Visit Lisbon: Eating Out Tips for Lisbon, Portugal

[snowwpea]

Lisbon is a great city, but it's not the best place to eat in Portugal. In many places, the portions are small and like you said, very little vegetables. If you go to the northern part of Portugal, they serve huge portions, vegetables and everything you can imagine. Trust me on this! Plus it's much cheaper... just a little tip. I recommend frango de churrasco... Portuguese bbq chicken.

[GabKoost]

These dishes are the express menus that you can find anywhere anytime. it's nothing special. Portugal does have EXCELLENT beef but, in coastal cities, obviously, tradition is fish. If you want Beef, you should go to Northern Portugal were there are many local breeds. Portuguese have a lot of vegetables in special dishes not like these express ones. Black pig is BLACK and raised open air eating oak acorn. Portugal have an immense diversity of gastronomies impossible to resume.

[woltersworld]

@GabKoost just one thing.soup does not count as a vegetable when it has been pureed and cooked for hours, the nutritional value is gone :)

I am talking about the general plates that the tourists get while they are here. The beef is not good, whether at the store or restaurant. It is nothing against portugal, it is more to the fact that tourists would be better served eating seafood/pork/chicken dishes while in Portugal hence why the english are called bife and the portuguese are not :)

[GabKoost]

@woltersworld I agree when you speak about Lisbon and Southern Portugal. It is not a land of Beef. Northern Portugal is the only region where you can find premium beef (called "POSTA") has local breeds are excellent. The only region who breed cattle is the Northern as the climate in South is more apt for lamb, porc etc. In Minho try Posta Barrosã, in Tras-os-Montes Posta Mirandesa, In Vila Real Region try Posta MARONESA. Small region but with a lot of diversity present in Touristic restaurants,

[woltersworld]

@GabKoost true, the posta is the only kind of beef i buy here :) which do you think is the best borrega dish? my wife loves borrega but i never know which is the best "traditional" dish. we live in lisbon so was wondering your opinion. and thank you for all the comments. i like getting lots of ideas and opinions on the videos and topics. have a great day!

[GabKoost]

@woltersworld Well, if by Borrego you mean LAMB, let me tell you, if you don't already know, that Alentejo is probably the best region to have it. If you can, go there during Easter's week, It's the traditional dish of this time of the year and many restaurants organize a Gastronomic week around it. The most famous dish is ENSOPADO de BORREGO (Stew with slices of bread) witch is delicious. Then you can't go wrong with the Roasted Lamb. Always in a wood fed oven of course.

[GabKoost]

Always try to go to the region where the specialty is. If not, unless you are in a expensive top restaurant, you will never have the real thing. For example, Vinho Verde in average tourist restaurants of South is very bad. They offer you brands like Casal Garcia or Gazela who are cheap commercial lines with 0 quality. With the meat dishes, you will hardly have the real breed. Real condiments? even harder. Well, i am in the touristic business also so any REAL tip you need, feel free to ask. GDay!

[zedweb]

@GabKoost Allow me to disagree, Northern beef is great, but you haven´t tasted real meat until you get to Alentejo and try region certified meat. In Alentejo, there's a congregation of caddle breeders (CarnAlentejana) that only produce meat trough traditional methods, both bovine and pig. When you visit the inner Alentejo try to get some Javali (Wild Boar). And last, but not least, Alentejo's wines are paired with the best in the world!

[GabKoost]

@zedweb Then we agree in everything. Beef is VEAL. The best beef in Portugal are the breeds from Northern Portugal with at least 4 excellent breeds: Barrosã, Cachena, Mirandesa and Maronesa. Alentejo is of course a land of meet but, traditionally, we see other types of meet. Lamb, Porc etc. Please remember that, times were when only the North of Portugal had more cattle heads than all the rest of the country together.

[GabKoost]

@woltersworld I agree when you speak about Lisbon and Southern Portugal. It is not a land of Beef. Northern Portugal is the only region where you can find premium beef (called "POSTA") has local breeds are excellent. The only region who breed cattle is the Northern as the climate in South is more apt for lamb, porc etc. In Minho try Posta Barrosã, in Tras-os-Montes Posta Mirandesa, In Vila Real Region try Posta MARONESA. Small region but with a lot of diversity present in Touristic restaurants

[GabKoost]

@GabKoost The thing about Portugal is that the geography and climate is extremely diversified and, obviously, so is the gastronomy. There is no way to define Portugal's gastronomy because Northwest is Atlantic, north and central east is Iberic and south is clearly Mediterranean. If you chose a real restaurant instead of these touristic ones you can find beef but it is called POSTA. a "Bife" is a slim piece of regular meat.

[MrBiejos]

woltersworld! Thanks man for sharing your experience. I totally appreciate what you are doing here as I am planning my first trip to Portugal in January 1911. I wish to live the Portuguese culture fully and plan to stay away from the tourist type places and thanks to your efforts I will be able too.

Beijos from Canada

[woltersworld]

@MrBiejos glad i can help. check out the five love and hates and top sites videos for some more info. glad you like the video and have a great trip!

[vader8211]

you can go to everywhere of portugal EXCEPT!!!!!!! amadora. that one of our citys with bad companys. just dont go there you will be assaulted!

[paquitomoralles]

3:40...those are indians and bangladeshis or something..not portuguese....

