Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon Promises to Make a Lingering Weekend Brunch the Calendar Highlight of the Week

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “brunch” was coined in Britain in 1895 to describe a Sunday meal for “Saturday-night carousers” in Guy Beringer's article “Brunch: A Plea” in Hunter's Weekly. Beringer wrote: “Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting.”

Thus, brunch, by name and by nature, is the very best of both worlds. Much better than breakfast - in that it affords a weekend lie-in - and more leisurely than lunch, it is widely accepted that it is allowed to last a few hours. It is arguably the most luxurious meal of the week.  A couple of years ago brunch meant eggs bennie and the weekend paper, but things have evolved, and so has Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon.

In October 2014 the Hotel launched its Sunday Brunch at Varanda Restaurant under the helm of Executive Chef Pascal Meynard. It soon became a favourite foodie hangout for stylish Lisbonites in-the-know. It is such a smashing success that, to the delight of Lisbon's locals as well as Hotel guests, Four Seasons has decided to have a Weekend Brunch, available on Saturdays as well as Sunday.

Whether guests sit inside in the timelessly-chic Varanda Restaurant with its soaring floor-to-ceiling windows or on the terrace overlooking the Eduardo VII Park, Weekend Brunch is a truly luxurious affair offering a dizzying array of gourmet options.  With an on-site Viennoiserie whipping up melt-in-your-mouth pastries, guests can also tuck into plates of velvety omelettes or Iberico ham and scrambled eggs. Other breakfast favourites include buttermilk pancakes, French toast, waffles, homemade yogurts and the classic Ritz eggs benedict.

The seafood, ceviche, oysters and sushi station is always present, as well as a farmer’s market salad bar and live cooking stations with a different theme each week: one week, Japanese-style gyozas and dim sum; the other, chargrilled Iberico pork, or Peruvian causas and aji de gallina the next.

And because brunch always goes down better with a little bubbly, Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon offers a choice of Perrier-Jouët White and Rosé Champagnes, in additional to national wines and tasty fruit juices or virgin cocktails.

Those with a sweet tooth will love the Instagram-proof dessert table with the Pastry Chef Fabian Nguyen's seasonal selection, including an assortment of macaroons and bite-size home-baked éclairs, as well as the classic Ritz mille feuille - a nod to the Hotel’s contemporary French style pastry. Of course, guests can still work towards their five-a-day with a variety of exotic fresh fruit.

Best of all, the waiters will bat an eyelid when one gets up to take photos! Guests are invited to share their photos on social media using #RitzyWeekendBrunch

Weekend Brunch Details

• Available every Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 to 4:00 pm; Children's Ritzland is open 12:30 to 4:00 pm
• Children up to age 14 may enjoy brunch in Children's Ritzland or in Varanda Restaurant with their parents
• Price per adults is EUR 56 excluding drinks; children ages 8 to 12 years EUR 28; children 7 and under dine for free
• Reservations recommended: + 351 21 381 1400