Fabulas is a sweet little bar in the Chiado, the swish shopping area of Lisbon. It is squirrelled away, and you enter either through a courtyard or through a door in a steep alley. Fabulas is a cellar with vaulted stone ceilings and arches, and is an excellent place to while away an evening with a close friend, sunk into the worn leather sofas, drinking good red wine from deep-bowled glasses.

Equally, you might come here for some "me time" during the day, when it is busy with thoughtful and cultivated types reading and writing with a beer or two on the go, as it should be. Fabulas is perhaps more of an autumn or winter hang-out than a summer one. It feels like a mafia lair - perhaps it’s all the faces of 1920s and 30s Hollywood stars adorning the walls.

You wouldn’t think it, but in winter, Fabulas is a favourite with students and is full and lively. There is an adjacent restaurant and, like a restaurant, Fabulas closes at midnight (early for Lisbon).