My first time in Portugal was quite a few years ago, during my studies; I had come to participate in an archaeological excavation project in the north of the country, in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in the Douro Valley. I have fond memories of sunshine, yellow earth vineyards, and naps after lunch because we were so overwhelmed by the heat, and I also remember eating a lot, a whole lot of cod…
You know how much I love the pleasures of the palate and how much I appreciate eating well! Besides, when I visit a region or a country, I am just as eager to discover its cultural riches as its gastronomic riches. I find that it is part of the true pleasure of discovering a territory. That is why I have put together a special article on Portuguese gastronomy with a selection of specialties and great addresses in Lisbon to enjoy them…
To complete my article and my favorite addresses, I also advise you to take a look at this article on the Top 5 places to eat in Lisbon by Bonjour Lisbonne or even this other article on Lisbon gastronomy from the Wimdu site, which visited a few spots in common with me.
Table of Contents
My selection of restaurants in Lisbon
Where to have lunch on a terrace in Lisbon? Restaurant Ministerium
The perfect spot for lunch on a terrace, as it is located directly on the Praça do Comércio, a central hub of Lisbon and close to many tourist activities (Lisboa Story Centre, MUDE Design and Fashion Museum, and the Rua Augusta Arch, which I will tell you about in a future article).
To taste:
- The octopus salad, a particularly fresh dish that is very pleasant to enjoy in summer (€8.40).
- The pica-pau, a hot dish based on beef, served here with homemade fries (€12).
- The croquetes de novilho, fried meat croquettes, served with a small sauce similar in taste to Savora (€5).
- Portuguese-style cod or Bacalhau “à Gomes de Sá”, is a kind of shepherd’s pie mixing Portugal’s flagship product with layers of potatoes and onions (€16).
Restaurant Ministerium
Terreiro do Paço Ala Nascente 72-73 1100-038 Lisboa
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Where to have lunch on a terrace in Lisbon bis? Can The Can
A nice little restaurant with a beautiful terrace also overlooking the Praça do Comércio. Ideal for having a drink on nice days.
To taste:
- The homemade ginger lemonade, just super good and so refreshing in hot weather!
Can The Can
Terreiro Do Paço 82/83 1100-068 Lisboa
open every day from 9:00 AM to midnight
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Where to have dinner on the docks in Lisbon? Restaurant 5 Oceanos
This restaurant, specializing in fish and seafood, is located on the old docks of Lisbon, now rehabilitated into a trendy place to go out for a drink or grab a bite to eat.
To taste:
- Large garlic fried shrimp.
- Clams “Bulhão Pato” style, meaning with white wine, olive oil, and garlic.
- Garlic-cooked mushrooms (you will have understood that garlic seasoning is quite popular in Portugal).
- Crab pâté, a very popular dish as I have eaten it in several restaurants in the city.
- Sea bass in a salt crust, a special and visually impressive preparation since they bring the fish completely hidden under a thick crust before opening it before your eyes and serving it to you. In terms of taste, it results in extremely tender and succulent meat.
Restaurant 5 Oceanos
Doca de Santo Amaro
Armazém 12 1350-353 Lisboa
open every day from 12:00 PM to 1:00 AM
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Where to have a trendy dinner in Lisbon? Restaurant & Bar The Decadente
This trendy address, located in the popular Bairro Alto neighborhood, is housed in a next-generation hostel with stylish, designer decor. On the plate, you’ll find inventive and modern cuisine with prices that remain more than affordable.
To taste:
- A royal Ginjinha cocktail, the famous cherry alcohol of Lisbon that I mention at the end of the article, mixed with sparkling wine (€5).
- The salmon ceviche and radish, fresh and refined, a delight.
- A cold soup, like green gazpacho.
- Sautéed garlic shrimp, with a homemade sauce that’s a bit spicy.
