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Lisbon, Portugal Skyline — Lisbon, Portugal old town cityscape at dusk.

Top 5 Things to Do in Lisbon for the Business Traveller

December 9, 2023

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Lisbon is best in the Springtime and, on my recent trip there, I was told that Comporta is the hot place to go for the summer. Forget the trendy popularised summer hot spots of St Tropez, Ibiza, and Mykonos, my next summer weekend away will be to explore Comporta which is an hour and a half away from Lisbon by car.

Along with Comporta, I discovered a small quaint seaside town called Sesimbra, a 45-minute drive from Lisbon, which has great seafood in tiny restaurants along cobblestone streets.

The best restaurant group in Lisbon has got to be the Olivier Group of restaurants. Chef Olivier da Costa is a world-renowned chef with a special focus on matured meats, sushi, Portuguese gastronomy, and gorgeous food concepts. With over 25 years of professional hospitality success, chef Olivier da Costa is a global entrepreneur with 27 restaurants in the main capitals of the world (London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Nice, Rome, Bangkok, Koh Samui, Lisbon, Cascais, Algarve, and Porto).

Yakuza is my favourite Olivier restaurant with fresh cold sashimi on ice in a beautifully lit and secluded setting. The fresh fish, seafood, wagyu, and truffled items served at all of the Olivier restaurants are excellent.

SEEN by Olivier has the best view of the city and is perfect for a celebration – the Wagyu beef burger was excellent, and K.O.B. has the most amazing selection of beef from all around the world. At K.O.B., we had the buttery Ireland steak and the rich Argentinian steak. XXL was tucked away on a side street with a hidden romantic atmosphere with fireplaces and the most delicious dish which was egg, truffled mashed potatoes, and four varieties of mushroom.

Another exclusive concept is JNcQUOI (Food meets Fashion meets Hospitality). Exuding a similar vibe to a London ritzy member’s club, JNcQUOI can be found in Lisbon with a gorgeous members club, a beach club, restaurants, bars, and retail shops with hand-picked designer clothes. All the JNcQUOI concepts are elegantly crafted with excellent interior design. We visited their members’ club, which has a 5HS vibe (5 Hertford Street), and we visited the beautifully designed restaurants and bars (Avenida, Asia, Frou Frou). The only place we didn’t get a chance to see is the JNcQUOI Beach Club in Comporta where the group is also designing amazing villas to purchase. JNcQuoi is also opening a boutique hotel in Lisbon in 2024.

Artisan coffee isn’t a thing yet in Lisbon. Coffee in Lisbon isn’t as celebrated as it is in London, Prague, Budapest, and other European cities. In London, the artisan coffee competition is fierce – from the selection of beans to the exact milk brand (The Estate Dairy) the coffee baristas use. In Lisbon, the best coffee I could find was at Copenhagen Coffee Lab which also serves cinnamon buns and cardamon buns. With a few Copenhagen Coffee Labs around Lisbon, it also seems like a great spot for people to work on their laptops.

In Lisbon, for luxury shopping, you can go to Avenida de Liberdade and for a cool more bohemian vibe, Principe Real is the place to be. In Principe Real, we had a delicious lunch with a gorgeous view at the Café Principe Real, tucked away inside the Memmo Unforgettable Hotel. The restaurant served delicious Portuguese food with influences of French, Japanese, and Italian cooking – favourites were the lightly fried fish tempura, ice-cold white wine, and excellent risotto.