GOING OUT FOR DINNER?
Dinner at Penalva da Graca
WANT TO GO FOR A SWIM?
A busy day during the high season.
WE LOVE RIDING THE TRAM 28
Lisbon's popular Tram 28 is only 3 minutes from Tins Lisbon. Here is all you need to know.
The best Chinese food in Lisbon is only 5 min from Tings
We love the Secret Chinese Restaurants
Looking for authentic Chinese food in Lisbon?
Forget the fancy fusion spots and follow the real locals—just five minutes down the hill from Tings Lisbon in Mouraria. People call the small Chinese eateries you find here secret or even illegal. For many years we didn't know! To us they were just the best Chinese restaurants in Lisbon,,,
The myth of Lisbon’s illegal Chinese restaurants
Have you heard about the illegal restaurants?
If the guest had asked me about legal restaurants I would have been surprised.
The Chinese ones….?
The guest continued and showed me his tablet with a story from Munchies last year: secret and illegal… the heading said. It was about Lisbon’s real Chinese restaurants.
We know them very well – and if there is something these restaurants are not then its being secret. And I doubt they are more illegal than most other restaurants in Lisbon.
I’m here because I’ve recently heard about Lisbon’s “illegal” Chinese restaurants, known by locals as Chinês clandestinos. Family-run joints operating from the homes of local Chinese residents, these spots were once genuinely illicit operations. Although most are now above board...
How to find the secret Chinese restaurants
I’m here because I’ve recently heard about Lisbon’s “illegal” Chinese restaurants, known by locals as Chinês clandestinos. Family-run joints operating from the homes of local Chinese residents, these spots were once genuinely illicit operations. Although most are now above board...
Authentic Chinese food near Martim Moniz
If you’ve traveled through China, you’ll recognize the difference immediately. Many “Chinese” restaurants mentioned in guidebooks offer generic international dishes with a dash of soy sauce. Not here.
The small Chinese-run restaurants around Martim Moniz, Intendente, and Almirante Reis serve the real thing—homemade noodles, hand-pulled dumplings, sizzling stir-fries, and soups brimming with rich flavors. They may look modest, but they deliver the most genuine Chinese dining experience in Lisbon.
These restaurants are not fine dining; they’re everyday dining. And that’s what makes them so special.
We often go there when cravings hit—it’s cheap, fast, and full of flavor. The atmosphere feels more like a canteen in Chengdu than a European capital.
Lisbon’s Chinatown: ingredients, groceries & hidden gems
Annette and I have dinner for 20 Euros incl. drinks.
It’s also in and around Martim Moniz, you’ll find the Chinese community’s small but vibrant whole sales,
A paradise for all of us who love to cook or explore Chinese cuisine.
It’s here we buy:
- Authentic groceries packed with sauces, herbs, and Asian spices
- Fresh fruits, mushrooms, noodles, and greens delivered daily
- Hard-to-find delicacies like fermented cabbage, duck, pig’s ear, or marinated tofu
- Household essentials like chopping knives, woks, and bamboo steamers
Some of these shops have kitchens in the back where they prepare delicious takeaway boxes—perfect if you’re in a hurry or want to eat back at Tings.
One of our favorite spots even makes fresh noodles to order for every bowl of soup. The food arrives in minutes—fast, simple, and delicious, just like in China.
We eat there at least once a month. Authentic. Affordable. Addictive.
Bon appétit—or as they say in China, hǎo chī!
/Thomas
