Restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal
Michelin-starred French in Alfama. Book it.
Grenache holds a Michelin star (2024) and serves contemporary French cooking built on local Portuguese produce from Chef Philippe Gelfi in a quiet Alfama courtyard. At €€€€ and dinner-only (Monday, Thursday–Sunday), it is a hard booking and a deliberate choice — best for couples or returning visitors ready to commit to a tasting menu format.
Yes — and the answer is clearer than it is for most of Lisbon's fine-dining options. Grenache holds a Michelin star (2024), sits at the €€€€ price tier, and serves contemporary French cuisine from Chef Philippe Gelfi in a setting that is genuinely difficult to replicate in this city. If you are weighing where to spend serious money on a dinner in Lisbon, Grenache earns its place on the shortlist. The caveat: this is not the kind of cooking you book casually. The tasting-menu format, the intimate scale, and the Tuesday-Wednesday closure mean you need to plan ahead and commit to the experience on its own terms.
Grenache occupies a courtyard address at Pátio de Dom Fradique 12 in Alfama, one of Lisbon's oldest and most visited neighbourhoods. The setting — a quiet inner courtyard adjacent to the Palácio dos Condes de Belmonte , gives the restaurant a physical remove from the noise of the surrounding streets that most Alfama restaurants cannot offer. For the first-time visitor who has already done Grenache once and is wondering what to do differently on the second visit: request the terrace if your timing falls between April and October and the forecast cooperates. It is the right setting for the food.
Chef Gelfi's cooking is rooted in French technique but built on local Portuguese ingredients. That is not a marketing hedge , it is the operating logic of the kitchen. The tasting menus (named Grenache and Experience) draw on seasonal produce, which means the dishes you ate six months ago will not be what you encounter on your return. If you are coming back, treat it as a different menu rather than a repeat performance. That also means the counter seats alongside the kitchen , where you can watch the brigade working in their traditional whites , are worth requesting on a second visit if you sat in the main room or on the terrace the first time around.
A Google rating of 4.7 across 323 reviews is unusually consistent for a restaurant at this price point. High-end tasting menus tend to polarise: the format either works for a diner or it does not. That the score holds this high across a meaningful number of reviews suggests the kitchen is delivering reliably across different guest types, not just the committed fine-dining audience.
This is a direct call: Grenache is not a delivery or takeout option. French contemporary cooking at the Michelin star level depends on precision timing, temperature control, and plating that does not survive a transit window. Tasting menus built around local seasonal produce are designed for the table, not a bag. If you are looking for Lisbon fine-dining that travels off-premise in any meaningful way, you are in the wrong category. Grenache's value is entirely in the room , the courtyard setting, the kitchen counter, the terrace, the service pacing. None of that can be replicated at home. Book the table or do not book at all.
Lisbon now has a serious concentration of Michelin-starred cooking. Grenache's French-rooted identity gives it a distinct position in that group , it is not trying to reinterpret Portuguese cuisine, which is what most of the competition is doing. That makes it a complement to a Lisbon restaurant run rather than a substitute. If you are spending several nights in the city, Grenache and Belcanto together cover both ends of the spectrum: French precision at Grenache, modern Portuguese at Belcanto. You do not need to choose between them , they are doing different things. For other angles on the Lisbon fine-dining scene, CURA and Eleven are worth considering, and 50 Seconds from Martin Berasategui adds a progressive Spanish dimension to the mix. Our full Lisbon restaurants guide covers the broader picture.
For context beyond Lisbon, Grenache sits in the same broad category as Odette in Singapore and Amber in Hong Kong , French contemporary cooking outside France, executed at a starred level. Closer to home in Portugal, the one-star tier includes Antiqvvm in Porto, Il Gallo d'Oro in Funchal, and Ocean in Porches, while Vila Joya in Albufeira and Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Leça da Palmeira carry two stars. The Yeatman in Vila Nova de Gaia is worth knowing if you are routing through Porto. Grenache is squarely competitive within the national one-star field.
If you are building a broader Lisbon trip, our guides to Lisbon hotels, Lisbon bars, Lisbon wineries, and Lisbon experiences cover the surrounding picture. 2Monkeys is worth flagging if you want a creative option at a lower price point in the same city.
The venue data doesn't confirm a bar counter as a dining option at Grenache. What the record does confirm is seating at tables alongside the open kitchen, where you can watch the brigade in action — that's the format to request if you want proximity to the cooking at this Michelin-starred address. check the venue's official channels to ask about any bar seating before assuming it's available.
Grenache is a €€€€ tasting-menu restaurant in a courtyard space in Alfama, which suggests limited overall covers rather than a large-group format. For a celebratory table of four to six, the setting works well. For larger parties, confirm directly with the restaurant — the intimate scale that makes the kitchen-side seating compelling is the same thing that constrains group capacity.
Dinner is your only option. Grenache's listed hours run 7 PM to 10:30 PM on the days it operates, with Tuesday and Wednesday closed. There is no lunch service in the database record. Book Thursday through Sunday for the most availability.
Grenache offers two tasting menus — named 'Grenache' and 'Experience' — built around local seasonal produce through a French contemporary lens by Chef Philippe Gelfi. Specific dishes aren't published in the available record, so the practical call is to choose between the two menus at booking and let the kitchen drive the meal. If the terrace is open and the weather holds, request it — it's the most distinctive setting the restaurant has.
CURA and Belcanto are the strongest comparisons for Michelin-level tasting menus in Lisbon, both with stronger name recognition internationally. Feitoria offers a similar special-occasion register with a river-view setting that Grenache doesn't have. If you want broader European fine dining rather than French-rooted cooking, 50 Seconds from Martin Berasategui brings Basque-influenced technique to the Lisbon skyline. Grenache's edge is its Alfama courtyard setting and the distinctly French identity of Gelfi's kitchen — no other Michelin-starred option in Lisbon occupies that position.
Grenache holds a Michelin star (2024) and serves dinner only, five nights a week from 7 PM at Pátio de Dom Fradique 12 in Alfama. The format is tasting menus, not à la carte, so arrive having chosen between the 'Grenache' and 'Experience' options. Budget for €€€€ pricing and book in advance — this is not a walk-in venue. If you're visiting in warmer months, ask about the terrace at booking.
The venue data doesn't specify a dress code, but a Michelin-starred €€€€ tasting-menu restaurant in a historic Lisbon courtyard calls for polished dress. Think of it like any other one-star dinner in a European city: no formal black-tie requirement, but jeans and trainers would be out of place. If you're uncertain, err toward smart.
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