Restaurant Horta is located in a unique location in Lisbon: Páteo Alfacinha. Here you can take a look at the typical districts of Lisbon and at the same time enjoy delicious food.
Pateo Alfacinha has two seasonal restaurants where you can enjoy typical Portuguese dishes: Mercearia in winter and Horta in summer.
Summer restaurant
We walked past Pateo Alfacinha by coincidence, after a visit to Palácio Ajuda. Because it was around lunchtime we walked in to get something to eat.
It took a while to find the restaurant, it is located at the far end on the left, where you come through the right entrance, or through the large hall on the left side of the patio. But once we found it, we didn’t want to leave.
Outdoor restaurant
The fact that Horta is the summer restaurant becomes clear as soon as you enter. It has a big terrace, covered with bamboo for protection against the bright sunshine. There are 7 long tables, easily accommodating 6 to 8 people each. There is a good chance that you will be placed at the table with fellow visitors. The view over the district Ajuda, the Tagus and Ponte 25 de Abril is really amazing and gives a special atmosphere to the experience.
Typical Portuguese food – Espetada
The menu is very varied, with additional daily specials written on the blackboard next to the kitchen. It didn’t make the choice easy, but in the end we chose the espetada.
Espetada is a Portuguese term used for cooking food on skewers. It can be used with different kinds of meats, as well as squid or fish, with anglerfish being a favorite. The most common are beef or pork, or a mix of the two. You will often find sliced bell peppers, onions and chorizo placed between the pieces of meat. Espetada is usually served with white rice or potatoes and salad – as is the case at restaurant Horta.
The large skewers in Horta are served attached to hooks in the canopy so that they hang over the table. This makes it easy to slide off the pieces of meat or fish on the plate underneath.
Horta’s kitchen
Back to Horta’s kitchen. The espetada were delicious, we chose 3 different kinds of meat: chicken, pork and beef.
While waiting for our delicious dish, the waiter put bread en Trilogia de saladas do Chef (three kinds of salad with squid and red onion, paprika salsa and chickpeas with codfish).
As we wrote somewhere else, these dishes don’t come for free, if you eat them they will be on the cheque. Your taste buds will be slowly woken up by the delicious combination of flavours.
The dessert at Horta is equally delicious, the chocolate cake Fondant de Chocolate was just as smooth as you’d want chocolate cake to be.
Surprisingly affordable
Our group at Horta consisted of four adults and two children. All of the adults had their own espetada, we also ordered some chips, rice and salad separately. Including a bottle of wine, two bottles of water, a dessert, and four coffees we paid less than €75, or £68.
We really had a great time here, discovering Pateo Alfacinha and also finding this amazing restaurant. Pateo Alfacinha and Horta are just outside the city centre and it’s certainly worthwhile to have lunch or dinner here. If you come with more than 3 people, it is advisable to make reservations.
Where to find Horta
Address:Rua Guarda-Jóias 44, Ajuda
Opening hours:Tuesday through Sunday 12:30 – 15:00 and 19:30 – 22:00. Closed on Monday
Please note that Horta is the summer restaurant and is only open from May to September.
