Lisbon Food Tips – What to eat and where to eat!

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This post is dedicated to the delicious Lisbon food that you cannot miss when you are visiting Portugal capital. A quick round-up of what to eat, where to eat when to eat, from breakfast to dinner. 

After your first night in Lisbon is time to walk up early (maybe not so early) and try a traditional breakfast. You might want to skip the hotel breakfast for this, so get dressed and head to the city to explore Lisbon food scene from morning to evening.

Let’s start with breakfast, but please don’t rush, this is the first meal of the day and it needs to be enjoyed. Especially when you have great coffee and a bunch of assorted cookies.

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Welcome to Portugal and its infinity number of cakes, sweets, and awesome food. I’m not here to talk about fancy restaurants. I am here to tell you what you HAVE TO EAT. Don’t be a fool, trust me, I had a feast in Lisbon.

Lisbon is a great city to explore by yourself when you have local friends. Locals always know the best spots for food, fun and play. Luckily we have good friends in Lisbon, if you are not that lucky, don’t worry. I’ll teach you how to find a local friend in Lisbon and many other cities across Europe and Asia. There is a website called Withlocals that connects travelers and local people. There you will find unique experiences guided by local friends.

Breakfast time:

(from 7 am to 11 am)

Coffee is a must, you have to ask for a “galão” (a glass full of milk and coffee). Order some pastéis (cakes), pastries or bread (with butter + cheese + fiambre/ham).

Where you can find them?

Any pastelaria (coffee shop or small restaurant) has them. The best ones are the little shops hidden in the middle of the neighborhoods, far from the touristic area. Search for local faces and a simple place, you won’t regret it.

We stayed at Anjos, an area close to the city center, but very residential. Our favorite place for breakfast there was Tebas Pastelaria. We got to know all the attendants and every day we tried something different. With 5€ we could eat and drink a lot, cheap, simple and delicious food.

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If you woke up early and had a busy morning, I suggest you stop for a quick snack. Nothing better and healthier than fresh fruits. Around Praça do Rossio and the Elevador de Santa Justa  you can find old ladies selling great fruits. Generally is one type of fruit per day.

While we were there strawberries and cherries were on the menu!

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Don’t forget to read: How much it costs to travel to Lisbon and how to save.

 

Hungry?? It’s Lunchtime!!!

(from 11 am to 3 pm)

The food in Lisbon is cheaper if you compare it with other European capitals. And people do take seriously the habit of having a proper meal in lunchtime. Walking around the city we didn’t see locals eating sandwiches or fast food. On the other hand, the small pastelarias and tascas (local and simple restaurants) serving comfy food were always packed.

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We tried soups, salads (I love both), rice and beans, and of course the “pastel de bacalhau”. The codfish has a unique and delicious taste in Portugal. All the dishes that have the fish are amazing and we do recommend you to try.

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One of our favorites restaurants was Brick, located on Forno de Tijolo Street, far from the touristic path. The place has a beautiful design, pretty and delicious food. The daily menu has different options of meat and vegan dishes. The best part: the coffee is superb and the price affordable.

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Please, in your trip schedule set one special day to enjoy seafood and fish. You are in Lisbon, in front of the Atlantic Sea, with people who knows how to cook. So sit and eat like a king!

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Cacilhas is the place to go for good seafood. The boat trip from Cais do Sodre to there takes just a few minutes, and you will have a beautiful view from the river.

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At Cacilhas you can find several restaurants in front of the boat station, in the center of the village or you can walk alongside the river towards the bridge and find two well-known places. Restaurante Atira-te Ao Rio, Lda. and Restaurante Ponto Final (Cacilhas) serve Portuguese cuisine in a simple atmosphere.

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We arrived there almost 1 pm and these restaurants were already full and with a long waiting list. As I was hungry we turned around and walked back to the port. We checked the menus and choose a nice one.

The waiter arrived at our table and we already knew what to order:  Fried Sardinhas +  Octopus Rice + Prawns +  Beer = Happy People!!! For a great meal for two, we paid just 20€.

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If you eat too much, take a nap on the boat while you come back to Lisbon… And to keep the great mood nothing better than a wine tasting for happy hour!

 

Afternoon break, let´s drink!

(from 4 pm to 8 pm)

As we are traveling and we love wine, nothing better than an afternoon break to taste the best grapes from Portugal. Even better when the place is in the heart of the city, at Praça do Comércio, and has a range of 20 bottles. You can relax and seep a few glasses.

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The system is really cool. You buy a card, pop up with some money (around 0,50€ each dose), go to the machine and get little servings of wine. You can see on the bottles the name, year, and type of grape. After trying some you can come back to your favorites

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We spent just 6€ and got pretty funny! 😛

It is already 9 pm, it’s dinner time!

(from 8 pm to 11 pm)

Again, Lisbon has so many options to eat that I could write an encyclopedia about it. Instead, I’m going to recommend two different things:

1º Fado night – you can choose one of the good Tascas around Alfama and enjoy Portuguese food & music. They have menus around 15€ per person, and you can appreciate Fado all night long. Fado is in the heart of Portuguese people, it is more than music, it is the way they express their feelings and soul.

2º Delicious Pizzeria – If there is a comfy food, it has to be pizza. After trying so many different dishes I just wanted something safe and that I love. Our pizza experience turned out to be an awesome dinner at Restaurante Casanova. If you go there order the burrata cheese and focaccia for appetizers, and try the Prosecco with natural juice (we order with passion fruit, AMAZING!!!). As the main course, we got a good traditional pizza.

After all this eating and drinking you’ll probably put some weight (we did), but the happy yummy is worth all the extra kilos… lol lol

13 thoughts on “Lisbon Food Tips – What to eat and where to eat!”

    • Thanks Fry! I´m glad you are enjoying. The map is a partnership between us and trippy.com- Click on the names highlighted in the post and get more info from other travellers that are using trippy too!

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  1. Hi Carina!!

    You will love Lisbon and Portugal. It´s such a nice country, great food, nice people and some serious partying!!

    Spring is a good time, not so crowded as summer.
    Thanks for following our Blog, hope this and the other articles about Lisbon and Portugal will help you on the travel planning. And if you need any info just send us an email.

    Happy Travels! 😀
    Nat

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  2. My wife and I traveled to Lisbon for the first time this past April and fell in love with the city and Portugal in general. Being of Portuguese descent myself I felt like I had come full circle and returned to my roots. Now my wife and I would like nothing more than to start our own family business in Portugal one day and move there permanently. Thank you for this great blog and I look forward to following you along in your travels. Abraços!

    Reply
  3. Hi Gustavo!

    So nice to hear your story! I totally understand you, I felt the same when I visited Russia for the first time (I know it doesn’t look like, but I have russian blood :-)).

    Fingers crossed that your “life changing plan” works perfectly. I’m here sending positive energy. And if you two move to Lisbon please let us know!
    All the best and thanks for following us!

    Nat

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  4. Some of my favourite meals from my travels were from Lisbon – such amazing fresh seafood (glad I got to experience it before turning vegetarian!).

    And the custard tarts… Oh my!!

    Reply

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