Thanks to Lisbon, I'm completely reconsidering the idea of brunch as a concept... am I a brunch…read morelover after all??? My favorite thing about how they do it in Portugal is the emphasis on fresh-tasting, quality ingredients and natural fruit juices with generally smaller portions, rather than the massive food-coma-inducing servings that you'll find at many American brunch spots.
My search for yet another delicious Lisbon brunch led me to Fauna & Flora, which caught my eye with its aesthetically pleasing menu featuring kataifi "nests", acai/smoothie bowls and unique fruit juice blends.
Everything we ended up ordering was as delicious as it looked and sounded on the menu, from the Tropicália pancakes (a light yet indulgent stack layered with coconut and mango cream, topped with a pineapple confit, mint, lemon and coconut flakes) to the intricate Salmon nests (baked avocado with smoked salmon, cucumber pickle set and a perfectly sous vided egg on top over the crunchy kataifi nest for an elaborate and flavorful mix of textures). Between my bf and I, we also ended up ordering three of their natural fruit juices to try the inventive combos (watermelon and mango, acai with goji, banana and berries, etc), which were all delightfully refreshing~
Although it was a bit of a detour from our sightseeing path, Fauna & Flora is definitely worth a visit -- especially for vegan or gluten free diners who will find no shortage of delicious options on their breakfast and lunch menus. If I had more time in Lisbon, I'd absolutely return to try one of their açaí bowls, their juice of the day or one of the enticing lunch bowls that had me tempted even at brunch!
