I expected Portugal to be a trip highlight, but it left me a bit disappointed. Lisbon wasn’t awful overall, but it frustrated me from a food standpoint—the downtown area is one giant tourist trap.
Restaurants seem to game reviews, with sky-high ratings like 4.8/5 that don’t match reality; I had some of my worst meals there, which felt like a total rip-off. We were so fed up that our last day ended with lunch at McDonald’s—my first visit in over six years!
The rest of Portugal wasn’t like this at all, but ending on that sour note in Lisbon colored my whole view. Pro tip: If staying downtown, hop a quick 15-minute transit ride out of the center for a solid dinner instead.
Belem
Belem is a short Uber drive away from Lisbon but has a lot to offer. I recommend you spend half a day there and end up at a classic; Pasteis de Belem.
Pasteis de Belem is the original and only place where they can call it this way. Everywhere else they are named Pasteis de Nata . As you can see in the picture it’s quite a busy place. If you don’t want to sit down you can skip this whole line and enter by the second door on the left, you will be in and out in 2-3 minutes.
I forgot to take a picture of them but they were still warm and obviously very tasty. The 2 differences I found compared to the other one I had were with the crust, where it’s thicker and flakier and secondly, it’s less sweet.
While walking on the seaside, we saw this monstrosity. I’m fine if they take a spin at other culture food but Canadian Classic poutine: Mozzarella mix + Original gravy sour cream. Oh hell no brother.
Cascais
From Belém, we took a 20-minute Uber ride down to Cascais. This charming coastal town sits on the opposite side of the Atlantic, facing straight toward Quebec—so we were literally looking “home,” which felt pretty neat. Being on the coast, Cascais delivered fantastic fresh fish and seafood that didn’t disappoint at all
We went to a little restaurant called Manjar de vila and it was really good. A Portuguese classic is the bolinho de bacalhau , a fried cod and potatoes appetizer. They were the best we had, I would have taken 4 more plates.
I had another Portuguese classic with the arroz de marisco—a seafood rice dish that’s definitely one I need to recreate. It’s a soupy rice in a tomato-seafood stock base, which isn’t my usual style, but it just worked perfectly. Paired with all that fresh seafood, it hit the spot; the ingredient quality was so high and fresh it’s hard to beat
Sintra
The next morning, we took a 45-minute Uber ride down to Sintra, home of the famous Pena Palace. The views from this colorful palace are absolutely stunning.
Nearby, you can walk the Moors Castle or visit the Quinta da Regaleira manor to round out the day.
We went for some fish, but more importantly, we had the famous Sintra pastry, the Travesseiro. It’s a flaky pastry filled with almond cream—though they also offer ones with apple. Piriquita is probably the most famous spot to get it, and it’s been open for well over 150 years for a reason. I devoured the whole thing in 30 seconds; it’ll definitely go on my to-make list.
Lisboa
Lisbon,Lisbon,Lisbon…. ughhh
As mentioned in the intro, Lisbon is filled to the brim with fake restaurant reviews. One place that disgusted me was Bessa—4.8 out of 5 stars, which should mean freaking amazing food. But if you sort reviews from lowest to highest, you start to understand the plot: it’s filled with real ones saying the food is terrible and questioning why it has such high ratings.
Unfortunately, this problem plagues the entire Chiado district (downtown). Pretty much every restaurant follows the same pattern, so if you actually want good food, you need to get out of this neighbourhood—grab an Uber, ride 10–15 minutes away, and you’ll eat much better.
Beside this text is the bacalhau à Lagareiro I had at Bessa: it might look good, but the fish wasn’t fresh and tasted like an old carpet, with everything bland and soggy. Ewwww.
My stomach was upset for a few hours, and I started to freak out about getting food poisoning, but thankfully I was fine by the next morning.
I will recommend 3 places in downtown Lisbon
- EspressoLab – Good pastry and coffee
- A Padaria Portuguesa – Good pastry and coffee
- M’arrecreo Pizzeria – Good Neapolitan-style pizza, it’s not amazing but I wouldn’t complain about eating this weekly