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🍽️ To-Eat List: Portugal Edition🇵🇹
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items You’re visiting Portugal and don’t know what to eat?? Let me hook you up with must-try foods and restaurants🥘 (just maybe not wine… I’m the wrong person to ask about that😅).
Map
Sections
5
Meals🥘
Desserts🍰
Snacks🥟
Drinks🍶
Restaurants🍽️
Meals🥘
Traditional foods and anything salty🍲
🐟 Bacalhau com Natas (Cod fish with cream)
As you know, bacalhau (cod fish) is one of Portugal’s signatures dishes, and this is, in my opinion, the best one there is🙌🏼🤤
The mix of flaked cod, cream and potatoes is simply to die for, especially w...
Bacalhau com Natas – Portuguese Cod with Cream
🐟 Sardinhas assadas (Grilled sardines)
Sardinhas (sardines) are another very popular fish to eat in Portugal🎣🇵🇹
I’ll be very honest, I don’t particularly like sardines🫢 but if you do, and you want try some, I guarantee that the grilled ones are...
Sardinhas Assadas - Traditional Portuguese Meal
🥘 Vitela estufada (Veal stew)
Red meat lovers will love veal meat🥩🤤
The meat is tender and super savoury, and the stew is delicious; usually made with potatoes🥔, carrots🥕, peas🫛, mushrooms🍄🟫, and all sorts of spices😗👌🏼
Vitela Estufada à Portuguesa
🥩 Picanha (Sirloin cap)
This prime piece of meat can be expensive but it’s truly delicious and tender☁️🤤
The cut is taken from the lower back of the cow, right above the tenderloin🔪, and is usually grilled with potato fries or cubes🙌🏼
Picanha
🍗 Franco churrasco (BBQ chicken)
If you love BBQ chicken, just look for any churrasqueira (grill restaurant)🔥
Their way of grilling the chicken, and the famous Piri-Piri sauce🌶️ is unique to Portugal and makes you feel like you’ve never truly had...
Frango de Churrasco à Portuguesa
🥓 Bifanas (pork sandwich)
A bifana is basically a pork cutlet sandwich, but it’s not *just* a sandwich🫢
One ingredient in making a good bifana is beer🍺; and make sure to douse it in sauce before putting it in your papo seco🥖 (bread roll)!
Bifanas
Don’t miss out. Don’t do this to yourself. Try the lamb chops🐑, I promise you’ll never have tasted better meat in your life🙂↕️
Costeletas de Borrego | Lamb chops
Desserts🍰
Traditional desserts and anything sweet🥧
🥧 Pastel de Nata (Custard tart)
This has to be the most famous Portuguese pastry⭐️
The puff pastry cup contains a custard made primarily of egg yolks🥚, lemon🍋, cinnamon, and sugar, with a tiny bit of vanilla🍨.
It’s crunchy on the outside and sof...
Pastel de Nata
🍩 Bola de Berlim (literally translates as “Berlin ball”)
A Bola de Berlim is made of dough that resemble a donut, with an egg-based custard, rolled in white sugar, and sometimes in cinnamon, too🤩🤤
My fellow Canadians🇨🇦 might call it a mix of a ...
Bolas de Berlim
🍞 Pão de Deus (“God’s bread”)
This is a bread-based pastry with a sort of sugar syrup, topped with coconut flakes🥥
It’s absolutely delicious and very different from any other typical pastry out there, in that it’s so tasty, but not overly sweet💯
...
Pão de Deus
🍰 Bolo Rei (“King’s cake”)
Bolo Rei is typically served for Christmas, but I believe the Pasteis de Belém café sells some any day if the year🙌🏼
This is a simple cake with candied fruits, topped with icing sugar😋
Bolo Rei
Snacks🥟
🐟 Bolinhos de Bacalhau (Little cod fish cakes)
Don’t be fooled by the translation; these are salty snacks🧂, and they are DELICIOUS😩
It’s a mix of flaked cod fish with mashed potatoes and spices, rolled up in a ball, fried, and served hot or cold�...
Bolinhos de Bacalhau
🥟 Rissoís (Dumpling..?)
