Belcanto

Review Highlights

Alexander visits Belcanto, the two-Michelin-starred Lisbon restaurant of José Avillez — Portugal's most famous chef — located on Rua Serpa Pinto in the Chiado district. Seated in a wine-lined room, he opts for the tasting menu (€265 per person) with the "Unique pairing" (€450) and prepares to discover whether Portugal's fine dining can match the country's legendary food scene.

• ·Four opening bites — carrot with ajo blanco foam; seaweed cannelloni filled with Portuguese crustacean, caviar and sea urchin; escabeche and foie gras "Sunset"; tuna belly tartare in a tempura basket; "varying textures, playful and dominant flavors... a wonderful opening"
• ·Algae with oyster and codium cream, finished tableside with green apple and cucumber granita — "on paper, oyster should be the dominant ingredient... but actually it just makes it complete. It is so good that the beautiful wine just simply disappears beside it"
• ·Beetroot tartare — beetroot and sweet potato puree with popping dijon mustard seeds, beetroot and pine nut ice shavings, and pine nut milk; "many layers, many textures... a clever dish"
• ·Hamachi with cabbage and a broth inspired by Cozido à portuguesa — "the first bite felt like I'm in the movie Ratatouille. It took me right back into my childhood... this dish is all about this sauce. Absolutely delicious"
• ·Eggs and mushrooms elevated with smoked eel and truffles — "you know you're in for an umami tsunami... very sophisticated, with intense and delicate flavors"
• ·Sea turbot grilled with its fin, served with Catalina rice and Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato (clams, olive oil, white wine vinegar and coriander), topped with caviar — "a nice dish, great flavors"
• ·Suckling pig — a Belcanto classic and traditional Portuguese dish, presented tableside by chef Avillez himself; "I think this is one of my favorite main courses in my life... the tradition, the simplicity. I love it" — he asked for a second portion
• ·Smoked ham dessert with late harvest wine, yuzu sorbet, yuzu curd, kumquat and a yogurt veil — "this is so unique, and so perfect. I'm sold"

Alexander describes Belcanto as "a high-capacity restaurant, running like a well-oiled machine" — a real business with precise, professional staff and a passionate young sommelier. The wine pairing leaned too far into experimental natural wines for his taste; he'd have appreciated more timeless classics. Some dishes weren't his thing (the cuttlefish), but others — the suckling pig and the hamachi — he'll remember forever. He loved that the kitchen often "sacrificed presentation for the sake of taste," and praises Chef Avillez for doing an "incredible job showcasing amazing Portuguese ingredients" with the DNA of Portuguese tradition running through the entire menu. A recommended visit for anyone in Portugal. Tasting menu: €265/person. The meal was comped.

About

Belcanto is a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Lisbon's Chiado district, opened in 2012 by Chef José Avillez — widely regarded as Portugal's most renowned chef and the architect of a culinary empire spanning restaurants, TV shows, and books. Housed in a former gentleman's club from 1958 on Rua Serpa Pinto, the restaurant serves contemporary Portuguese cuisine that reimagines classic dishes through bold, modern techniques — a style shaped by Avillez's time training under Alain Ducasse and Ferran Adrià at El Bulli. Belcanto earned its first Michelin star in its opening year and the second by 2014, and has since maintained a consistent presence on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, putting modern Portuguese fine dining on the global map.