By now you’re all very much aware that I am a picky eater, I will remove bits from my plate, literally pick at my food and eat around it too. For this reason, during my first few visits to Lisbon, Pedro and I both struggled to find places to eat and would often be walking around for hours before finding somewhere alright with a menu that had at least one thing on it that I would eat. For this reason I penned out a picky eaters guide this year to help those of you, who like me, struggle to find places to eat when you go abroad, but specifically for Lisbon. 

So, during my stay in Lisbon in August I used the menu that Pedro and I had created in April to guide me for where I wanted to eat. There were some restaurants that I wanted to return to and some that we didn’t get around to visiting last time that I would have liked to, one of those restaurants was The Fifties Diner.

Located in Av. Dom João II 43 E, 1990-083, The Fifties Diner stands out against the plain strip of bars and restaurants, it has a colourful neon setting from the outside with the menu displayed. Getting to this diner is fairly easy as it’s located by a popular mall, we came here before going to the cinema to see Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and made it a date.

 

The Menu

The menu at The Fifties is ideal for picky eaters as it’s mostly consistent of burgers, you can also request to have bits taken off and added so it fits to your taste, however you can also order things such as hotdogs, steaks and salads.

I had a cheese burger with bacon and salad; I don’t normally eat cheese but I felt like it was taking away from the burger if I removed it, so I ate it with the cheese and I am glad I did because it was such a feast of great taste.

You can request the menu in both English and in Portuguese; because Pedro is obviously Portuguese it’s only natural that waiters assume that I am too, we find ourselves being given two Portuguese menus everywhere we go, but it’s not a problem for us because we normally either ask for an English menu or Pedro will translate, but the server that we had was really helpful and friendly, he grabbed us an English menu in no time and I was able to pick my food with ease.

The Vibe

The vibe of the restaurant is incredibly welcoming and obviously, aesthetically pleasing. It’s full of fifties pop culture and the soundtrack in the restaurant is obviously hits from the fifties. There’s giant Marilyn Monroe, Betty Boop and Elvis Presley statues which look really cool, and the restaurant itself is bright and vibrant, it’s clean and although quite tight, there’s plenty of seats available.

 

 

The Dessert

Normally if I have a milkshake, I’ll take a miss on the dessert options but because I had decided to write up a review of this diner after enjoying the main course, I decided to take full advantage of the menu and get a dessert as well.

I went with a chocolate fudge cake because believe it or not, it’s my favourite kind of cake. It was a huge slice, and considering what I had just eaten, I was quite full and did struggle to eat it, but it was ridiculously tasty, served with hot chocolate and a generous whip of cream.

How Pricey is the menu?

I’d give it a price rating of €€ out of €€€€€. It’s fairly priced and you’re not obligated to order as much as we did so you may pay a lot less than we did too, but for the amount of food that you get, the quality of the food and how enjoyable the overall atmosphere of the restaurant is, I think the pricing on the menu is brilliant and convenient for everybody.

How convenient is this restaurant for picky eaters?

I’m the pickiest sort of eater and I make eating out impossibly difficult, so to find a restaurant like this, love everything that’s available on the menu and even have a dessert? This menu is a 10/10 for me on the scale of how much can a picky eater enjoy this. I was so pleased to find somewhere that I could really enjoy my meal, and if we’re back in Lisbon any time soon, we’ll definitely be making a trip here again.