This doesn’t really translate well, but imagine a breaded pierogi filled with meat or seafood… that would be a Rissol🤷
Well done rissoís are crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. They can be filled with a variety...
Rissóis
🧀 Queijo (Cheese)
I’m going to be very honest; I could not, for the life of me, figure out the real name of this cheese… the closest I could find is « Flamengo », but then if you order « Flamengo » cheese, they’ll give you the red-skinned cheese… this is incorrect; the CORRECT cheese has pink skin🩷
The cheese itself is so savoury; it’s got a little strength to it but it’s not too much, and the texture is soft and chewy😋 I love eating it in...
Queijo
Drinks🍶
Alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks🥤
☕️ Galão (Milk coffee)
You should know that coffee in Europe is often *very* strong and dark, so if you love a Double-Double at Tim’s🍁, you’ll love a galão👌🏼
Typically, ordering a simple coffee will result in an espresso in a tiny cup, so if that...
Galão
🍹Champarrião (Beer and wine cocktail)
You read that right; beer *and* wine!🍺🍷
As someone who isn’t particularly fond of either, I can tell you that this mixture is surprisingly really tasty: beer, red or white wine (your choice), with cinnamon an...
Champarrião
🚰 Água das Pedras
I’m not usually a sparkling or flavoured water kind of gal, but the lemon flavoured Água das Pedras is the only thing I ever order at a café💯🤤
It’s sparkling water without excessive gas, and it’s flavoured but *actually* flavour...
Água das Pedras
🥤 Sumol
If you want to try a Portuguese soda, try a Sumol🧃
They have a few different flavour and overall are really tasty and not sweet, compared to other known brands like Fanta, for example.
⭐️My personal favourite: maracujá (passion fruit)😍
Sumol
🍺 Cerveja Super Bock (Super Bock beer)
I personally don’t drink beer, however this is one of the two most popular beers in Portugal (the other being Sagres) and I’ve been told that Super Bock is better, because it is more flavourful and less dilute...
Cerveja Super Bock
Restaurants🍽️
Popular places and niche little corners🪑
🏷️ Avg. price per person: 8€
Every tried a Bola de Berlim? Well, you’ve never tried Manuel Natário’s Bola de Berlim, and it shows🙊 This place is CONSTANTLY busy, with huge line-ups reaching the street, just to have a taste of them bolas😩🤤
They ...
Manuel Natário
🏷️ Avg. price per person: €17
Want to experience authentic Portuguese food and hospitality while in the middle of Lisbon? This is where you need to go.✅
The meals are delicious and you’ll get out of there completely full🥴🙌🏼, and the employees are...
A Mourisca | Lisbon
🏷️ Avg. price: €25
You’ve been to a quaint mom and pop? Now, you’ve gotta try a ✨fancy✨ mom and pop.🍽️🥂
Went there with three other people and we each chose a different meal to share: trust, their Costeletas de Borrego (lamp chops🐑) will change ...
Casa da Tocha | Portimão
🏷️ Avg. price per person: 15€
Simply the only place you should consider to try a Francesinha🏆💯
The atmosphere is friendly, the franchise is modern-styled, and the food is absolutely to die for😩👌🏼
❓What’s a Francesinha: basically a twist on th...
Camada
🏷️ Avg. price per person: €10-15
I love this café/bar so much; the food is fresh and delicious, the tableware is traditional which adds to the place’s charm, the atmosphere is friendly and lively (especially on football nights⚽️🤭), and the views f...
Caçana | Viana do Castelo
🏷️ Avg. price per person: 7€
This café is yet another franchise that would 1,000% recommend😍 The decor is aesthetic and homey, the baristas are sweethearts, and the coffee and pastries are just *chef’s kiss*😗👌🏼
⭐️ Their star item (imo): the Pã...
Portela Cafés
🏷️ Avg. price per person: 8€ (unless you get many pastries….👀)
Couldn’t set a list of Portuguese restaurants and cafés without adding THE must-try café✨
Calling it a café is not really doing this place justice; it’s beautifully decorated with lots...
Pastéis de Belém | Lisboa