How to eat like a local in Lisbon

🍽️ What is it? Our beloved custard tart, pastel de nata

➡️ Where to get it: Manteigaria (two city locations and one at Time Out Market Lisboa)

These are probably on the list of fixed expenses for your trip, alongside transport and accommodation. But be warned: pastéis de Belém (which you can see anywhere) and pastéis de nata are not to be confused: the former are made from a 19th century convent recipe known only to the house’s master bakers; the latter can be found everywhere and also come from the past - the first known recipe dates from the 16th century, and was created in the Santa Clara Convent, in Évora, a town of the Alentejo region. Good pastéis de nata have a thin and crispy crust where you can’t notice flour or fat, and their filling is a harmonious balance of egg, lemon and vanilla, with none overpowering the others. Always choose the golden ones over the burnt ones and top them with icing sugar and cinnamon.

💡 Keen to make your own? Try your hand at Time Out Academy’s very own pastel de nata baking class. 

🍽️ What is it? A thin-sliced pork sandwich 

➡️ Where to get it: As Bifanas do Afonso, Rua da Madalena 146, 1100-340

This is the meal you have when there’s no time to sit down for lunch, but your hunger can’t be satisfied by a snack – like in the middle of Popular Saints’ celebrations in June (Santos Populares), or at the height of winter. It’s thin cuts of pork leg, lean and boneless, seasoned with garlic, bell pepper paste, bay leaves and onions, though each establishment and food truck puts its own ancestral knowledge into the seasoning. Usually, through the windows of the specialised bifana joints you can always see an old, large pan with meat cooking and smoking all day long. It is served in a ‘papo-seco’, a type of puffy and very light bread (though some serve it in denser bread, with thicker crust).

🍽️ What is it? Piri piri chicken, baby!

➡️ Where to get it: A Valenciana, Rua Marquês Fronteira 157/163A, 1070-294 

To the common question ‘and what do you cook at home?’, countless chefs told us ‘when I go home the only thing I feel like is frango assado (chicken piri-piri)’. This is yet another type of comfort food, the one you pick up in an instant when there’s no time to make anything, or simply when you feel like something delicious, expertly seasoned with a lemon or spicy sauce and cooked on a hot grill. These kinds of grill restaurants are a classic in Lisbon, especially in our more residential areas – and they’re always equipped with a rice cooker, a deep fryer for crispy fries, and a fridge filled with 1-litre ice-cold beer. It all comes wrapped up in a family-sized aluminium takeaway box that will stay warm all the way home (or to your nearest park to tuck in). 

🍽️ What is it? Steak, chips and rice with a crispy fried egg

➡️ Where to get it: Floresta do Salitre, Rua do Salitre 42 D, 1250-096

‘When in doubt, order a bitoque’: this is the motto of many Lisboners who consider this dish a safe bet. But mark our words – when its various elements don’t all come together at full potential, bitoque can be a massive stab in the soul. Don’t expect a full tray as this is not how it’s done: it comes in a plate (a deep one, normally, to keep all the juices). Basically, it’s a beef steak fried in garlic and wine (if prepared diligently), French fries (though some versions, like Floresta do Salitre’s, use sliced potatoes), a spoonful of white rice and a fried egg on top, with the yolk still raw, just waiting to be waded in with bread and fries. This is the ultimate hangover cure – trust us on that one. 

🍽️ What is it? Fried salt cod fritters

➡️ Where to get it: A Casa do Bacalhau (which literally translates to The Codfish House), Rua do Grilo 54, 1950-145

The Portuguese predilection for bacalhau (dry and salted cod) is not just a cliché, it is the beautiful truth. Pataniscas de bacalhau can sometimes be eaten as a salgado (remember those?), in two bites, in the middle of the morning or of the afternoon – but it’s much more common to eat them as a meal. You might have them with ‘arroz malandrinho’ (rice in a creamy tomato sauce). They are slices of bacalhau seasoned with onion and parsley, dipped in a batter made of flour, eggs and milk (or sometimes the fish’s cooking water) and deep-fried. They are eaten all over Portugal and as such, present some regional variations – while in the North they tend to be fluffy and soft, in Lisbon they are usually flatter.

