two tasting menus: Inspirações (seven courses) and Epurismo (nine courses).

Relatively unknown before 2022, today chef André Cruz is anything but overlooked. The calm and confidence with which he took on the challenge of leading Feitoria has made it one of the most exciting fine-dining restaurants in the city. There’s interaction at the table, both from the dining service team and the kitchen staff, as well as from the chef himself, who maintains a close relationship with small producers (as well as personally managing an organic garden and beehives, and raising animals). The result is an ingredient-focused food that’s embellishment-free, presented in two menus: a seven-course option and an eight-course option, along with two vegetarian menus.

Coming from Vistas in the Algarve, Rui Silvestre had big shoes to fill when taking over from Martín Berasategui and Filipe Carvalho at the top of the Vasco da Gama Tower. Across Fifty Second's 11-, 12- and 14-course menus, Rui Silvestre’s distinct identity shines, moving away from the classic style of the Spanish chef before him. And the ambition is high – one Michelin star is no longer enough.

Back in 2001, when Gil Fernandes couldn’t even imagine himself in the kitchen, Fortaleza do Guincho earned its first Michelin star, which it has maintained to this day. Fast forward to 2024, and Gil is now the face of the restaurant. Taking inspiration from the sea of Guincho – which practically laps at the restaurant’s door – and delving into its history, the chef showcases himself through two tasting menus, featuring distinctly Portuguese flavours presented in a creative, dynamic, and highly skilled way. Since taking over in 2018, after Miguel Rocha Vieira’s departure – at the time becoming the youngest chef with a Michelin star, at just 28 – Gil has established himself as a breath of fresh air in a historic hotel.

Life at Kabuki Lisboa has been lively, but despite changes in the kitchen, the team has managed to earn a star – and crucially, maintain it. Following the departure of Andrés Pereda and, later, Paulo Alves, it is now Sebastião Coutinho who heads up the kitchen of this restaurant in the Ritz Galerias. The story began in Spain, where Kabuki is an established brand. Here, it continues as a space where Japanese and Mediterranean cultures meet, where high-quality ingredients are prepared simply. However, there is also room to explore more traditional Japanese cuisine. Dishes can be ordered à la carte, but the experience is truly understood only with the tasting menu.

It’s impossible to talk about Japanese cuisine in Portugal without mentioning Paulo Morais, a veteran of Japanese cooking. Kanazawa earned its star at the end of 2022, when the chef was no longer expecting it. In Algés, at the small restaurant originally opened by Japanese chef Tomoaki Kanazawa, who chose Paulo Morais to succeed him when he returned to Japan in 2017, Japanese tradition is honoured as if it were his own. With only eight seats at the counter, the chef is dedicated to kaiseki cuisine, which emphasises seasonality and product quality. There are four meticulously designed menus, three without drinks and one with everything included. On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant also transforms into a Japanese tea salon for a special afternoon tea.

If any restaurant serves as a creative laboratory for its chef, it’s LAB by Sergi Arola. The name is fitting, even if the Catalan chef isn’t always present. Consistency and continuity are maintained by resident chef Vladmir Veiga, who is discreet, focused, and unburdened by the absence of Sergi Arola, whose name the restaurant bears. At the table, there are many Spanish influences, accented by ideas from other places, starting with the opening of the menu, which is a true journey through Portugal. The Pela Serra Dentro menu offers an adventure, but for a longer experience, try the Pela Serra Fora menu.

At LOCO, there’s no menu, the only rules that apply are the house rules, and all ingredients come from Portuguese producers whose work and stories Alexandre Silva knows well. He runs this Michelin-starred restaurant without ever wavering from these principles. The menu reveals nothing of what will come to the table but offers some hints: ‘LOCO is organic and values Portuguese products and nature. It flows with the micro-seasons, draws inspiration from tradition and the identity of national gastronomy, but subverts and elevates these elements to a new conceptual level, challenging convention through the exploration and experimentation of new techniques. LOCO is a continuous creative flow, an attitude. It’s a complete experience that fosters a connection between guests and the kitchen.’ Ultimately, it’s about trust. In total, there are 16 courses.

The restaurant that has set a standard in Japanese cuisine and has held a Michelin star since 2018 has a new resident chef as of 2023. Pedro Almeida remains as consulting chef but is now based in Portland, United States. Tiago Santos now leads the kitchen, producing delicate dishes. There are two tasting menus: Kiri (eight courses) and Yama (nine courses).

SÁLA was one of the big and well-deserved winners at the first Michelin Guide Portugal gala, and in his acceptance speech, João Sá perfectly summed up SÁLA, which he has run for five years on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros: 'It’s an independent, small, but ambitious restaurant.' The cuisine is a blend of flavours, a gastronomic journey that begins in Lisbon and extends to other regions, from India to Africa. The Central African dish muamba, Brazilian seafood stew moqueca, Thai tom yum, Goan curries but also traditional Portuguese dishes like caldeirada and coentrada. With two tasting menus, meat appears only as an accent and never as a main dish. For Friday and Saturday lunch, there's also a shorter menu.