How about Coffee

Espresso, filter and a case of homemade cakes

The order that defines How about Coffee is a cappuccino and something from the cake case. Espresso drinks and filter coffee carry the drinks list, the sweet things are made in house, and the two are weighted evenly enough that a short visit can be a coffee and a slice without either feeling like an afterthought.

The coffee is the side with outside recognition: the cafe was named a Portugal country winner in the 2025 European Coffee Trip awards. What that means in practice is that the filter is worth ordering on its own terms rather than as a fallback when the espresso machine is busy.

A quiet counter with a terrace

The room is welcoming and quiet, and the small terrace is what turns a coffee into an hour. Regulars use it as a place to work or catch up, and the family feel keeps it neighbourhood rather than formal. It sits on the Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques stretch of Lisbon, off the tourist track, which is part of why it stays calm.

Counter service sets the pace, but nobody is moved along. The terrace tables in particular are treated as somewhere to sit with a laptop or a friend rather than a place to drink an espresso standing up, and the brunch trade means the room turns slowly through the middle of the day.

Then decide sweet or savoury

For a first order, take the cappuccino, an espresso or one of the filter coffees, because those are the drinks the house is built on. It does not name a guest roaster, so the coffee decision stays simple: pick the format you like and let the counter handle the rest.

For brunch, the plates to know are the toasties, avocado toast with salmon and a poached egg, and salmon with hollandaise and avocado. They are made to order, so they arrive at the pace of a sit-down brunch rather than a takeaway counter, which suits the terrace.

If the visit is sweet instead, the homemade cakes are the point. They shift with what has been baked, they account for a good share of the regular trade, and they sit better with the filter coffee than with anything else on the list.