Clube Ferroviario

BARCHICK SAYS

This is a great, unusual place - a big bar with a distinct Berlin feel spread over the two floors of an old ‘train club’ - good start. A big roof-terrace is decorated inventively with train bits and bobs, like rows of leather train seats. There are lots of fun twists in the decor, a white camouflage net overhead makes you feel slightly as if you are inside and all the seating is low and unusual, lit by big hanging brass lampshades. There is table football and a DJ churning out laid-back tunes (for us the James Bond theme got a reggae make-over). There’s a fun view out over the road and river, but this is also a top spot to spy on Lisboners - people of all ages are here for a cocktail and a boogie. The cocktail list is long, but less memorable than the hipsters serving them.

Downstairs, there is both a disco room and a lavish ball-room for music and gigs; every weekend established up-and-coming Portuguese bands play. If you’re lucky you’ll hear an impromptu gig from a real big dog.

The bar is in a comparatively uneventful part of town, off a large road which runs along the embankment. The only nearby establishment is Lisbon’s most fashionable club, Lux. Clube Ferroviario is a much lower-profile, more artistic place, little-publicised on the tourist-track. As proper clubbing at Lux only hots up around 3am, Clube Ferroviario is the perfect place to go beforehand.

*Additional info: Like many bars and clubs in Lisbon, you are obliged to buy a drinks token on the door when you enter. Here, it is €6 and possibly more if there is a gig. Think of it an entrance fee which you can spend on the bar (that is, recoup in drinks).

www.clubeferroviarioblog.com

11/10/2012

ADDRESS

Rua de Santa Apolónia 59, 1100-468 Lisboa, Portugal Tel: +351 21 8134 656

OPENING HOURS

Sunday 16:00 - 00:00
Friday 18:00 - 03:00
Saturday 16:00 - 03:00
Monday closed
Tuesday closed
Wednesday closed
Thursday closed

BUDGET

BARCHICK TV

Everything You Need To Know About Tequila

The Cocktail Trading Company, London

Dante, NYC