This family-run restaurant in residential Carnide is a temple of Alentejo cuisine—the large, fertile region of Portugal which some say is the country’s gastronomic heart. The restaurant was founded by Gertrudes, the late grandmother of the recent owners, and the dishes remained unchanged. There is sopa de cação (dogfish soup), pézinhos de coentrada (pork trotters in cilantro sauce), and perdiz de escabeche (partridge in escabeche sauce). The gazpacho with fried fish in summer is unmissable.

Located in Belém, a few steps from the 16th-century Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, this modern spot by young chef Carlos Afonso and his cousin Sérgio Frade serves modern adaptations of traditional Portuguese dishes like arroz de polvo (octopus rice), coelho de coentrada (rabbit with cilantro sauce), and salada de bacalhau (codfish salad). The pandemic forced the team to add outdoor seating, but the best experience is still at the marbled U-shaped counter overlooking the kitchen and chefs.

Goa, a state in southwestern India, was under Portuguese rule for almost 450 years. This yielded what is known as Indo-Portuguese cuisine, served in many Lisbon restaurants. Sabores de Goa in Anjos is one of the best places to try intense and fragrant versions of the dishes, including bojés, crab xec xec (with garlic, coconut, and spices), ambotic (fish marinated in salt and spices), sarapatel (spiced pork offal), and bebinca (a Goan cake made with layers of coconut milk, flour, and egg yolk)

This deservedly popular wine bar in the multicultural neighborhood of Penha de França has an excellent Portuguese unsulfured and unfiltered wine selection. It’s the food cooked by Argentinian chef Romana Bertolini, however, that gets all the attention: shrimp wontons to dip in a shrimp bisque; tender pleurotus, fried potatoes and a rich demi glace; and arroz de bacalhau (codfish rice).

What used to be a cannery with Roman ruins a few blocks from Sé cathedral became a wooden table, plant-decorated restaurant in late 2017. Behind the stove is a team led by chef António Galapito, who creates daily dishes to share like smoked lardo toast, Minhota beef tartare, and cockles, chard, and fried bread. The imaginative, sweet, sour, and savory desserts are a unique feature not to be missed: mushroom ice cream, barley and caramel; and Moscatel grape sorbet, yogurt, and amaranth.

Portugal and Japan have had a historical relationship since the 16th century, which resulted in the introduction of tempura to Japan. At Tasca Kome, the dedicated work of Yuko Yamamoto, Osaka-born but based in Portugal for more than a decade, extends to traditional Izakaya dishes, including kabutoni (simmered sea bream head), ebi ten soba (soba with shrimp tempura), and escabeche de carapau (mackerel escabeche). Here, everything is made in house, like the daifuku and even the Cola.

Restaurant Ramiro might be the most well known seafood place in Lisbon. But chefs here acknowledge that some of the best quality Portuguese seafood comes from Nune’s Real Marisqueira. Open since 2001, this place in Belém is another monument worth visiting in the riverfront neighborhood. Inside, a seafood feast: rich plates of giant tiger prawns, percebes (goose barnacles), lobster, crab and clams; large pots of fish or seafood rice prepared with dedication; and perfectly fried filets of fish.

In one of Lisbon’s most family-friendly neighborhoods, Campo de Ourique, chef Vitor Sobral renovated an old corner space in 2008, and since then Tasca da Esquina has served reinterpreted, modernized versions of petiscos—Portuguese sharing dishes. The menu runs to plates like cockles with lemon, octopus salad with sweet potato and cilantro, chicken liver with pickled pear, shredded cod with potato and egg, and fried gizzards with chives and cherries.

This restaurant located in Baixa, right in the center of Lisbon, is the definition of classic. It is one of the oldest restaurants in the city—open since 1936—and has dark-paneled dining rooms. Waiters, some of them who have been working here for more than 30 years, are called by their first names by regulars. Sit by the counter or choose one of the white tablecloth tables—either way don’t leave without trying the famous croquettes with homemade mustard, the roast beef, or the partridge pie.