- And for dessert, a typical Portuguese almond cake with its red fruit coulis. It wasn’t particularly light, but oh my, was it good!…
The Decadent
81, rue de São Pedro de Alcântara 1250-238 Lisboa
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Where to eat seafood and fish in Lisbon? Restaurant Ridadouro
This house (which has existed since 1947), specializing in seafood, offers a very pleasant small terrace on Avenida da Liberdade on sunny days, which also has the advantage of making your meal cheaper than if you were dining inside the restaurant (that sounds like a great deal!).
To taste:
- Garlic tiger shrimp (a great specialty, as you will have understood).
- Clams “Bulhão Pato” style, meaning with white wine, olive oil, and garlic.
- The beefsteak “de Prego”, served in garlic bread with fries.
Ridadouro
Av. da Liberdade, 155 / 1245-896 Lisboa
Where to buy good gourmet products in Lisbon?
La Casa Portuguesa des Pastel de Bacalhau
A very touristy place, and it is certainly not there that you will find the best pastel de Bacalhau in the city (at the same time I don’t know, since I didn’t taste them), but at least you will be able to see how they are made, with the traditional spoon method, which is always very interesting.
Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau
Rua Augusta, 106 e 108, Lisbonne 1100-053, Portugal
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The covered market: Mercado de Campo de Ourique Traditional Market
You absolutely must include a lunch at the Mercado de Campo de Ourique in your program. These halls in the southeast of Lisbon, renovated and reopened in 2013, date back to 1934 and contain many treasures of Portuguese and Lisbon gastronomy. This place is perfect for bringing back typical Portuguese products and also for having a quick lunch, seated in the center of the market, with the possibility of buying food and drinks at all the surrounding stalls!
To taste:
- Alheira croquettes with sausage, which according to tradition, were created by new Christians who secretly continued to respect Jewish customs. As Judaism forbids the consumption of pork, these so-called new converts supposedly invented a chorizo where poultry discreetly replaced pork.
- A plate of Portuguese charcuterie and cheeses with a little olive oil of very good quality.
- The famous Pastel de Bacalhau, a specialty based on cod, obviously.
- The octopus salad, a particularly fresh dish that is very pleasant to enjoy in summer.
- “Peixinho da Horta”, green bean tempura.
- Cod salad with chickpeas and eggs; personally, in summer, I find it perfectly suited to the ambient temperatures.
- A Portuguese-style roasted rib steak, with spices.
- Desserts: ovos moles, an egg yolk-based specialty from the city of Aveiro, south of Porto (not very digestible but super good) and another type of cake whose name unfortunately escapes me…
Also take a look at the Parceria das Conservas boutique, which sells plenty of great fish cans (mostly sardines). A feast for the eyes and the palate! For those who love drinks, you can take a tour of the spirits and wine store: Garrafeira do Mercado. You will find a nice range of local wines there, but also gin, because the Portuguese consume a lot of it and they also make a lot of it as a result!
Mercado Campo de Ourique
104 /106, R. Coelho da Rocha 1350-075 Lisboa
Open Sunday to Wednesday from 10 AM to 11 PM, until midnight on Thursday and 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays
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La Ginjinha
This cherry-based aperitif is the Lisboets’ favorite. The best thing is to go taste and buy it in the little shop in the city center; it’s more typical and you’ll pay less for it than elsewhere… On-site, they serve it to you with or without the cherry, almost at any hour (you will also see Portuguese people drinking it at all hours!).
Franscisco Espinheira e CA
Largo de Sao Domingos n°8 / 1150-320 Lisboa
Price in 2015 : 1 bottle €7.90
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Manteigaria Silva, fine grocery
This fine grocery store specializes in the sale of cod. Even without buying anything, it’s worth taking a look at this shop to see the salted cod stalls. And besides, you will also find many products from Portugal there.
Manteigaria Silva
Rua Dom Antão de Almada 1 D1100-197 Lisboa
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My sweet spots in Lisbon
Landeau Chocolate
To eat an excellent chocolate cake, apparently one of the best in Lisbon, you have to go to this little shop located in the LX Factory (I will tell you about this place very soon in another article on Lisbon).
