Espaço Lisboa is a wonderful find in Coloane Village, a charming little restaurant tucked away in a back street close to A.R Eanes Square.
Set inside a restored two-story home, the environment inside is very warm and inviting and they even have outside seating upstairs on the second floor by way of a small balcony.
The service staff is pre-dominantly Filipino and were in a bit of a bind the first afternoon I visited back in 2014. You see, Manny Pacquiao was fighting at the Venetian that day and they had to walk the tightrope between working and following the action live over the radio near the bar.
I can’t say their service didn’t suffer because of it, but I definitely appreciated the updates I got between rounds, as Manny pummelled some American who had no business being in the same ring with him.
Suffice to say, that put the staff in unusually high spirits that day, and I was feeling pretty good myself, no doubt aided by the decent red we had flowing for $200 called Monte Da Pata.
My friend and I paired that with some pretty standard Portuguese dishes: Clams with Garlic ($118), Prawns with Garlic ($118), Seafood Soup ($65), Lobster Bisque Soup ($104), Grilled Lamb Chops ($167) and Grilled Sea Bass ($181). For dessert, we gave the sweet tooth some love with Serradura ($53) and Ice Cream with Cherry ($116).
Most of what we ordered was seafood and it was all masterful, in particular the clams, prawns and two soups.
The Grilled Sea Bass was a more controversial selection – I loved it, while my friend didn’t care of the lemon butter sauce that came with it.
Besides the seafood though, everything else was disappointing The Grilled Lamb Chops were far too chewy and the fact that they were barbecued gave it a weird kind of taste, one I’d rather not experience again.
Both desserts were forgettable as well, in particular the Serradura, which tasted clumpy and dry.
In the end though, the seafood at Espaco Lisboa is just too good to pass up. That’s why the restaurant gets 4.5 stars overall and what you should be ordering when you go there.
I’m also a big fan of their seafood rice, which is a perfect dish for those dining in pairs.
One of Coloane Village’s very best restaurants, I’ll certainly be returning to Espaço Lisboa often in the future.
