At TOPO Belém, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2019
Dining at TOPO Belém, on the 3rd floor of the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) is surreal. This bar and restaurant was a serendipitous find. The intention was to visit the modern art collections in the Museu Coleção Berardo museum, but thought to have a coffee just before the walkabout. We asked the information counter where we could find coffee, and maybe some food. We were told, “There’s a restaurant, you go to the 3rd floor.”
The CCB is both spacious, and built to accommodate a sense of space. It sprawls 140,000 m², catering for exhibitions, conferences and other activities/events. And you certainly got this sense of vast sprawl when looking for TOPO Belém. It was quite a walk to the third floor of the CCB getting to the restaurant. For a moment, it looked more like we were entering a different wing of another modern art collection. But restaurant it was.
Apart from the excellent menu selection, TOPO Belém offers a myriad of cocktails you could dream to conconct by your merry onesy, and have it brought to your table. The true reward however, is the panoramic view of the River Tagus, Rio Tejo, when sitting on the terrace.
Crisp pork belly, with quince mash and salted vegetables. This dish was well executed. Delicious!
Love of Lisbon – Coffee. Their coffee is exquisite. Everywhere.
View over River Tagus from TOPO Belém, terrace.