<a target="_blank" href="https://www.belcanto.pt/">Belcanto</a>

R. Serpa Pinto 10A, 

1200-026 Lisbon, 

Portugal+351 21 342 0607

BY NEAL MARTIN | MAY 2, 2025 The Food:Amuse-boucheOysters,
seaweed, samphire with apple and cucumber granita Beetroot,
pine nut milk and mustard seedsHamachi,
cabbage and broth of “Cozido à Portuguesa”Egg
yolk, eel, black truffle with parsley puree Scarlet
shrimp and “barefoot cuttlefish”Turbot,
razor clams-infused Carnaroli rice and caviarSuckling
pig, mole of Sarrabulho with watercress emulsionGoats’
milk, squeezed lime ice cream, fig, toasted buckwheat and cotton candy“Abade
de Priscos”: pine nut gel, yuzu sorbet and kumquat with dehydrated yoghurt
waferPetits-foursThe Wines:2022 Quinta
de Chocapalha CH by Chocapalha - 882021 Giz
Vinhas Velhas Red - 882022 António
Maçanita Tinta Negra Dos Villões - 93Lisbon
has become one of Europe’s great gastronomic centres. It’s not quite the Mecca that
is San Sebastián. Nonetheless, epicures descend into the Portuguese capital to devour
as many Pasteis de Nata as humanly possible (I recommend a pilgrimage to
the ubiquitous custard tart’s birthplace at Pasteis de Belém, a short ride out
of the city) or to savour world-class cuisine at one of the city’s 17 Michelin-starred
restaurants. Lisbon caters to gourmands of all types, especially those with
pescatarian leanings, since the Atlantic lies just yonder at the end of the Tagus
estuary.I strive
to include restaurants of varying levels in my Vinous Tables. On my first trip to
Libson two years ago, I focused on institutions such as <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-solar-dos-presuntos-lisbon-portugal-apr-2023">Solar dos Presentos</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-cervejaria-ramiro-lisbon-portugal-apr-2023">Cervejaria Ramiro</a>. On this, my second sojourn, I reserved
a table at what is generally regarded as Lisbon’s finest restaurant—Belcanto. José
Avillez is to Portugal what Thomas Keller is to the U.S., or Gordon Ramsay to
the U.K.: a gifted, renowned chef who became a public figure with attendant
books and TV appearances. Opened in 2012, Belcanto became the first Portuguese
restaurant to win two Michelin stars and is listed at number 31 in San
Pellegrino’s “World’s 50 Best Restaurants.” In recent years, Avillez has built
a small empire of eateries around Portugal, including the one-star “Encanto”
next door, but Belcanto is the jewel in the crown.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746111788631-belcanto+frontage_VT.JPG">The façade of Belcanto.The
restaurant is located in the Chiado district in the heart of Lisbon: an
epicentre of gastronomic temples (two-starred “rival” Alma is the next block
down…you could feasibly do both in a day!) Belcanto lies close to the opera
theatre, hence its name. The interior is sober and neutral: dark wood and
brass, ambient lighting, minimalist half-circle mirrors on the walls, a
discrete nod to 70s aesthetics. The room feels warm and inviting. The vaulted
ceiling exposes the original brickwork and telegraphs a sense of history overhead,
a neat juxtaposition against the modern open kitchen with what felt like multiple
stations. A mezzanine houses a private dining room, and there’s a chef’s table deep
inside the kitchen for those who want to get up close and personal. There is
plenty of space between the white-clothed dining tables, though you can still
lean over and chat if you wish. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746190321424-belcanto+kitchen_VT.JPG">The team hard at work in the restaurant's open kitchen. Before
broaching the menu, let me state that this was one of the finest restaurant
services that I have ever encountered. I don’t refer only to the politeness
of the smartly dressed waiters in their white gloves. I’m talking about the
warmth of their welcome and affability—serious, but happy to joke. The
preprandial request to let them know if you require the restroom so they can
pause service. The invitation to tour the kitchen, where I was warmly greeting
by kitchen staff, communicating that I was welcome to curiously nose about.