🍽️ What is it? Snails (served a little soupy)

➡️ Where to get it: Pomar De Alvalade, Rua Marquesa de Alorna 21C, 1700-300

Eusébio, Benfica’s football legend, used to say that lupin beans were the shellfish of the poor – but he could have said the same of snails. Caracóis (snails’ Portuguese name) are the perfect summer snack, when you spend the afternoon on terraces, drinking cold beer and watching a football game. From April, when things start getting seriously hot here, to September, snails can be caught in the morning – rainy weather makes them bury themselves into the earth. They are cooked in a lot of water, usually with bacon or chouriço, oregano, garlic and red pepper. To eat them? Take them by the shell, suck out the ground mollusc and swallow it in seconds. If you’ve got no bread, no one will judge you for swigging the leftover sauce. 

🍽️ What is it? The croquette you know and love, with a Portuguese twist

➡️ Where to get it: Gambrinus, Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 23-25, 1150-264

The Portuguese concept of ‘salgado’ is not an easy one to translate – but you can think of it sort of like a word for ‘snack’. There are various factors to consider: these are small savoury pastries, good to eat with your hands and in a few bites, probably mid-morning or afternoon; they are generally fried and when freshly made they are crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. We could recommend many, many types of salgados (try the shrimp or meat ‘rissóis’ or patties, or the classic ‘pasteis de bacalhau’ or codfish cakes, since it’s all about bacalhau here), but we’re going to stick to the breaded meat sticks called ‘croquetes’. This is the Portuguese version of a snack present in various other countries, but here it’s plain and simple: meat, possibly cheese, and very good seasoning.

🍽️ What is it? Gizzards in tomato sauce 

➡️ Where to get it: A Merendinha do Arco Bandeira, R. dos Sapateiros 230, 1100-581

The digestive system of birds is a complex machine, and that’s good, because here in Portugal, we get to enjoy every different part of it in little saucers with tomato sauce. The gizzards (pouches where chickens soften their food) are made of muscle tissue and for that reason, if properly stewed, they have a particular tender texture that is not often found in other pesticos (our tapas). Eating offals – the bowels of small animals like chickens – is not as common as it used to be, but you can still find grilled hearts, gizzards or chicken feet stewed or in soups, in some resilient tascas (Portuguese bistros). ‘Moelas estufadas’ – a petisco to have as a late-afternoon snack, with bread for mopping up the sauce. 

🍽️ What is it? A hearty Portuguese meat-and-veg stew

➡️ Where to get it: Os Courenses, Rua José Duro 27D, 1700-259

People sometimes associate ‘cozido à portuguesa’ (Portuguese-style stew) with cold weather, but conversations with owners of traditional bistros and restaurants quickly reveal that locals eat this comfort dish all the way through summer too. For some mysterious reason, this is usually a Thursday lunch special here, but it’s easy to find restaurants that serve it on other days too. Cozido à portuguesa consists of several types of meat – beef, pork ears and snout, chicken; and sausages – the must haves are farinheira (which is made of pork fat and flour), morcela (blood sausage) and chouriço (a type of traditional pork chorizo); all cooked in the same water with vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, carrots and turnips). The broth is then used to cook the rice, giving it a deep savoury flavour. 

🍽️ What is it? Simply sardines, wonderful sardines 

➡️ Where to get it: Último Porto, Rua General Gomes Araújo 1, 1350-352

This fish, traditionally associated with the working class, is a particular Lisbon icon during the Popular Saints Festival in June, when grilling shacks pop up all over the city. But it’s not in June that sardines are the best: they are best eaten from the end of July to the beginning of August, puffy and with a layer of fat on its skin. The recipe seems simple – fresh fish seasoned on the spot with rock salt. But the science is in the fire, which can’t be too strong, lest they be scorched. You need patience to let them cook about five minutes on each side. Serve them up with boiled potatoes and roasted pepper salad or, if you’re in the middle of a street party and you want to dance, on a slice of bread to be devoured with one hand. The bread that’s soaked up the juices is pretty special after too.