Don’t let the name confuse you: Gandaia Club is a pair of two separate venues, and both are open to the public. And while they occupy different corners of the Independente hotel, overlooking the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint at the edge of Bairro Alto and Príncipe Real, they’re nothing like what you might imagine a hotel restaurant or bar to be.
The bigger half of the project is the Decadent Restaurant, in the space that used to be the Decadente. All that’s left is (most of) the name. The room has been redesigned to be candlelit, intimate, and charmingly retro, and the menu is based on unfussy ingredients and preparations, served in sharable portions on grandma plates.
Chef David Vieira worked in fine dining restaurants in Vienna and London, as well as Lisbon’s 100 Maneiras, Ceia, and BAHR (where he was influenced by chef Nuno Mendes and his embrace of global flavors). Here, he riffs on Portuguese classics and high-low ingredient combinations. There’s a tartare of Algarve prawns on crispy chicken-skin crackers, a dish of linguine-like Azorean squid with chickpeas and seaweed, and a can’t-miss plate of grilled, lightly fermented cabbage with almond cream.
The other part of the project is upstairs in the building next door. There, in the old Insólito space, the new Hidden Rooftop has an eclectic decoration of plush couches, mismatched lamps and indoor furniture that looks a bit incongruous outside, but pleasantly so. In the afternoon, there are specialty coffees and pastries from Isco, and there are cocktails and wines for sunset and beyond. It’s an inviting space on its own, but it also offers a full roster of programming, from DJ sets to yoga classes and coffee parties.
For more information, visit the Gandaia Club Instagram page.
The Decadent Restaurant
Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara 81
Lisbon
Phone: +351 962 109 787
Email: hello@gandaia-club.pt
Decadent Hours – Tuesday to Saturday – 19:00 to 23:00
The Hidden Rooftop
Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara 83
Lisbon
Phone: +351 296 126 336
Email: hello@gandaia-club.pt
Rooftop Hours – Wednesday to Sunday – 16:00 to 23:00
Photo ©Henrique Isidoro courtesy of the restaurants