Portuguese food is honest, ingredient-driven, and almost always good value. It doesn't chase novelty — the classics have been the classics for centuries — but the country's cooking has been getting more international attention as the food scene in Lisbon and Porto has developed.
Bacalhau (salt cod) is the foundational ingredient. Portugal has reputedly over 365 recipes for it, though the canonical ones — bacalhau à Brás (shredded, scrambled with eggs and potatoes), bacalhau com natas (baked in cream), bacalhau à lagareiro (baked with olive oil and garlic) — appear everywhere. If you only try one, bacalhau à Brás is the most approachable.
Seafood more broadly is excellent: grilled fish, clams cooked with garlic and coriander (amêijoas à bulhão pato), and percebes (goose barnacles) if you're adventurous. The grilled sardines at the June festas are a summer ritual.
Caldo verde — a simple soup of potato, kale, and chouriço — is Portugal's unofficial national dish. It appears at every celebration and every restaurant, and it's better than it sounds.
Pastéis de nata (egg custard tarts) need no introduction. The original, from the Pastéis de Belém bakery in Lisbon's Belém district, is the benchmark, but decent versions are available everywhere. Eat them warm, with cinnamon and icing sugar.
Bifanas (pork sandwiches) and francesinha (a Porto-specific open-faced sandwich drowned in a spiced tomato and beer sauce) are the archetypal cheap eats. The francesinha is an acquired taste; approach with curiosity.
Wine is a serious business. Vinho verde (literally "green wine") from the Minho in the northwest is light, slightly sparkling, and best drunk young and cold — perfect with seafood. The Alentejo produces full-bodied reds. Port wine — fortified wine from the Douro Valley — comes in white, tawny, and ruby styles; tawny aged port is the most nuanced. Ginjinha, a sour-cherry liqueur, is the traditional shot in Lisbon and Óbidos.
Restaurant lunch (usually noon–3pm) is the main meal and typically offers the best value. A prato do dia with soup, main, bread, and a drink can cost €8–12 even in Lisbon. Dinner runs later — restaurants often don't fill up until 8:30 or 9pm.