Food in Portugal: Regional Dishes, Port Wine and Where to Eat

Prices are typical restaurant prices outside the most touristy streets; expect 20 to 30 percent more in central Lisbon, Porto’s Ribeira and Algarve resorts.

• Bacalhau a bras (€10 to €16): shredded salt cod scrambled with egg, onion and matchstick potatoes, topped with black olives. The easiest introduction to bacalhau.
• Bacalhau com natas and bacalhau a Ze do Pipo (€12 to €18): salt cod baked in cream, or Porto-style with mayonnaise and mashed potato. Pasteis de bacalhau (cod croquettes) cost €1.50 to €3 at any cafe counter.
• Sardinhas assadas (€10 to €16): whole grilled sardines on bread or with boiled potatoes and pepper salad, at their best from June to September.
• Polvo a lagareiro (€16 to €25): roast octopus with garlic, olive oil and small crushed potatoes.
• Arroz de marisco (€18 to €30 per person, often for two): soupy seafood rice served in the pot. Arroz de pato (baked duck rice with chourico) is the meat version.
• Cataplana (€35 to €60 for two): fish, shellfish or pork with clams steamed in a hinged copper pan, the Algarve’s signature dish.
• Francesinha (€10 to €15): Porto’s sandwich of steak, ham and sausage under melted cheese, drowned in a spicy beer and tomato sauce, with chips. Ask for it “com ovo” (with a fried egg).
• Tripas a moda do Porto (€10 to €14): tripe and white bean stew, the dish that earned Porto’s people the nickname “tripeiros”.
• Bifana and prego (€3 to €8): a garlic-marinated pork steak or a beef steak in a soft roll. The bifana is Lisbon’s and Vendas Novas’ snack; in Porto order the sandwich at Conga.
• Carne de porco a alentejana (€12 to €16): pork and clams with fried potato cubes and coriander.
• Porco preto (€14 to €22): cuts of acorn-fed Alentejo black pig, grilled pink: plumas, secretos and presa.
• Leitao a Bairrada (€15 to €20, or by weight): roast suckling pig with crackling skin and peppery sauce, eaten in the roadside restaurants of Mealhada north of Coimbra.
• Cozido a portuguesa (€12 to €18): boiled meats, blood sausage, chourico, cabbage and potatoes, usually served on set days in winter.
• Cozido das Furnas (€15 to €20): the Azores version, buried in volcanic ground for six to seven hours.
• Caldo verde (€2 to €4): shredded kale and potato soup with a slice of chourico.
• Alheira (€9 to €13): a garlicky bread and poultry sausage from Mirandela, fried and served with an egg and chips.
• Espetada and bolo do caco (€15 to €22): Madeira’s beef skewers rubbed with garlic and bay, hung from a hook at the table, with garlic-butter flatbread.
• Queijo da Serra (€4 to €8 a starter portion): a soft, runny sheep’s cheese from the Serra da Estrela, scooped with a spoon.

Porto and the North eats the heaviest food in the country. Beyond the francesinha and tripe, Porto restaurants serve octopus, bacalhau baked with potatoes and greens, and rojoes (marinated pork cubes) from the Minho. In Braga and Guimaraes look for papas de sarrabulho, a pork and blood porridge, in winter, and in Viana do Castelo for grilled fish on the harbourside. The Douro Valley adds quinta lunches with roast kid and estate wine.

Central Portugal has the suckling pig of Mealhada, the egg-yolk sweets ovos moles in Aveiro, chanfana (goat stewed in red wine) in the hills around Coimbra, and the cheese of the Serra da Estrela.

Lisbon is the place for seafood beer halls, bifanas and pasteis de nata. Our Lisbon food guide covers the city’s bakeries, tascas and markets in detail, so this page does not repeat them.

The Alentejo is bread country. Migas (fried bread with pork), acorda alentejana (a garlic and coriander bread soup with a poached egg) and black pork are the staples in Evora and the hill towns, with sheep’s cheeses from Serpa and Nisa.

The Algarve cooks for the sea: cataplana, grilled sea bream and dourada, clams from the Ria Formosa lagoon around Faro and Olhao, octopus from Santa Luzia near Tavira, and almond and fig sweets.

Island food is worth planning around. On Sao Miguel, the Azores’ main island, cozido das Furnas is the meal everyone wants: restaurants lower pots of beef, pork, chicken, sausages, cabbage and potatoes into holes in the hot ground beside the lake at Furnas early in the morning and lift them out around midday. Book a table for lunch the day before in summer, and go to the lake fumaroles at about 11:30 to watch the pots come up. The Azores also grow pineapples in glasshouses around Ponta Delgada, Europe’s only commercial tea at the Gorreana and Porto Formoso plantations, and produce excellent beef and dairy; Sao Jorge cheese is a sharp, aged cow’s cheese. On Pico, the vineyards walled in black lava are a UNESCO site and the white wines are worth ordering.

In Madeira, eat espetada and bolo do caco, black scabbardfish (espada) with banana, grilled limpets (lapas) with garlic butter, and tuna steaks. Drink poncha, a shaken mix of sugar-cane rum, honey and lemon, in the bars of Camara de Lobos or Funchal, and try Madeira wine, from dry Sercial to sweet Malmsey, at a lodge in Funchal.

