Food · Portugal
What to eat in Portugal
Portugal's food, destination by destination.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Quick answer
Start with Custard tart, Bacalhau à Brás and Grilled sardines. A crisp, flaky pastry case filled with egg custard caramelised in a very hot oven, eaten warm with cinnamon and icing sugar.
Key facts
- Dishes in this guide
- 15
- Destinations
- 5
Dishes to try in Portugal
Try in Lisbon · Vegetarian
Custard tart
A crisp, flaky pastry case filled with egg custard caramelised in a very hot oven, eaten warm with cinnamon and icing sugar. The Belém version, made since 1837 to a recipe from the Jerónimos monks, is sold as pastel de Belém.
Where: Pastéis de Belém next to the Jerónimos Monastery, and specialist nata bakeries in Chiado and the Baixa that bake throughout the day.
Try in Lisbon
Bacalhau à Brás
Shredded salt cod fried with onions and matchstick potatoes, bound with scrambled egg and finished with black olives and parsley. Portugal is said to have hundreds of salt-cod recipes, and this is the classic Lisbon one.
Where: Traditional tascas and restaurants across the Baixa, Bairro Alto and Alfama.
Try in Lisbon
Grilled sardines
Whole sardines grilled over charcoal and served on bread or with boiled potatoes and salad. They are a summer dish, at their best and fattest from June to September.
Where: Street grills in Alfama and Graça during the June Santo António festivals, and tascas with outdoor grills through the summer.
Try in Porto
Francesinha
Porto's famous sandwich layers bread with ham, linguiça sausage and steak, covers it in melted cheese and drowns it in a spiced tomato-and-beer sauce, often with a fried egg on top and fries on the side.
Where: Cafés and snack bars across the city; locals debate their favourites endlessly.
Try in Porto
Tripe Porto style
A slow-cooked stew of tripe, white beans, chouriço and chicken. It is the reason Porto's people are nicknamed 'tripeiros', after the city gave its best meat to the ships of the Age of Discoveries.
Where: Traditional tascas and restaurants in the old town, often as a dish of the day.
Try in Porto
Roast pork sandwich
A soft roll packed with slow-roasted pork leg, sometimes with melted Serra da Estrela cheese. It is a late-night and lunchtime favourite.
Where: Long-running snack bars around Praça dos Poveiros and the Baixa.
Try in Madeira
Espetada
Chunks of beef rubbed with garlic, salt and bay leaf, threaded onto bay-wood skewers and grilled over embers, then hung from a hook above the table. It comes with milho frito and bolo do caco.
Where: Traditional restaurants in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos and Santo da Serra are known for it, as well as many places in Funchal.
Try in Madeira
Black scabbardfish with banana
The deep-sea black scabbardfish, caught on long lines off Câmara de Lobos, is served as a white fillet fried in batter or breadcrumbs and topped with fried banana, sometimes with passion-fruit sauce.
Where: Almost every restaurant on the island; the fish itself is on display at the Mercado dos Lavradores fish hall.
Try in Madeira · Vegetarian
Bolo do caco
A round, flat sweet-potato bread cooked on a basalt stone (caco), served warm, split and spread with garlic and parsley butter. Filled with steak, it becomes a prego no bolo do caco sandwich.
Where: Snack bars, roadside stalls and restaurants across the island, often brought to the table as a starter.
Try in Algarve
Cataplana
A seafood stew of clams, prawns, fish and sometimes pork, cooked with tomato, onion, garlic and wine in a clam-shaped copper pan that is opened at the table. It is usually ordered for two.
Where: Seafood restaurants across the region, especially around Olhão, Portimão and the old towns of Lagos and Faro.
Try in Algarve
Piri-piri chicken
Spatchcocked chicken grilled over charcoal and basted with a chilli oil sauce made with piri-piri peppers, served with fries and salad. The small town of Guia, near Albufeira, is known for it.
Where: Churrasqueiras (grill houses) in Guia and across the region; ask for the sauce on the side if you prefer less heat.
Try in Algarve
Octopus
Octopus caught in traditional clay pots is cooked as a salad, grilled with olive oil and garlic (polvo à lagareiro) or stewed with rice.
Where: Santa Luzia near Tavira calls itself the octopus capital of Portugal, with many restaurants on its waterfront.
Try in Azores
Cozido das Furnas
A stew of beef, pork, chicken, chouriço, blood sausage, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and yams cooked for about six hours in a pot buried in the volcanic ground beside Lagoa das Furnas.
Where: Restaurants in Furnas serve it at lunchtime; book a table and arrive at midday.
Try in Azores · Vegetarian
São Jorge cheese
A hard, spicy cow's-milk cheese from São Jorge island with protected designation of origin, aged for several months. It is often served as a starter with bread and pepper paste.
Where: Supermarkets, cheese shops and the Mercado da Graça in Ponta Delgada, and cooperatives on São Jorge.
Try in Azores · Vegetarian
Bolo lêvedo
A lightly sweet, flat round muffin-like bread originally from Furnas, eaten split and toasted with butter or used for burgers and sandwiches.
Where: Bakeries and cafés across São Miguel; the Furnas originals are sold in the village.
Food scene by destination
| Destination | Food experience | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon | Seafood beer hall feast | Bread, olives, cheese and other starters (couvert) are placed on the table automatically and charged if you eat them; send back what you… |
| Porto | Port tasting in Gaia | Lunch runs from about 12:30pm to 3pm and dinner from about 7:30pm; many small restaurants close between. |
| Madeira | Market morning at the Mercado dos Lavradores | Bread, butter and olives brought to the table before you order are usually charged; send them back if you don't want them. |
| Algarve | Sardines by the river in Portimão | Bread, olives and pâté brought before you order are charged if eaten; send them back if you don't want them. |
| Azores | Cozido lunch in Furnas | Book cozido lunches in Furnas a day ahead, especially on weekends. |
Food experiences
- Lisbon — Seafood beer hall feast: Order clams, prawns, crab and percebes by weight at a cervejaria, with cold beer and buttered toast, then finish with a prego steak sandwich in the Lisbon tradition.
- Porto — Port tasting in Gaia: Cross the Dom Luís I bridge to the lodges for a cellar tour and tasting, comparing ruby, tawny and aged styles.
- Madeira — Market morning at the Mercado dos Lavradores: See the fish hall, buy custard apples and passion-fruit varieties from the stalls, and have a coffee on the upper gallery.
- Algarve — Sardines by the river in Portimão: Eat charcoal-grilled sardines and salad at the simple grills by the old bridge over the Arade river.
- Azores — Cozido lunch in Furnas: Watch the pots come out of the ground at Lagoa das Furnas in the late morning, then eat the stew at a village restaurant.
Questions travellers ask
+What food is Portugal famous for?
Custard tart, Bacalhau à Brás, Grilled sardines, Francesinha and Tripe Porto style.