Weekend Dining

Saturday Lunch in Lisbon, 30 August 2026: The Best Afternoon This Week

29 August 2026 · 4 min read

Saturday lunch is the meal of the week. Not rushed like weekday lunches. Not overcrowded like Saturday night. Just afternoon light, good food, and time to enjoy it.

At Downunder by Justin Jennings in Santos, Saturday is the only lunch service - 12:00 to 14:30. The kitchen runs the same standards as dinner: MICHELIN Guide Selected food, full tasting menu available, and a wine list that goes deeper than most Lisbon restaurants manage at any time of day.

Why Saturday Lunch Beats Waiting for Dinner

Dinner crowds push restaurants into production mode. Saturday lunch lets the kitchen breathe. Same menu, same wine list, less noise.

You get:

• ▸Tables that aren't back-to-back with the next seating
• ▸A kitchen that's cooking for 20 people, not 50
• ▸Natural light - the dining room at Downunder looks better at 13:00 than 21:00
• ▸The rest of your Saturday still ahead of you

Most fine dining rooms in Lisbon don't bother with lunch. The ones that do often run a simplified menu. Downunder doesn't. Full menu, full wine list, full service.

What's on the Menu Tomorrow

The 5-course tasting menu runs at lunch. €70 per person, wine pairing €45. Australian-Asian fusion - the kind of food you won't find anywhere else in Lisbon.

A la carte available if you'd rather pick individual dishes. The menu leans toward lighter options at lunch - fresh fish, ceviche, duck - things that work better in afternoon heat than the heavier proteins that dominate Saturday night orders.

Booking for Tomorrow

Saturday lunch tables at Downunder book out 3-5 days ahead during summer. If you're reading this on Friday night, there's still availability for tomorrow - but it won't last past morning.

Book via TheFork or call +351 21 401 2967 directly. Mention if you want the tasting menu when you reserve - helps the kitchen prep.

Getting There

Downunder is on Rua dos Industriais 21 in Santos. Between Estrela and Cais do Sodré, closer to the river than most tourists wander.

• ▸From Baixa: 15-minute walk south toward Santos, or tram 25E
• ▸From Cais do Sodré: 10-minute walk west along Avenida 24 de Julho
• ▸Parking: Street parking on weekends, or Santos station underground car park

The neighbourhood is quiet on Saturday afternoons. Locals, not tourists. Good for a walk after lunch - head toward the river or up through Estrela gardens.

What Makes It Worth the Trip

Chef Justin Jennings - inaugural World Cook Champion from Amazon Prime's competition - runs the kitchen personally. 20+ years cooking across Australia, Europe, and Asia. The menu reads Australian-Asian because that's what he actually knows how to cook, not because a consultant told him fusion was trending.

MICHELIN Guide Selected three years running (2024, 2025, 2026). TripAdvisor ranks it #107 out of 5,381 Lisbon restaurants. Numbers don't lie, but they also don't tell the full story.

The full story is this: it's the kind of restaurant where you remember what you ate three months later. That's rarer than you'd think.