BarChick discovered Toca da Raposa tucked away on a little Lisbon side street, marked by a graffiti sign that instructs: 'oh yeah! this is a cocktail bar. kiss kiss.' We’ve generally found that outwardly non-performative bars conceal the best magic within — and in this case, we were proved absolutely correct.

For one thing, it’s sexy as hell and provocatively cool, in an edgy, cocktail-cave kinda way. Atmospheric up-lighting. Shadowy nooks and intimate seating. An epic playlist. The brutalist stone wedge of a central bar is where drinks are whipped up, so perch on a stool and enjoy a front-row seat. Or grab one of the stylish couches and get cosy with cocktails that are gonna blow your mind.

The menu presents a literal menagerie — cocktails are named after animals and birds, so you can sip on a Starling, imbibe a Blue Dragon, or get down with a Gorilla. Meanwhile, the ingredients list reads like the fever dream of a forest shaman crossed with a Michelin-starred chef — our favourite kind of mixologists. You’ll find oak moss, rice, parsnip, and even black pudding whisky, alongside the more exotic mango, rose geranium, and honeydew. See? We told you it was exciting. Even better: each drink comes with a flavour profile, so you can navigate via mood — whether you want ‘refreshing, clean, acidic’ (Anaconda) or ‘silky, boozy, rich’ (Pig). Stunning.

Warning: You’ll want to try every single cocktail.  BarChick’s hot tips for your first visit: Badger is an insane mezcal umami-bomb — basically one of the best pimped-up Bloody Marias you’ll ever try. Starling is a wild mineral-dry Martini that tastes like the air before a storm or the word petrichor caught in a glass. And Beaver? A mad Manhattan twist — with cheese. Yes, cheese. And it works.