Discover seven tasty cities in Porgugal. Porto and Lisbon top the list but other they’re not the only tasty Portuguese places worth a visit. You’re going to love eating in them all.
1. Porto
The Porto food scene has lots of great options ranging from snack food to fine dining. While many food travelers journey to Porto to drink port wine at the source, port wine isn’t the only culinary star in Portugal’s #1 foodie city. The city’s best food may be a sandwich – the francesinha. Numerous joints smother the meaty, cheesy sandwich with a special tomato beef gravy and serve it with fried potatoes. It’s so good that it’s one of the best sandwiches in the world.
Dig Deeper: Porto Food Favorites, Porto Restaurants and Porto Coffee Shops
2. Lisbon
3. Evora
Food in Évora is plentiful and rich. Most restaurants serve stick-to-your-ribs dishes involving generous amounts of meat and carbs. At first glance, Évora’s porky plates seem simple; however, it takes just a few bites to reveal cooking traditions passed through generations and superior locally grown ingredients. The Alentejo city also has fantastic pastries and some of the best wine in all of Portugal.
4. Funchal (Madeira)
Madeira is world-famous for its dessert wine but it’s food is special too starting with bananas that growin different colors. Small and sweet, they’re ideal snacks between meals which often feature grilled meat skewers called espetada and black scabbard fish served topped with…you guessed it…bananas.. Lapas, also known as limpets, may be Funchal’s most popular seafood for travelers to taste. The bottom feeders are usually served with a buttery lemon-garlic sauce.
Dig Deeper: Madeira Food Favorites
5. Olhão
Olhao isn’t just a beach destination in the Algarve. It’s also a city with excellent seafood and fantasitc municipal markets. The fruit and vegetable market displays a wide variety of farm products and meats while the seafood market sells a stunning array of fresh catches including some of the largest prawns we’ve ever seen. On Saturdays, Olhão’s massive outdoor market comes alive with a rainbow of local produce and chocolate-dipped churros fried to order.
6. Setúbal
Setubal’s cuisine may be less famous than its beaches and parks but don’t count it out. The city has a wonderful central market filled with veggies, meats, cheeses and freshly caught seafood. It also has wonderful wine and a signature dish called choco frito. Despite that name which evokes visions of chocolate, the hyper-local dish features fried finger-sized chunks of cuttlefish served with fried potatoes, fresh lemon and various condiments.
7. Obidos
Obidos’ ginjinha (also known as ginja) is a popular after-dinner digestive imbibed throughout Portugal. Shops in Obidos take the ginjinha experience to the next level by serving the liquid elixir in miniature chocolate cups. Typically priced at a single euro, these shots are as difficult to resist as they are fun to drink. Other culinary highlights include hearth-baked breads stuffed with chourico and soul-satisfying tapas meals.
Read Next: What to Eat in Portugal
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