Popular Portuguese restaurant ‘Casa da Índia’ Lisbon Bairro Alto, divine and cheap (sea)food & Portuguese overseas trade history
Despite the name, Casa da Índia (House of India), this is a real traditional, good and cheap restaurant with a Portuguese menu. The name refers to an organization that managed Portuguese trade in overseas goods, mainly in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Casa da Índia maintained a royal monopoly on the trade in spices, like pepper, cloves, and cinnamon.
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India) Lisbon: traditional Portuguese meal
‘Borrego no forno’ (lamb in oven € 6,50). Starters: pão e azeitonas (bread and olives € 1,20), copo de vinho branco (glass of white wine € 1.00), bica pingada (espresso with a drop of milk € 0,55).
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India), Lisbon
This is one of my favorite restaurants in Lisbon: really good service and a very friendly staff.
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India) Lisbon & owner Alvaro
Owner Alvaro Martim: ‘From 1938 this place is a restaurant. All I know is that it used to be a shop selling spices from India”.
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India) Lisbon
The Casa da Índia was established in Lisbon around 1500. This Portuguese organization had been based in Lagos in Southern Portugal, but after Prince Henry the Navigator died in 1460, the ‘House of India’ moved to Lisbon, and was located at the Terreiro do Paço (better known as the famous Praça do Comércio , Commerce Square). The building was destroyed by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India) Lisbon
Gambas á guilho (garlic prawns) 12.50 euro, delicious!! This restaurant is very popular and lively, the marisqueira (seafood) is divine and cheap.
Portugal probably is the best place in Europe to enjoy seafood; the Portuguese appreciate eating and drinking well!
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India) Lisbon
On the wall: the Duke of Viseu (Henry the Navigator), patron of the Portuguese exploration. During 1415-1542 Portugal discovered an eastern route to India that rounded the Cape of Good Hope, they discovered Brazil, established trading routes throughout most of southerns Asia, colonized selected areas of Africa and sent the first direct European maritime trade and diplomatic missions to China.
Restaurant ‘Casa da Índia’, Rua Loreto 51, near Bairro Alto.
Opening hours: Monday -Saturday: 09:00 – 02:00. Closed on Sundays.
Restaurant Casa da Índia (House of India) Lisbon: chicken piri-piri
[...] Camões Square (Praça Luís de Camões), just behind Camões’ statue , close to the statue of Portugal’s famous writer and poet Pessoa (1888-1935), still mobbed by many tourists nowadays and a good, cheap and traditional Portuguese restaurant ‘Casa da India’. [...]