Then, there are the small gestures. Before the first course, we are given a
card that simply says “Welcome,” and then each course is preceded by another
card with an illustration on one side and ad hoc words, pointers to imminent
dishes on the flipside. Each one is slotted into a brass holder on the table,
then at the end of the meal, your pack is whisked away and returned in a sealed
wax envelop with an added personal message from the team and even Avillez’s
signature. These multiple gestures made the whole experience feel personal, familial,
almost wistful—leitmotifs of the dining experience.Belcanto
offers à la carte options at 225 and 250 euros per person. Frankly, you
are much better advised to go for the tasting “discovery” menu at 265 euros. Expensive?
No kidding. But that is the going rate for dining at this level. Moreover, I could
mention several inferior restaurants in London that cost more. In my opinion,
given the quality offered, this represents acceptable value, and apropos
Belcanto and indeed all restaurants in Portugal, there is a pecuniary advantage
for wine-lovers that I’ll broach later. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746190483593-belcanto+amuse1_VT.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746190531927-belcanto+amuse2_VT.JPG">The four-part amuse-bouche.The
meal begins with a four-part amuse-bouche exquisitely arranged on a tree-like
metal sculpture, one miniature platform for each. Firstly, a tiny tartlet of
fatty tuna tartare. One mouthful that is to die for. I could have finished there
and departed happy (almost). Secondly, a small cupcake made of codfish and
turnip that delivered satisfying earth and sea flavours. Then, a small golden
ball that looked like an after-dinner chocolate. In fact, this is partridge and
Escabeche delicately wrapped in edible gold leaf, a grain of salt on top.
Finally, what looks like a blackcurrant pastille is in fact seaweed cannelloni topped
with a small, glistening lobe of sea urchin roe. The texture is amazing. It
collapses in the mouth, releasing sublime saline/marine flavours that are countered
by the sweetness of the urchin. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746190778151-belcanto+oyster_VT.JPG">Oysters, seaweed, samphire with apple and cucumber granita.The
following dish is the most arresting and uncompromising, in a good way. Our newly
delivered card simply reads “Sea,” and the dish evokes that word like few
dishes I have tasted. It consists of an oyster sauce—the bivalves caught in Guincho,
down the Portuguese coast towards Cascais—however, the star of the show, the
trick up its sleeve, is the seaweed, or more accurately, kelp. Avillez uses
kelp to form tiny ribbons and keeps its air bladders, which you gently crush
between your teeth. It tastes much sweeter than you would expect and imparts an
umami sensation unlike anything I’ve experienced. The dish is topped with
samphire, plus a sharp green apple and cucumber granita that enhances the
freshness. A startling and remarkable creation. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746190900019-belcanto+beetroot_VT.JPG">Beetroot, pine nut milk and mustard seeds. Next is
“Earth.” This is another incredible plate centred around the humble beetroot, sliced
into a thin ribbon and served with pine nut milk, fried sweet potato and
mustard seeds. It looks amazing: stark red and milk white. The beetroot is
perfectly al dente and the pine nut milk delivers a nuanced sweetness
that marries beautifully with the beetroot’s earthiness. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746190960605-belcanto+cabbage_VT.JPG">Hamachi, cabbage and broth of “Cozido à Portuguesa.”We move
to hamachi, cabbage and broth of “Cozido à Portuguesa.” Hamachi is the Japanese
word for yellowtail, a pescatarian delicacy and not the easiest “finned friend”
to catch. The cabbage itself is fermented and grilled, mixed with a broth made
from sausage and various meats. It looks rustic and lacks the aestheticism of
