Potentially the Best Traditional Italian Restaurant in Portugal @ Fiammetta, Lisbon

I hands down believe that Fiammetta is potentially the best traditional Italian restaurant, not only in Lisbon, but in all of Portugal.

The dishes are also ridiculously well priced considering the quality, and that everything - including the pasta itself - is made right in front of you in the open kitchen that you can watch in awe to your heart's content.

My husband Thomas and I have been here many times before, usually with Thomas' uncle Gary, who introduced us to this restaurant.

And while I'm not the biggest fan of eating Italian food at restaurants, that's because most Italian restaurants are nowhere near this level - and nowhere near traditional.

Fiammetta is exceptional in this way. I saw a review on Google Maps say something along the lines of this restaurant offering all the quintessential traditional Italian dishes perfectly made - not including local dishes, and Thomas tells me that's a pretty spot on description. As I haven't anywhere near his experience with traditional Italian food, I am happy to defer to his opinion.

But flash to one of our recent visits - on my birthday - where I dragged my brother and his husband out to this wonderful restaurant with my husband and I for dinner.

We grabbed an appetizer, and each grabbed a different dish off the menu, and while there were obvious winners - predictably - absolutely everything was off the charts amazing.

In terms of tried and true - the carbonara takes the cake -

Do not assume that because it's the cheapest meal on the menu, that it's not worth grabbing. Quite the opposite. Heaven.

When we came back here for our wedding anniversary two nights later, Thomas and I each grabbed a carbonara, and asked for my absolute favourite dish here to share as an "appetizer" in advance - the phenomenal steak tartare -

Absolute heaven, and Thomas tells me it's made exactly the way it should be, and accurately priced, not too expensive albeit it being a rarer dish to be offered here in Portugal than it would be in France.

It comes with a side of made-in-house crisps. Not as traditional a choice as fries would have been, but these were so phenomenal tasting they were a hit with the whole table, and I was happy to share, as the steak tartare was pleasantly large enough to be filling on its own, making me happy to donate over half the chips to everyone else at the table, who were all obsessed with them.

Fiammetta also has an exceptional wine list, featuring wines from a plethora of different regions and countries, and unlike most restaurants in Portugal, the wine list was chalk full of wines you cannot merely walk into a supermarket to grab.

They're not overpriced, and some of them would have cost us more to grab ourselves than they were offered for at the restaurant. Impressive to be sure.

Thomas and my brother also grabbed a beer each, as they offer one on tap, and it was delicious.

I will also mention that after the appetizer and main courses, we grabbed three different desserts here - the tiramisu taking the cake as the absolute favourite amongst all.

I don't even like tiramisu, but I fell in love with this one, and absolutely had to agree that it was the best dessert we'd tried, and that I would grab it again if I was in the mood for a dessert (which doesn't happen all that often, to be fair).

Sadly, I have little to show in terms of pictures, as we gobbled all the deserts down entirely long before we realized we hadn't taken a single picture, so here are a few shots of empty dishes for you as proof of our obsession with these incredible things -

Fiammetta has indoor seating, outdoor seating that's covered in case it rains and is not on an altogether-too-busy-street, and is typically packed full for lunch.

At lunch, they offer daily specials that aren't on their menu, different every day and honestly so worth going out of your way to try.

I've had a number of dishes that are daily specials and I would never hesitate to grab one of these over the items on the main menu, as if I'm ever here for dinner, sometimes they have enough of the ingredients left over from lunch to make one of the specials for dinner, but it's incredibly unlikely and rare.

Definitely err on the side of caution and call in to make a reservation before you show up, even if it's just before a visit.

I've made reservations up to an hour ahead without problems for dinner, but I think reserving a day or two in advance for lunch is optimal, still it's worth a try making a reservation even if you're just about to head over for lunch.

I wholeheartedly believe that nothing you order at this incredible restaurant will fail to delight your taste buds, and that - if you can - you should try to grab lunch at this fantastic restaurant as often as you can, so you can experience the plethora of off-menu dishes they feature.

Nothing but good things to say about this place!