For a while there, it seemed like Red Frog Speakeasy in Lisbon had gone, another victim of the pandemic. But thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
Rather, Portugal’s only entry on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, just became a little more hidden. It moved into a secret space in the owners’ other, newer bar, Monkey Mash. The same rules still apply—you have to reserve in advance, then find the discreet buzzer next to the hidden door beside the stairs—and so do the same rewards.
The bartenders are still committed to making craft cocktails with a classic DNA but a few contemporary flourishes. In some cases, they bring in laboratory equipment to follow a “deconstruction-reconstruction” approach, and they’ve made a big commitment to being zero waste—fruit peels and the like end up in shrubs and kombucha.
There are classic cocktails like: Aviation, a mix of Gin Mare, sour cherry, rhubarb, and lavender; and their Martini, Ketel One vodka, Tanqueray Ten gin, Belsazar dry vermouth, celery, fennel, black mustard, grapefruit zest.
New creations on the menu include: the Popcorn ’n’ Oil, with Plantation Fiji rum, Teeling Single Grain whiskey, butter, popcorn falernum (syrup liqueur), lime cordial, and coconut oil; and Aloha, made with Methuselem 15 whiskey, Martin Miller’s gin, goji & cherry wine, almond, jackfruit and squid ink.
And while it’s definitely not a restaurant, there is also a short menu of classy bar snacks, including 50-month-aged São Jorge cheese from the Azores and 24-month dry-cured black Iberian pork presunto.
For more information, visit the Red Frog Speakeasy website.
Red Frog Speakeasy
Praça da Alegria, 66B
(Just off of Avenida da Liberdade)
Lisbon
Phone: +351 215 831 120
Email: info@redfrog.pt
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday – 18:00 to 02:00
Photos: Tiago Maya
