Every serious food traveller knows the feeling. You stumble into somewhere: a narrow street, an unmarked door, a shop that does not advertise. And something clicks. You taste something extraordinary, you stay longer than you planned, and you leave with the quiet, slightly selfish conviction that you have found something you would rather not share too widely. In Lisbon, that place is POP.
Off the tourist map, on purpose
POP sits on the Rua da Senhora do Monte in Graça, a neighbourhood that most visitors to Lisbon never reach. Not because it is difficult (a taxi from the Baixa takes ten minutes) but because it does not appear on the standard itinerary. POP was opened by two Frenchmen who came to Lisbon, fell for Portugal’s wine and producers, and decided to share what they had found. The shop carries no tourist markup and no products chosen for packaging appeal, just things that are actually good, at prices that reflect what they are worth.
The products that make it special
The muxama is where most first-time visitors start, and where most are converted. Portugal’s cured tuna from the Algarve, in elegant vacuum-sealed tubes, sourced personally by Elliot: sliced thin, drizzled with olive oil, paired with a glass of natural wine. A combination that feels both ancient and entirely right.
The Tricana conservas range covers every preparation: sardines in olive oil, with lemon, smoked, mackerel fillets, squid. The Chocolat Bonnat selection runs to eight or nine single-origin bars (Ceylan, Madagascar, Cuba, Cacao Cusco, Maragnan), grand cru chocolate from a legendary French master chocolatier, rare outside France. The Gorreana teas from the Azores, the oldest tea plantation in Europe, established 1883, are the kind of product that makes a foodie stop and ask questions.
The wine
The wine selection is equally compelling. Every bottle is a natural wine from a small Portuguese producer. Whites from the Lisbon region and the Dão, reds from Bairrada and the Alentejo, pet-nats, orange wines from talha producers, rare Colares from ungrafted century-old vines in Atlantic sand dunes near Sintra, vintage Port from Vieira de Sousa. Every glass has a story.
The person who makes it what it is
Owner Elliot is the reason people who visit once come back every time they are in Lisbon. His knowledge is genuine, his enthusiasm is contagious, and his ability to read what a customer actually wants is the kind of gift that cannot be faked. The Google reviews tell the same story, unprompted, again and again: hidden gem, wonderful owner, best discovery of the trip, came back every day. A 4.9 out of five, across nearly a hundred reviews.
Before you leave
When you do eventually leave POP, and it will be later than you planned, the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte is a hundred metres up the hill. Bring the glass Elliot lent you, whatever is left in the bottle, and the last of the muxama. The view over the whole of Lisbon at dusk is the right ending for an afternoon like this. Keep the address, if you like. Or share it with the people who deserve it.
POP, Rua da Senhora do Monte 38C, Graça, Lisbon. Open daily from 2pm.