Landeau Chocolate / LX Factory
R. Rodrigues Faria, 103 / 1300-501 Lisboa
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The famous Pastéis de Belem
In front of this old and very famous confectionery, hundreds of people wait every day to be able to taste their delicious little Portuguese flans, delicately sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon. The shop produces more than 22,000 of them every day, which are entirely devoured during the day anyway (at the same time, these little treats don’t keep for more than 48 hours, what a good excuse!). The Portuguese always eat them in pairs. Why? Just because when you’ve eaten one, you inevitably want a second one…
This address is indeed very popular with Lisbon residents and tourists because it is only on-site that you can enjoy these Belem specialties, the recipe for which is kept secret and is known to only 6 people!
I am still extremely lucky, since I had the opportunity to go behind the scenes of the establishment to discover the manufacture (after the secret mix of ingredients for the dough obviously) of the famous pastéis.
The other recipes you will find in Portugal called Pastéis de Nata are actually copies of this original recipe inherited from the monks of the Hieronymites Monastery very close to the pastry shop (this explains that)… And sincerely I am not a great connoisseur in terms of pastéis, but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying that those from Belem are inimitable actually… So if you are passing through Lisbon, this must be a mandatory stop on your trip!
Antiga Confeitaria de Belèm
84-92 rua de Belem – Lisbonne
Open from Monday to Sunday from 8 AM to 11 PM and until midnight during the summer
Where to find Portuguese flavors in Paris?
La Caravelle des Saveurs
What could be better to end this gourmet article than to reveal a very good Parisian address for discovering Portuguese gastronomy and specialties? La Caravelle des Saveurs is one of the first Lusophone fine grocery stores in Paris, and it opened its doors very recently, actually, last June. A place to discover, therefore, if you are curious, a gourmet, or both.
On the program: a taste journey through the regions of Portugal, discovering quality sweet and savory dishes that the passionate owner of the place, Paula Simao, has selected directly from local producers.
A few products: fig cheese from the Algarve, arbutus berry jam, sardines (with the very pretty presentation of the sardinothèque), wines (Port, Vinho Verde,…), artisanal Portuguese beer, pastel de nata.
The little extra: the grocery store is also meant to be a living space since a snacking area with a large convivial table in the middle of the shop allows you to enjoy the delicacies of Caravelle on the spot.
La Caravelle des Saveurs
12 rue du Faubourg Saint Martin, 75010 Paris
open Tuesday to Saturday 10 AM-8 PM, Sunday 10 AM-6 PM (from Thursday
evening: aperitif-platter by reservation)
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Manteigaria
This emblematic Portuguese brand specializing in pastéis de nata (which I mentioned above) has opened two addresses in Paris over the last few years. In the one that opened right in front of the Gare Saint-Lazare, you will find a tea room upstairs in a warm setting, ideal for testing the pasteis. The shop also offers a unique concept: from the large windows, you can admire the pastry chefs at work and dive into the world of Manteigaria. And frankly, since my trip to Lisbon, I don’t think I had managed to find the taste of the pastéis eaten there, but now it’s done!
Manteigaria
123 rue Saint-Lazare, 75008 Paris
Price : €2.50 per pastel / pack of 6 for €14 / pastel + espresso combo €4.40
I hope that with all this, I will have made you want to discover Portuguese gastronomy, and if you also have your own great addresses in Lisbon, do not hesitate to share them in the comments!
Find below all my articles on my trip to Lisbon, Portugal in 2015:
⇒ All my articles on Lisbon
MY ARTICLES ON LISBON
⇒ My tips for discovering Lisbon
⇒ My guide to trendy Lisbon
⇒ My Food Tour in Lisbon and discovery of Portuguese gastronomy
⇒ My getaway to Cascais, a seaside resort near Lisbon
⇒ The Belém district in Lisbon
Photo credits: Mademoiselle Bon Plan Photos not royalty-free, photographer's authorization required before any use
