Copenhagen Coffee Lab - Alfama
Alfama · Lisbon · Steep Index 8.4/10

A Danish roaster in an Alfama basement, with a courtyard garden out the back that most people walk straight past.
The Steep Index
The room and what is behind it carry this. Downstairs is a better-looking space than the stairs suggest, and the hidden courtyard is the reason to come on your own. The coffee is good rather than remarkable, which in a city filling up with excellent flat whites is what keeps the score where it is.
- Coffee / Drink Quality: 8.4/10
- Atmosphere: 8.9/10
- Solo-Friendliness: 8.8/10
- Value: 8.0/10
- Staying Power: 7.9/10
- Overall: 8.4/10
Perfect for: brunch, reading
The Space
A basement room under an old Alfama building, cosy and considerably nicer than the way down implies. The garden in the back courtyard is the part almost everyone misses.
The Coffee
The flat white is good and the cinnamon bun next to it is impeccable, which is the order to make. Pastries are a strength generally, which is the least you would want from a Danish bakery.
Order the cinnamon bun with the flat white. That pairing is the whole point.
The Vibe
Staff are professionally warm and the room is calm on a weekday. Weekends bring the Alfama tourist crowd, and every so often a pigeon wanders in off the street and makes itself at home.
The Verdict
Come on a weekday and take whatever you order out to the back courtyard. That garden is the best argument this place makes, and it is a good one.
Practical information
- Address: Escolas Gerais 34, 1100-213 Lisboa, Portugal
- Price: €€
- Type: bakery cafe
More in Lisbon
- Baobá Café Bica Steep PickBica, Cais do Sodré · Steep Index 9.0/10
A Brazilian family farm grows the beans in São Paulo, ships them to Lisbon, and roasts them on-site on a narrow Bica street beside the funicular. The specialty espresso is €1.50. This is, without argument, one of the best reasons to be in Cais do Sodré before 9am.
- Heim Cafe Santos Steep PickSantos · Steep Index 8.7/10
A small Santos brunch room with pavement tables, where the coffee is as good as the food and the place fills early.
- Dear Breakfast - Santos Steep PickSantos · Steep Index 8.6/10
A small, lively Santos brunch room where the coffee gets as much care as anything leaving the kitchen.
- Malabarista Café Steep PickAnjos · Steep Index 8.5/10
A small, casual Anjos cafe that the neighbourhood actually uses, with serious coffee and a food menu kept deliberately short.
- The MillSantos · Steep Index 8.2/10
An Australian import on a quiet Santos street that understood Lisbon immediately. The brunch is the reason you will tell people about this place.
- Mila - SantosSantos · Steep Index 7.9/10
A Santos brunch institution with a steady tourist queue, where the kitchen does the work and the coffee tags along behind it.