the previous two dishes. I would say that here, the nuanced flavours of the
yellowtail are a bit lost in the broth, although I enjoyed the cabbage (four
words that my mum would never believe I would ever write when I was a kid
refusing to even acknowledge the cabbage on my plate).<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191074834-belcanto+egg_VT.JPG">Egg yolk, eel, black truffle with parsley puree.The
confit of egg yolk is served with smoked and grilled eel, mushrooms and black
truffle with parsley puree, added to an eel and poultry jus. Our waiter advises
us to pop the yolk first. This is just gorgeous. Strangely, our card says
“seasonal,” but this dish is so autumnal in late March! It’s warm and filling,
each element beautifully combined. The eel takes a back seat—it’s all about the
egg and fungi.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191162514-belcanto+shrimp_VT.JPG">Scarlet shrimp and “barefoot cuttlefish.”The
following dish is scarlet shrimp and “barefoot cuttlefish.” The scarlet shrimp,
a well-known Portuguese delicacy, is heavenly, though I could have eaten mine a
notch warmer. The cuttlefish is actually cuttlefish ink, served with squid and
smoked bacon, so it ends up being quite rich in style. I wonder if the smoked
bacon is superfluous in this instance. &nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191293873-belcanto+turbot_VT.JPG">Turbot, razor clams-infused Carnaroli rice and caviar. I
prefer the following dish that is built around fresh turbot placed on top of razor-clam-infused
Carnaroli rice that adds a creamy texture, with black caviar. This is rich yet
paradoxically nuanced in flavour, the caviar lending saltiness to
counterbalance the sweetness emanating from the rice.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191384224-belcanto+pig_VT.JPG">Suckling pig, mole of Sarrabulho with watercress emulsion.The
solitary meat dish is suckling pig. It is served like a wafer with either side
consisting of a gossamer-thin crackling. The plate is drizzled with mole of Sarrabulho,
a Portuguese stew made from tripe and blood, plus a watercress emulsion. This
is very intense, to the point where I feel it risks unbalancing the entire
tasting dinner. That does not infer that it’s not absolutely delicious and
brilliantly executed, but in retrospect, I would have preferred a meat dish containing
less richness than suckling pig.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191442712-belcanto+goat_VT.JPG">Goats’ milk, squeezed lime ice cream, fig, toasted buckwheat and cotton candy.We move
to the pre-dessert, and our card has written on it: “grandmother’s recipe,”
“childhood” and “fig tree”. Our waiter takes away the napkin and presents a
white cotton sleeve, advising us to put it on. This is because Avillez used to
wipe his mouth with his sleeve as a kid. It’s novel, a bit of sentimental
theatre…why not? There is a cutout of a goat on edible rice paper served with
warmed goats’ milk and squeezed lime ice cream, fig, toasted buckwheat and
cotton candy. It’s small and all the better for it: light yet perfectly
balanced. It does the job in fomenting feelings of childhood, though my
desserts rarely exceeded “Arctic Roll,” nor did I wipe my mouth on my sleeve. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191579103-belcanto+yuzu_VT.JPG">“Abade de Priscos”: pine nut gel, yuzu sorbet and kumquat with dehydrated yoghurt wafer. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191602505-belcanto+petit+fours_VT.JPG">Petits-fours.The
final course, the main dessert, is “abade de Priscos” that comprises a pine nut
gel, yuzu sorbet and kumquat with a brittle wafer made from dehydrated yoghurt.
This is another divine dessert, the wafer so nuanced and milky sweet to counter
the sharpness of the sorbet. Finally, four petits fours, each served in its own
teardrop-shaped wooden box.Around
80% of the wine list is made up of Portuguese wines, though there is a fairly
deep selection from elsewhere, including blue chips from Bordeaux and Burgundy.
