Rocco Restaurant, Lisbon – Neapolitan Cuisine at The Ivens

Ann Abel

3 years ago

Almost from the minute it opened, in autumn 2021, Rocco restaurant became one of the top tables in Lisbon. Also though it’s in the new Ivens hotel, it’s hardly a typical hotel restaurant.

Dreamed up by Barcelona-based designer Lázaro Rosa-Violan, best known in Lisbon for his work on the JNcQUOI Avenida and JNcQUOI Asia, the restaurant is unapologetically theatrical. Whether guests enter from the hotel lobby or from the street, they arrive in a glamorous gastrobar, with floral-print-clad barstools around a gleaming marble counter. Bottles hang overhead and line the walls.

From there, there’s a choice. Diners can go up a few stairs to the cozy, nautical-themed crude bar, where a variety of raw shellfish is served for lunch and dinner. Or they can descend into the sunken dining area, decorated in warm colors and Italianate details. Show cooking concepts are tucked into various corners, and one side of the room is taken up with a grill and aged meats. Outside, a leafy garden terrace is enticing during the warmer months.

Throughout, the focus on traditional Neapolitan food, with dishes like lobster linguini, crab ravioli, eggplant parmesan, and ossobuco. Sado oysters and other delicacies from the crudo bar can be served in the main dining room, as can cheese and charcuterie from the gastrobar.