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Published on December 22, 2007

Set atop a fancy hillside above Parque Eduardo VII, the restaurant overlooks the old city of Lisbon and surrounds itself with lush vegetation, which blends elegantly with the nearby Amalia Rodrigues gardens. Carefully elaborated around original works by Joana Vasconcelos and Jorge Cruz, two leading contemporary artists, the interior décor displays the best of Portuguese modern paintings and photographs: dining at Eleven is as much an aesthetic experience as a gastronomical one.

To make sure the cuisine would rise itself above the neighbouring hilltops, Eleven's creators appointed German-born superstar Chef Joachim Koerper to take over the kitchen. Formerly employed at Guy Savoy's and L'Ambroisie, two of the finest restaurants in Paris, Koerper is all but an amateur.

Famous for his love of Mediterranean products and recipes, he only uses the freshest ingredients from local producers, and turns them into luminous symphonies of colours and textures. His touch can be felt in most of the proposed dishes, as with his stunning crayfish carpaccio served with pepper and pineapple, a true Lusitanian masterpiece.

As if the setting, cuisine and wine cellar weren't enough, the dining room offers a tremendous view over the river Tagus; expect nothing less than astonishment when the sun sets over its banks, turning the rocky cliffs into a mineral cascade of cobalt and copper.