One of my favorite past times is researching restaurants. Local and traditional are important to me especially to recommend great places to my guests so that they can enjoy good food in non touristic places. But, for myself and my family I love to find the best Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, and Japanese just to name a few. I love spicy food and I crave vegetables especially when travelling. A couple of years ago we found our new favorite Chinese restaurant in Madrid and I was trying to find something equal to it in Lisbon where I spend quite a bit of time. Bingo!! What I came up with was ¨Lisbon´s Illegal Chinese Restaurant Scene¨. It sounded like my Chinese food dream as I read through the article.
My love and I had a whole afternoon and evening free in Lisbon not long ago and I could not wait to see if we could find the Illegal Chinese Scene! He knew the neighborhood well but had never heard of the Chinese restaurants. We had a beer in the colorful plaza of Intendente before wandering down the street to hunt for our destination. We finally saw a building with a few windows where we could see a some people sitting at tables. We walked into the dark stairway and saw a black arrow pointing to one door. My love knocked on the door and said to the kind Chinese girl who answered that we were looking for the illegal restaurant. Maybe not the best choice of words but we did laugh about it quite a bit. Her answer was a simple no and she pointed upstairs. I decided to take a different approach and said that we wanted to eat to which she responded by opening the door wider and leading us to a table.
Everything that we ordered was delicious and authentic. Pork dumplings, Tofu with Vegetables, and Kung Pao Chicken. Fresh and colorful and the by far the best Chinese I have had in years. I will return again and again. Not only is the food great in a unusal setting but the neighborhood is one of my favorites. I love the slightly grungy streets spotted with Indian and Chinese restaurants. It is worth it just for a walk and people watching.
MOONINSPAIN 