Good Vibes & Delicious Traditional Italian Pizzas @ Coppola Pizzeria, Lisbon

If you're looking for a restaurant with good mood - low lighting, beautiful rustic interior, a lively vibe and great overall ambiance - whether for a date or a small group, but that simultaneously also has excellent food, Coppola Pizzeria has got your back.

As a heads up - if you are looking for the entrance to this place and were hoping to see a sign, however hidden, with the name of the restaurant to give you an indication you're in the right location - you're out of luck.

The only thing on top of this restaurant is a load of gorgeous ivy, and you're going to have to double check with the wait staff that comes to greet you at the font if you're not sure you have the right restaurant.

Unfortunately, when I tried to make reservations over the phone they told me I could only do so online, and they seem to be charging a 10 euro (per person) cancellation fee if you do (which I find ridiculous), but other than that, the downsides of this restaurant are that it may feel a little too loud, dark, or busy for your tastes.

If none of that sounds like the type of thing that would put you off - or better yet - is actually on the menu, so to speak, in terms of the type of ambiance you're into, this is the place for you.

My husband Thomas and I had a date night here not too long ago, and while it's not on par with the other Italian restaurant in Lisbon that we love, Fiammetta, by any stretch of the imagination, it definitely does check the boxes in terms of offering traditional Italian food, though in a less upscale sort of way.

We've been here a couple times before and had the Four Cheese and Creamy Tartufata pizzas previously.

Although they were delicious, and we're usually the type to err on the side of caution and keep ordering dishes we know are tried and true, this time we decided to grab two new items on the menu to see how they'd taste.

I ended up grabbing the Delfina, and boy was I happy with my decision -

Creamy and delicious cheese, pesto for days, a generous serving of meat that's perfection with the taste, tomatoes and basil that go flawlessly with the rest, and the slight accented topping of pistachio for the flavour and the texture? Yes. Please.

Is it the new favourite? Absolutely, yes. For me at least.

Thomas' choice off the menu was the Calzone, and while we initially decided (before our food arrived) to split our dinners half-half, I realized just as soon as our menu items arrived that we had each managed to nail the perfect dish for each of us -

Very cheesy, very tomato-heavy, perfect dough, perfect texture.

He tried a taste of mine, I tried a taste of his, and while we each loved the other's choice, in my mind there was immediately no doubt about it - his meal was far more up his alley, and the same was true for me and what I'd ordered.

I do feel that the Delfina pizza was more filling then the Calzone, so I "donated" an entire slice of my pizza to Thomas after he'd finished his Calzone, while he shared a few more bites of his super-tomatoey and rich dish with me throughout the night.

But to each his own and here, that definitely ended up being the case.

We grabbed two of whichever beer they had on tap alongside our menu and our chatter died out a little as we made our way through these fabulous meals.

As we typically do, we passed on the dessert since neither of us are all that much dessert people, so sadly, I cannot offer you any guidance there.

But with regards to the main dishes - I'd venture to say you can't really make a wrong turn. It seems like anything here is a solid bet, and it's just a matter of personal taste and preference.

The ingredients are fantastic, the way the flavours go together is top notch, and no, they will not even let you make a wrong choice (and indeed the customer is not always right here), because I've asked before whether I could order a four cheese pizza with mushrooms to no avail - they refused to offer it.

Traditional Italian, for absolute sure. But I'm a-okay with that.

I'm not going to lie, the next time we are here it will be a tough call for me whether to grab the Delfina again or to try something new - as there are likely to be a number of other hidden gems on this menu.

But the Delfina is my definite favourite right now, and I don't know for certain, but I assume that the Calzone and the four cheese pizza are roughly tied for Thomas, with the Calzone being ever so slightly ahead in terms of hitting the spot for him.

I suppose it will depend on his mood, or if he's willing to chance a new item on the menu, though he'd no doubt be less adventurous than me.