Here's the deal. Things are changing lately, and, most of the time, it seems to be for the worse.
Remember how that breakfast buffet with eggs, meats, cheeses, pastries, cereals, coffee, tea, juices, and more seemed to be an almost standard expectation when staying at a hotel in Portugal? In some cases, it still is. However, some hotels are adopting tiered rate structures where the breakfast buffets are add-ons ... and ridiculously priced.
Enter Delifrance. I was not going to pay those prices to eat at a hotel's breakfast room. And I sensed that merchants around the hotels were providing good alternatives to this "problem." You would see sandwich boards in front of smaller eateries advertising their reasonably priced breakfast offers. As for Delifrance, I was running an "errand" one morning, venturing between two Metro stations to do so, and it was near the Laranjeiras Metro station.
They offer sandwiches, pastries, juices, soft drinks, coffee, teas, and more. The prices are fair. You go up to the counter and order. They bring the food to your table and most people seem to be eating inside. (If you walk down the streets with food and drink in hand, that's a sure sign you're American, so maybe you should eat inside.) Delifrance is a bright and tidy place sitting on a corner and it has big windows. You'll see locals who probably come in here regularly as well as folks who had it recommended to them to get a bite or, like me, sort of stumbled into it.
If your lodging is away from the historic center and the rotunda, and at one of the hotels near the Gulbenkian and the zoo, Delifrance is only a Metro station or two away. It looks like more people will be taking up smaller merchants such as this one for their breakfast and lunch offers when staying at urban hotels in this city. For this reason, and also because it's sensible and good, I recommend Delifrance. read more