Bairro Alto is hardly known for its high-quality, straight-ahead, fairly priced restaurants that are frequented by Lisboetas. Which makes Casanostra a uniquely welcome surprise.
It’s been more than 30 years since Maria Paola Porru opened her restaurant, determined to show that there was more to Italian cuisine than pizza and pasta. Back in 1986, there was no place else like it in Lisbon, where home-style Italian cuisine was cooked with original ingredients imported from Italy.
Now of course, there are plenty of Italian restaurants, of varying degrees of authenticity, all over the city, but Alfacinhas (another name for Lisboetas!) still push past the partying tourists to savor excellent Casanostra’s carpaccio of salmon, burrata di Andria with truffles, and prosciutto di Parma with melon. The presentations are nothing special, but the food is excellent. While there’s a long list of pastas—the rolls of fresh pasta with ricotta and spinach are especially popular—the kitchen is also skilled with fish. At our dinner, the dourado with lemon and the sole with black olives were both perfectly cooked and simply sauced.
The space is cozy, with fresh flowers on the bar sea-green chairs on the tile floor and occasionally as decoration on a wall, and the lighting is flattering (not all that common in Lisbon restaurants). It’s a vibe that may not make it a special occasion place, but it certainly makes it a place that feels like our home.
For more information, visit casanostra.pt.
Casanostra
Travessa do Poço da Cidade 60
Lisbon
Phone: +351 213 425 931 or 213 467 558
Email: italma@sapo.pt
Hours:
Sunday to Friday – 12:30 to 14:30 and 20:00 to 23:00
Saturday – 20:00–23:00