Eat Like a Lisboan
Eat like a Lisboan, a European, or really just anyone who’s trying to find a way to eat as many different things as possible before getting too full. We did some research on mandatory stops, but for the most part we’d wander around Lisbon, just exploring, and when a restaurant caught our attention we’d pop in for a small plate or two and a glass of wine. Try three such stops for optimal results.
Eating like this made the three-course meal customary at American restaurants feel silly and wasteful. Not only because it requires eating so much, but it requires eating so much of the same thing. Why have one massive dish of pasta when you can sample tuna bitoque, croquettes, and bacalhau all in one night? Don’t know, couldn’t tell you.
Naturally, meals became a highlight of my day. In that spirit, I thought I’d outline how every day of eating, ideally, would progress:
For breakfast, two Pasteis from the original Pasteis de Belem. That’s all. I genuinely believe those egg custard tarts were thought up with me in mind and I’m forever indebted to the genius behind the Pastel cause.
Then some sample lunching. For this purpose, Timeout Market became my second home. Although half of the property is dedicated to a massive farmers market, the rest is allotted to tens of stands featuring gelato, wine, pastries, and the most amazing restaurant quality fare. Designed to have the vibe of a permanent food festival, Timeout delivered on both the atmosphere and the delicious plates. During each visit, I made it my business to stop at least 3 new stalls and I succeeded handily.
And then, Lisbon’s great triumph – Ponto Finale. In my perfect world, every day for every person should end with dinner on the dock at Ponto Finale. After a ferry ride and a 15-minute walk along the water while passing rows and rows of graffiti laden, abandoned buildings, my beloved hole in the wall emerged against the backdrop of the river. There an oh-so-thin dock exists, with no guard rails at all, and fish jump out of the water while you sit there eating their friends. The house specialty, Monkfish Stew, is served in a massive terracotta pot and is meant for sharing (note the theme?). So simple, containing an ingredient list I could confine to one hand, and ultimately the best thing I ate in Lisbon. Like I claimed about the Fourth Street Deli in Philly, Ponto Finale is the type of place that requires a special plane and ferry ride to reach.
Lisbon was so incredibly unassuming to me, and certainly not the type of place I would have ever required myself to go. The food I experienced trended in the same way. What’s so special about fresh seafood prepared simply and paired with amazing wine? As it would turn out, everything.
