I'd seen this place on coffeeinsurrection.com, a site with an ambitious ninja/pirate coffee theme and a frankly headache-inducing red-text-on-monochrome-image aesthetic. I rode over, and immediately got lost in the one-way system coming from the Jardim de Estrela - you can't turn left 4 roads in a row to reach this cafe! That's gotta be worth at least a one-star downgrade.
The place itself is nice; the current obligatory cafe look appears to have had 'small flowerless plants' added to the established filament bulb-and-chalkboard list, and Dede's didn't disappoint. They're currently renovating, and the owner was meeting with an architect to discuss what to with the half of the shop that was boarded up.
My flat white was ok, a bit long and watery for my tastes; I had a piece cheesecake that was quite light, but sadly the salted caramel sauce succumbed to the Portuguese obsession with sugar.
It's in Estrela, so prices are pretty standard - a bottle of water with a coffee and cheesecake was 9.50.
I'll be interested to see what they do with the extra space, as it's currently a bit cramped, especially as the kitchen space at the back drops down a stair and the ceiling gets lower and lower.
Bonus point: the weird bus stop set-up outside the Pingo Doce direclty opposite: the usual creative Portuguese parking was on full show...
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