Every neighbourhood has a pastelaria, and most Portuguese stop at one at least once a day. Stand at the counter for the lowest price; table service can cost a little more.

• Pastel de nata (€1.20 to €1.60): custard tart in flaky pastry, best warm with cinnamon. The original is at Pasteis de Belem in Lisbon.
• Convent sweets: egg yolk and sugar recipes from old convents, such as ovos moles in Aveiro, pasteis de Tentugal near Coimbra, travesseiros in Sintra and toucinho do ceu almond cake.
• Bola de Berlim (€1.50 to €2.50): a custard-filled doughnut sold by vendors walking the beaches in summer.
• Pao de lo: a light sponge cake, sometimes baked runny in the middle, from Ovar and Alfeizerao.

Coffee is cheap and strong. Order “um cafe” (an espresso, €0.80 to €1.20; called a bica in Lisbon and a cimbalino in Porto), “um pingado” with a drop of milk, “uma meia de leite” (half coffee, half milk) or “um galao” (milky coffee in a glass). A coffee and a pastry together rarely pass €3.

Portugal makes wine almost everywhere, and a decent bottle in a supermarket costs €4 to €8. House wine (vinho da casa) by the glass is €2 to €4, and by the half-litre jug €5 to €9.

• Port: fortified wine from the Douro Valley, aged in the lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia across the river from Porto. Tours with a tasting of two or three ports cost about €15 to €35; ruby and tawny are the basic styles, and aged tawnies (10, 20 years) are the ones to try. White port with tonic is the local summer drink.
• Vinho verde: light, slightly fizzy young wine from the Minho in the north, mostly white and cheap. Alvarinho from Moncao and Melgaco is the premium version.
• Douro reds: powerful reds from the same terraces as port. Day trips from Porto by train to Pinhao, by river boat or with a driver visit two or three quintas.
• Alentejo: soft, ripe reds and whites from the plains around Evora and Reguengos, some still fermented in clay amphorae (vinho de talha).
• Others: Bairrada sparkling wine (good with suckling pig), Dao reds, Colares from sandy vineyards near Sintra, and the volcanic whites of Pico.

Beer is Super Bock in the north and Sagres in the south. Order “um fino” in Porto or “uma imperial” in Lisbon for a small draught (€1.20 to €2.50). Spirits to try: ginjinha (sour cherry liqueur), aguardente medronho from the Algarve hills, and licor beirao.

• Tascas and tabernas: small family restaurants with a handwritten menu and a weekday “prato do dia” (dish of the day) or set lunch with soup, main, drink and coffee for €9 to €14. The best value in the country.
• Marisqueiras and cervejarias: seafood restaurants and beer halls where shellfish is priced by the kilo. Ask the price of a portion or the weight before ordering.
• Churrasqueiras: grill houses for frango assado (piri-piri chicken, €8 to €12 for half a bird). The town of Guia near Albufeira in the Algarve is famous for it.
• Municipal markets: the Mercado do Bolhao in Porto, the Mercado dos Lavradores in Funchal and the Graca market in Ponta Delgada sell fruit, cheese and fish, and most have cheap snack bars.
• Restaurants: the fine-dining scene is strongest in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve, where tasting menus run €90 to €200.

Meal times are later than in northern Europe but earlier than in Spain: lunch 12:30 to 15:00, dinner 19:30 to 22:30. Many kitchens close in between and many tascas close on Sundays or Mondays.

The couvert is the food set on your table before you order: bread, butter, olives, cheese, sardine pate, sometimes cod croquettes. It is not free, but you only pay for what you eat. If you do not want it, say “nao, obrigado” (no, thank you) and hand it back, or simply leave it untouched and check that it is not on the bill. Prices are on the menu, usually €1.50 to €4 per person, and more for cheese or presunto ham.

Service is not added to the bill. For good table service round up or leave 5 to 10 percent; nobody tips at a cafe counter, and a few coins on a €12 lunch is plenty. Ask for “a conta, por favor” (the bill); it will not arrive until you do. Tap water (agua da torneira) is safe, but restaurants bring bottled water, which is charged, unless you ask for tap. Every restaurant must keep a complaints book (livro de reclamacoes); asking for it usually settles a disputed bill.

Vegetarians and vegans: traditional Portuguese food is built on meat and fish, and even vegetable soups are often made with meat stock or come with chourico. Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve towns and Funchal now have plenty of vegetarian and vegan restaurants, and most menus offer at least an omelette or a vegetable dish. In small towns, ask “tem pratos vegetarianos?” and expect a simple omelette, salad and chips. Useful dishes that are often meat-free: peixinhos da horta (battered green beans), migas without the pork, and acorda with only egg. Gluten-free bread is common in city supermarkets. Halal and kosher food is limited outside Lisbon.

Cooking classes in Lisbon and Porto run three to four hours and cost about €60 to €100, usually including a market visit and pasteis de nata or a full lunch. Douro wine tours from Porto cost about €90 to €150 including lunch and two or three quinta tastings; book through a licensed operator or take the train to Pinhao and visit quintas yourself.

Food festivals worth timing a trip around include June’s Santos Populares, when cities grill sardines in the streets, the Festival Nacional de Gastronomia in Santarem in late October, and the Douro grape harvest (vindima) from mid September to early October, when some quintas let visitors help with the picking. See the Portugal culture guide for the June festivals.

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