[paquitomoralles]

lol...there are no veggies because you are eating our equivalent to fast food...

you have no idea of how versatile our food is..too bad you went to "snack bars" mostly instead of real restaurants.also..in the very first street there are some medium quality restaurantes owned by indians pretending to make typical portuguese food...

cheers

:)

[jnx37]

Extrav, dont forget Japan/Kobe beef. being 4th (by ur rating) is not 'awesome'. i didnt say it was bad, there is just much better in the world. ive lived in many places and adapt quite well. its just hard to want to when the majority of my experiences have been bad.  ive been called (un-adaptable now) stupid and small because i speak ur language only intermediately. though my english and greek are quite good. im sorry i dont think portugal is the greatest place on earth. its not personal.

[6ar6ara]

well all i can say it depends what area of portugal you where, the people you met, your aproach to them... i believe that you had bad experiences but i'm portuguese, i'm always 5 min earlier, and i think i try to be helpful... perceptions can change and you could have a really good experience in portugal some other time... and beef... well we are a peninsula so, yeah, fish is our thing! ;) if you had experience a sunset on the beach eating some seafood with a great beer, you would love it! :)

[Extrav]

:) as a fact i've been, In Spain, France, Brasil, Australia, England, Greece, Italy, Sates, South Corea, Argentina, Peru, Equador, Mexico, New Zeland, Germany, Sweden, Austria.. I've been working as a Chef trough a hotel that i won't mention for obvious reasons.. Beef as you have here you can only find better firstly in Argentina, then Brasil and then the States.. Sorry if you had a bad time here.. but if you can't adapt don't blaim the beef :)

[woltersworld]

Not too bad. I have lived (i.e. more than a year) in a lot of those countries, US, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Finland, Australia, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, and was working abroad quite often in the UK, Italy and throughout the former USSR... and I would have to say, your beef reference is just wrong. The porco preto is great, the fish is amazing... But the beef... no way, I respect your opinion as a chef, but beef is one thing that the foreigners in Portugal do not seem to like.

[woltersworld]

I wouldnt say that jnx37 hasnt been able to adapt or hasnt tried(since they are trying to speak/learn portuguese which most foreigners seem not to do here).Im guessing its just bad luck.Though,I have had equal amounts of compaints&positives from foreigners (i teach at the top econ faculty in portugal&have a lot of foreign students that have shared their portuguese experiences with me)&for every bad story there are good ones.Sucks for jnx37&others that do have bad experiences.Thanks for comments

[jnx37]

ps this guy doing these vids has been more helpful than any portuguese has been since ive been here. you should thank him for making these vids to promote your country. he obviously doesnt feel the way i do, he cares enough to promote this place and he is obviously Not portuguese. ps the wines here are a good value at least i have that to make my time here better ;)

[Extrav]

the beef is awsome.The cheese and ham are expensive.Always ask for a food recomendation from the waiter or the dish of the day.This guy don't know anything.. he goes to the turist restaurants that are mediocre.The best way is to ask a portuguese guy where and what to eat, people trully are very helpfull.. It's always important to say OBRIGADO (thank you)here's the Tips

[woltersworld]

actually i made the video there because that is where most of the tourist walk by. i myself never eat there as i have lived in lisbon for 4 years and go to other places that would be a bit difficult to explain to a tourist, come on you explain your local tasca to someone. And I do know a lot, and i am trying to help promote portugal if you notice with the 80 videos on learning portuguese and PT culture. So just look around and you will see. I do appreciate your comments though, thank you!

[jnx37]

Extrav. Have you had beef in England, the US, Canada, Brasil or Australia or France? Some places are known around the world for their food, Portuguese beef isnt known outside Portugal as anything special, sorry. And as I have lived here for half a year I can say I try very hard to speak the language and adapt to the customs (like being an hour late for everything) but I have had (unfortunately) more bad experiences than good. I feel many ppl here are like you, full of a defensive attitude.

[Extrav]

There's a lot of veggies, but usually they come with boiled stuff but you have to ask if you want with other stuff and if you like salads just ask as a side dish. They are not included in the main.Black pork is a tipe of pork that only get feeded with natural food.. the different tipes are the different parts of the pork.There are some good shellfish and fish restaurants.Get informed in the tourism office.The sardine and other fish information is correct, the chiken is also correct..

[woltersworld]

Also, the tourist office is helpful for tourist things, but i found that the hotel reception and concierges were much more helpful in pointing out restuarants then the T.I. thoughthe T.I. people were extremely nice.

[jnx37]

yes! lots of veggies! they often come pickled, wonderfully disgusting, and pureed in soup that has the consisency of baby food.

[woltersworld]

thanks for tips. i live in lisbon and dont get to travel as much around Portugal as i like to try the foods, the posta a mirandesa is awesome, i had a few times (i just kind of make the videos up as i am walking so not everything pops in there) i have another video eating at some tourist place in porto eating fish, which is actually my favorite stuff in portugal. thanks for all the wonderful advice and keep sharing! thanks!

[6ar6ara]

And at porto you should try Tripas à moda do Porto,Papas de Sarrabulho, orelheira de porco but don't ask what is made of... you're not used to eat that part of animals... ;) So many good things without french fries :) and you have to remember that we are used to eat soup before dinner or after and so that's our share of vegetables right there...

[6ar6ara]

but we do have good beef (i´m not a big fan of)... Next time try Posta à mirandesa that comes from North of Portugal (Trás-os-montes) It's a special race of cow (!! :S) that has a special feeding (it´s like Porco preto of cows) but you can eat at Porto too or Bife Pimenta, very good, Bife à café...

[jnx37]

and escolopes de madeira! soo good!

[6ar6ara]

Everything that is "à portuguesa" has an egg on top...Lololol not everything... :) you can have cozido à portuguese that has a lot of vegetables... you can have feijoada à portuguesa too.. and here in Porto we don't eat that much french fries...but we are probably the only country where you eat potatoes and rice in the same meal (as garnish)... ;)