Lisbon Travel Guide
What to Eat in Lisbon
A food lover's guide to Lisbon — the dishes to order, the pastries to compare, how tascas, cervejarias and fado houses work, the couvert rule, and where the Time Out Market fits in.
Lisbon eats extremely well and, by the standards of most Western European capitals, affordably. The cooking is built on superb raw materials — fish and shellfish from the Atlantic, pork from the Alentejo, olive oil, bread and wine — and on a pastry tradition that started in the convents. You do not need reservations at famous restaurants to eat brilliantly here; you need to know what to order and where locals go. This is the briefing.
Start with the pastries. The pastel de nata, a custard tart in crisp, flaky pastry, is the city's emblem, and the original is made at Pastéis de Belém, beside the Jerónimos Monastery, where a secret recipe said to come from the monks has been baked since 1837. Eat them warm with cinnamon and icing sugar, and then compare them with the best bakeries in the centre; every Lisboeta has a favourite. Beyond the nata, look for the convent sweets made with egg yolks and sugar, the travesseiros and queijadas of Sintra, and bolas de Berlim, sugared doughnuts filled with custard, sold on the beaches in summer.
Order the classics. Bacalhau, salt cod, is the national obsession, said to come in hundreds of preparations; try bacalhau à Brás, shredded with egg, onion and matchstick potatoes, or pastéis de bacalhau, salt cod fritters. Grilled sardines are the taste of summer, at their best in June around the Saint Anthony festivities, served on bread with salad and peppers. Polvo à lagareiro, roasted octopus with olive oil, garlic and potatoes, is a restaurant favourite, and arroz de marisco, a soupy seafood rice for two or more, is a feast. Caldo verde, the kale and potato soup with a slice of chouriço, is the comfort food of the country. For something quick, the bifana, a sandwich of thin pork slices marinated in garlic and wine, and the prego, a steak sandwich, are Lisbon's street food, eaten standing at a counter with a small beer.
Seafood, the Lisbon way. The cervejarias, traditional beer-and-seafood halls, are where locals go to celebrate: you order shellfish by weight from the counter display — prawns, crab, clams, goose barnacles, lobster — with plenty of bread and cold beer, and finish, by tradition, with a prego. Look also for amêijoas à Bulhão Pato, clams steamed with garlic, olive oil and coriander, and for grilled fish of the day, priced by weight and cooked simply over charcoal. Ask the price before you order anything sold by the kilo.
Tascas, petiscos and the couvert. A tasca is a small, family-run eatery with paper tablecloths, a daily dish on a chalkboard and very reasonable prices, and it is where you will eat most authentically. Petiscos are Portuguese small plates for sharing — fried croquettes, octopus salad, cured ham, cheeses, peixinhos da horta, which are battered green beans. In any restaurant, the bread, olives, butter, cheese or pâté brought to the table before you order are the couvert, and they are charged if you eat them; if you do not want them, simply send them back. Lunch is the main meal for many locals, and many tascas offer a fixed-price lunch menu that is excellent value.
The Time Out Market and the old markets. In the Mercado da Ribeira at Cais do Sodré, the Time Out Market gathers counters from well-known local restaurants and chefs around shared tables. It is a fast, fun way to taste a lot in one place, best at off-peak hours, though busier and pricier than a neighbourhood tasca. The traditional fresh market continues in the other half of the building in the mornings, and the city's neighbourhood markets, such as the one in Campo de Ourique at the end of the tram 28 line, have their own food stalls and a more local crowd.
Drinks. Portugal is a wine country with excellent value at every level. Try vinho verde, the young, fresh whites (and some reds) from the north; the rich reds of the Alentejo and the Douro; and the local wines of the Lisbon region. Port is for after dinner, and Madeira is worth exploring. In the Baixa and around Rossio, tiny bars serve ginjinha, a sour-cherry liqueur, in a shot glass, with or without the cherry, for a pocketful of coins; it is a ritual worth trying. Portuguese beer is light and refreshing; order an imperial for a small draught. And coffee is serious business: a bica is an espresso, a galão a milky coffee served in a glass, and stopping for one at a counter is part of the rhythm of the day.
Fado dinners. In Alfama, Mouraria and the Bairro Alto, fado houses combine dinner with live music. The food is usually decent rather than outstanding and there is often a minimum spend, so think of it as a ticket to the music. Reserve ahead, arrive for the first set, and stay quiet during the songs.
A day of eating. Start with a bica and a pastel de nata standing at a pastelaria counter. Mid-morning, browse the fresh market at the Mercado da Ribeira. For lunch, find a tasca with a chalkboard menu and order the prato do dia, the daily dish. In the afternoon, take a ginjinha near Rossio and a coffee in one of the Chiado's historic cafés. At sunset, have a glass of vinho verde at a viewpoint kiosk. For dinner, choose between a cervejaria for shellfish and cold beer, a petiscos bar for small plates, or a fado house in Alfama. Finish with a late walk downhill to your hotel.
Practical tips. Lisboetas eat lunch from around one o'clock and dinner from around eight, later in summer. Many smaller restaurants close on Sundays or Mondays, so check before you go. Book ahead for popular restaurants at weekends. Avoid restaurants with touts and photo menus on the busiest tourist streets; walking two blocks away usually means better food at lower prices. Finally, eat seasonally: sardines in summer, chestnuts roasted on street corners in autumn and winter, and the fish of the day all year.