I suppose the question is why? Sure, there are customers that want to
drop a bomb on a bottle of Petrus and, lest we forget, doing so helps the
bottom line for any restaurant, irrespective of status. But as more restaurants
reconfigure menus around vegetables and fish, reflecting changing tastes
fuelled by greater interest in healthy eating, it begs the question: where does
that leave red wine? Especially more structured and tannic reds. I’m thinking
of the very high end here. I think of how Brett Graham at The Ledbury shifted
his menu away from meat with intense reduction sauces post-pandemic. Or the
single meat dish at <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-osip-mar-2025">Osip</a>. Now here at Belcanto, and elsewhere. Is
this a European movement? The United States seems more faithful to multi-meat
menus, or maybe that is just happenstance. I would be interested to hear
thoughts on this matter.Belcanto
offers a three-tier wine-pairing menu that starts at 150 euros per person. I am
not against wine-pairing menus, especially as it offers chance to demonstrate
sommeliers’ skills. However, two things dissuade me. Firstly, the wines are
nearly always served via Coravin, a device without which wine-pairing menus
would vanish overnight. However, I don’t really like wines served via Coravin
because I find it can alter the taste, plus it makes the ritual of serving wine
a little sterile. Call me old fashioned, but I like the sound of a popping cork
more than the hiss of a Coravin. Secondly,
at least in Portugal, there are bountiful domestic whites and reds that mean
some of the king’s ransom for the set menu can be offset by the 50-70 euros you
pay for a great Portuguese wine. This is in stark contrast to Burgundy, where
you have to shell out a three-figure sum for a halfway-decent Chardonnay or
Pinot Noir. So, I forego the generous offer of 35 euro corkage per bottle—far
less corkage than other establishments, if offered at all—and order a bottle of
white. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191747210-belcanto+white+wine_VT.JPG">The 2022
CH by Chocapalha from Quinta de Chocapalha comes from the Lisbon
wine region. It is 100% Arinto that undergoes nine months of bâtonnage. It is
quite Burgundian on the nose, with pleasant almond and vanilla scents that are
not overpowering. The palate is quite leesy with a decent line of acidity. It
is perfectly pleasant, though to be honest, I feel it lacks some personality. A
technically proficient white Portuguese wine, but it follows an impeccable 2022
Branco from António Madeira that blew me away a couple of nights earlier. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1746191770097-belcanto+red+wines_VT.JPG"> The 2021
Vinhas Velhas Red from Giz (which translates to “chalk”) comes from
winemaker Luis Gomes, who farms century-old Baja vines in Barriada. It was aged
in French oak for 20 months. This is young and primal on the nose with
precocious black cherries and a touch of sloes intermixed with liquorice. The
palate is likewise structured and primal, I would say 12 to 18 months away from
its drinking window. The tannins are quite grippy, partly due to the oak
regime, and the fruit is a powerful array of black cherry, cassis and
blueberry, though it lacks a little nuance and elegance on the finish. The 2021
is outclassed by the wonderful 2022 Tinta Negra Dos Villões from
António Maçanita from the island of Madeira, which is, of course,
synonymous with its namesake fortified wines. This was a real eye-opener. This
cuvée is 70% destemmed and after a 40-day skin maceration, matured in 228-litre
oak barrels. Our sommelier advised that it is not unlike a Gamay, and he was
dead on the money: vivacious Morello cherry, wild strawberry and orange zest
spring from the glass with wonderful delineation. The palate delivers exquisite
balance with edgy red fruit, very tensile yet supremely focused, with a touch
of piquancy on the finish. Maçanita produces wine in several other areas,
including the Azores, and this bottle makes me want to try all of them!Does
Belcanto live up to the billing? &nbsp;It was
unequivocally a memorable dining experience and certainly merits its two
Michelin stars. I would not describe it as completely faultless. At the end of
the meal, our waiter asked what our favourite dish was, and then our least
favourite. The question caught me off guard, but it showed that they do respect
feedback. I must admit being completely stuffed by the time I reached the
suckling pig, even after missing out on lunch during the day. The dishes are
not heavy, nor do they utilise tubs of butter like in France. Perhaps it was
the intensity of flavours that accreted with each course? That is my only
quibble. &nbsp;







































































































































However,
the service was second to none, and what a novelty to be dining in a
Michelin-starred restaurant with plenty of affordable bottles on offer. The
setting is gorgeous. You depart feeling as if you have been on a gustatory
journey with José Avillez, which is part of his intention. If you want to taste
high-level cuisine without pretentiousness, then Belcanto comes highly
recommended. Plus, you can wipe your mucky mouth on your sleeve…© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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