Monte Mar Lisboa

Monte Mar is a grown-up fish and seafood restaurant in an old warehouse on the Lisbon riverfront, a walk from Cais do Sodré. What makes it work for families is Monte Mar Kids. On Saturdays and Sundays, from 12:30 to 16:30, entertainers from FUNtoche, a children’s entertainment company, run free activities for children. The restaurant says the service is free for all customers.

Time Out Lisboa described it in 2024: at weekend lunch one of the dining rooms is handed over to the children, with two supervisors, bouncy inflatables and ball pools. Pumpkin, the Portuguese parenting site, also mentions two entertainers who do activities with the children before or after the family meal. So a child can eat the first course, disappear to play, and come back for pudding while the adults have coffee.

At weekend lunch there is a set children’s menu for €15. It comes with soup, a main course and dessert. The main is a fillet of hake with rice or potatoes, or a breaded escalope with rice or potatoes. Fried hake fillets are the dish Monte Mar is known for, so children get a small version of the house speciality.

For adults, the 2026 menu is built around fish and shellfish. The signature dish, hake fillets with cockle rice and tartare sauce, was €30.50 when checked, and the menu calls it a classic of more than 35 years. There are grilled squid, roast cod, lobster and seafood rice, some meat dishes such as a Wiener schnitzel (€27), a vegetarian section, and desserts including fruit salad (€7.50), baked apple and lemon meringue pie. The menu asks you to tell staff about any food intolerances.

Monte Mar started in Cascais in 1973, and its menu still sells itself on fish and seafood from the Guincho coast. The Lisbon branch is its riverside outpost. The dining room is in a converted warehouse with views over the Tagus, and there is an outdoor terrace. It gets full at weekend lunch, which is exactly when the kids’ activities run, so book.

This is one of the more expensive places on our list. A family of four having the kids’ menus plus two adult mains and dessert will spend considerably more than at a café, so it suits a special weekend lunch more than a quick bite.

The restaurant is open every day from 12:00 to 23:00. Book on +351 963 342 983 or by email at lisboa@montemar.pt. The kids’ club only runs at weekend lunchtimes. Time Out reported in 2024 that it paused for August and restarted in September, so check before you go in late summer.

It is a walk along the riverside from Cais do Sodré, where the metro, the Cascais train line and the ferries across the river all stop. If you only want a quick hake fillet, Monte Mar also has a counter inside the Time Out Market at Cais do Sodré, without the kids’ club.

From Cais do Sodré, take the ferry across the river to Cacilhas to see the frigate D. Fernando II e Glória, a wooden sailing warship in a dry dock. The Museu da Marioneta, a puppet museum in Madragoa, is in the old streets just inland from the riverside.

Is the Monte Mar kids’ club free?

Yes. The restaurant says the entertainment is free for all customers. You pay for the meal, and the kids’ menu is €15.

When does the kids’ club run?

Saturdays and Sundays from 12:30 to 16:30, according to the restaurant’s April 2025 announcement. Pumpkin gives slightly different times (13:00 to 17:00), so arrive around 13:00 to be safe and check when you book.

Can I leave my child in the kids’ room?

The entertainers look after the children during the activities, but you are in the same restaurant. Treat it as a supervised play room while you eat, not as a place to leave them and go out.

Is the restaurant suitable for toddlers?

The kids’ menu suits any child who eats solid food, but the organised activities are best for children who can play on their own with the entertainers, so they suit preschoolers and older. A toddler will probably need a parent nearby.