Out of all the fantastic and reasonably priced food and wine options in Lisbon, here are 5 of my favorite eating and drinking experiences.
My friend Lori and I went to Paris, Lisbon, and Brussels in late February to early March 2020. We spent 4 days in Paris, 2 in Lisbon, and 1 in Brussels. It was a whirlwind trip, and we got home just before travel shut down for the pandemic.
Wine with a View
One of the most unique, and enjoyable, drinking experiences was the Wine with a View trucks in Lisbon.
We found the Wine with a View trucks at a couple of different must-go tourist destinations. The trucks sell Portugese wines by the glass, or bottle.
The first place we found the cute little red trucks selling wine by the glass was at the Castelo de S. Jorge.
The second place was near the Belem Tower. We sat there and enjoyed the sunny 70 degree weather, knowing that the temperature was hovering around freezing in Chicago.
Lisbon’s Miraduoros.
A Miraduoro is a viewpoint located on highest hills throughout Lisbon. One of our goals while in Lisbon was to get to as many of them as we could squeeze in in our 3 days.
Another favorite wine related memory was our own wine with a view afternoon. Although there was no cute red truck, there was a kiosk selling wines by the glass at the Miradouro de Santa Luzia.
We had just finished a several hour walking tour, up and down the streets (and by streets, I really mean stairways) of Lisbon, through Lisbon Chill Out free tours, with a Local. Our tour guide took us through old neighborhoods, and to a public laundry, which many Lisbon resident still use, since they don’t have in-home washing machines.
Port
I probably don’t have to say much more than that, but, I will. Although the Museum of Port was closed for renovation when we were there, we still sampled port at one of the restaurants at which we had dinner. The waiter was kind enough to bring each a sample of a ruby and a tawny.
Don’t even ask me about why Lori’s port has ice in it. We will not go there.
We promptly went to a liquor store up the street and bought some to take home. I wonder if he worked on commission?
Octopus
I know not everyone loves grilled octopus salad (or octopus anything, for that matter), but, after visiting the Azores a few years ago, I’m hooked. In my mind, it seems to be linked to Portugal, and I tried it in several different places we visited.
One night we stopped for dinner (we were famished and had walked miles up and down) at a random restaurant in the area we were staying in. The restaurant was called Tidbits, which made me laugh. I don’t know why, it just did.
It was right on the main street up from the train station to get to our neighborhood (the barrio alto), and looked sort of fancy. We hadn’t spent much on food so far, so thought we’d splurge. Of course, being Lisbon, which is very reasonable, dinner was not particularly expensive. But, it was delicious.
I’m sorry I took this picture after I’d started eating, but I was soooo hungry, and it looked soooo good.
This was the same restaurant where we had the Port tasting, so all in all a great ending to the day.
Time Out Market
Another highlight, which I have to admit I was leery of trying, was Time Out Market. I couldn’t quite get the thrill of a giant food court sort of place. But, then we went there. They had everything. It was full of people, fabulous smells, beautiful food, fun music. It had it all.
Since Lori is a vegetarian, and I am not, it offered choices for both of us. I had a charcuterie plate from Manteigaria Silva. The meats and cheeses were all fantastic. I know this will shock you, but we had wine as well. It was actually a rather nice walk there from our apartment, but, again, hilly.
So, these were some of my favorite food and wine experiences in Lisbon.
What are some of your favorites?