Fismuler – Modern Spanish Cuisine in Lisbon

Lisbon’s dining scene picked up a new Spanish accent with the opening of Fismuler Lisboa. The flagship restaurant of the ME Lisbon by Meliá hotel in Avenidas Novas—itself a Spanish import—Fismuler is part of a fourth-generation family business that got its start in Madrid more than a century ago.

In Lisbon, head chef Nino Redruello is bringing the same approach he used at the original Fismuler, which opened in Madrid in 2016, and its little sister, which debuted in Barcelona in 2018. But don’t let his Spanish pedigree—including a stint at the modernist temples El Bulli and Arzak—fool you: His approach is more Nordic austerity than Catalan baroque. All three Fismuler restaurants showcase pure, high-quality produce, strength of flavor, and simplicity—that means an unfussy menu of sharable plates ranging from a fresh tomato salad with olive oil to the famous breaded escalope San Román with egg and truffle.

Both of these dishes, like many others, are prepared tableside. It’s a choice that’s meant to erase fine dining formality. Along with the fully open kitchen and no-frills style of service, it helps to give guests a feeling of laid-back dining among friends. The dining room is large yet somehow cozy, helped along by its wicker, carbon filament lamps, and generous use of reclaimed wood on the walls.

fismuler seabream — Semi-cured seabream with almonds and red grapes

Other emblematic dishes include crunchy pig’s ear bocata with salsa brava; semi-cured sea bream with almonds and red grapes, leek tarte tatin with truffled mortadella, and steak tartare with toasted sourdough bread. For dessert, there’s the Spanish restaurants’ famous cheese tart, which is made with smoked, cottage, and blue cheese.