Cynthia Chua, founder of the Spa Esprit Group, named Lisbon as her favourite city in 2012. The group’s brands then included the waxing studio Strip, the brow salon Browhaus, the massage chain Qi Mantra, Skinny Pizza, 40 Hands and Tiong Bahru Bakery. She described a city that looks sleepy by day and turns into a street party after dark.
What follows is her Lisbon as she described it in 2012. Prices, addresses and details are from that year and may have changed.
Why Lisbon, and not Paris or New York
Chua said the creative mood of Lisbon felt very different from that of Paris, New York, London or Milan. It gave her inspiration from another direction. She liked how the old and the new sat side by side.
By day, she said, the buildings looked old and the streets almost deserted. At night, the nightlife districts of Bairro Alto and Bica filled up, and patrons spilled onto the pavements with drinks in hand. To her it felt like a street party every night. She also loved the architecture and walking the cobbled streets in the cold, which made her feel she was in another world.
Where she stayed and how she got around
Her favourite hotel in 2012 was Hotel Britania, an Art Deco building on Rua Rodrigues Sampaio. She noted that Lisbon then had few international chains and many boutique hotels. She praised its breakfast spread of cold cuts, cheeses, fruit and eggs, and its attentive staff. She also liked a small grooming museum of old barber chairs and tools.
Her advice for exploring was to walk, so as not to miss the treasures in the back alleys. In Alfama, the old Moorish quarter, she found an Austrian-run cafe called Pois, with sandwiches, soups and salads for about S$20 a person. She also stumbled on a restaurant serving lightly battered sardines. She could not remember its name and doubted she would find it again.
She also recommended Tram 28, which in 2012 cost €2.85 (S$4.51) a ticket. It passes through Alfama and downtown Baixa, with Rossio Square and the neogothic Elevator of Carmo. In her view the ride was as interesting as the destination.
Shops worth the detour
Her first stop was Luvaria Ulisses on Rua do Carmo, a glove shop that has been making gloves since 1925. It is tiny, and only one customer fits inside at a time. Chua described resting her elbow on a small cushion while an assistant slid on gloves so snug that she could not put them on by herself. She bought three pairs, at between S$70 and S$180 a pair.
She also visited Perfumaria Alceste on Rua da Conceicao. It was stocked with about 100 perfumes in old-style bottles. She came away with a 30ml perfume (S$35), vintage-packaged face powder, a vanity mirror and a metal notebook with a clip-on pen. From a haberdashery on the same street, she bought 50 vintage buttons at 10 to 20 cents each.
The canned-fish shop Conserveira de Lisboa on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros was founded in 1930. Chua said she could not resist photographing its retro tins of sardines, tuna and octopus. A can of sardines cost about S$7 in 2012.
What she ate, and where she listened
- Fado: Mesa de Frades in Alfama was a former chapel turned fado house, seating about 10 people. After a three-course dinner, the doors closed and the chairs were rearranged for the singer. Chua, an opera lover, said the emotive singing in a small, cold room gave her goosebumps. Dinner and performance came to about S$50.
- Octopus: Frade dos Mares on Avenida D. Carlos I served a big octopus, grilled and sashimi-style on one plate, for about S$30. She called it the best she had eaten.
- Pastel de nata: At Pastelaria Chique de Belem on Rua Junqueira, she found a production line turning out egg tarts at S$1.50 each. She found them lighter and fluffier than the Portuguese tarts sold in Singapore.
- Cocktails with a view: Op Art Cafe was a small glasshouse bar on the waterfront at Alcantara. Cocktails and small bites such as fried pimentos cost about S$30 a head.
Her night-out route
Chua’s party plan ran in order. First came Bairro Alto, where the crowd spilled from tiny bars onto the cobbles until about 1am. Then she moved on to Bica, a steep street also lined with bars, which she found more mature in mood. At 3am she headed to Lux, a club by the Santa Apolonia waterfront. In 2012 she described it as the hippest in Lisbon, with sleek decor, edgy music and an A-list crowd.
Because details change, opening hours and prices at any of these places are worth checking before a visit.