At this point in the trip, my poor mom was starting to feel nauseous but I was fine, so we continued exploring the city since it was our last day here. I had really wanted to check out this place called LX Factory as I heard it was kind of a cool, hipster enclave with shops, restaurants and art installations and it wasn't too far from Belem.
It was indeed right along the tram/bus line back from Belem, so I would definitely recommend that you take a small detour on your way back into the main city. LX Factory is tucked away out of sight from the main street so definitely bookmark it in your Google Maps before heading out. When you turn the corner of the back alley, you see the entrance which kind of reminds me of the entrance to Freetown Christiana in Copenhagen, but more artsy and with less anarchy. There's a large outdoor space and then several abandoned loft buildings - very industrial chic. There are several places to eat there but we were starving so we ended up going to the first restaurant we saw which was A Praca. The vibe there is also very much in the same vein as the overall compound - spacious, funky and hipsterish. The clientele was actually a mix of locals, tourists, young and old which was interesting.
My mom and I were pretty exhausted at this point and she was still feeling sick, so we went light on the food but the menu is huge and extensive if you want to have a full meal there. I opted for the cous cous with salmon and a glass of sangria. The sangria was amazing - a huge glass with tons of fruit and wine in it. I know we weren't in Spain but it seemed like a good of a classic recipe as any I've had before. The cous cous dish was actually great and just what I was looking for in a light afternoon snack. It was served with slices of grilled salmon, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes and pesto sauce on top. It wasn't heavy but it was enough food to fill me up and fuel me up before dinner. My mom had a tomato soup with an egg because that was all she could really hold down - poor thing.
The waitstaff was really nice and I could see it being a super fun Sunday Funday kind of place - lots of tables had big pitchers of sangrias at their table. It's too bad that we weren't in the best shape to take advantage of this place (or the rest of LX Factory). But it's definitely got a cool vibe and is certainly different from the rest of Lisbon which makes it worth checking out. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to the hotel, I got the stomach bug/food poisoning and we didn't end up getting to have a last blow out dinner in Lisbon. :( Despite that, I will loved my time in Lisbon and while I wouldn't say it comes close to being foodie destination like Mexico City, it's still a lovely city for its history, beautiful textiles and general beauty.
Total bill: 28 euros
Photo Credit: Yelp
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