In thinking back on the close to one week we spent in Lisbon last fall, the first thing that comes to mind is the food. While we did not explicitly plan for Lisbon to be a dominant foodie experience, we had a host of amazing meals, dishes and drinks scattered around the city. One meal was so good, I even just wrote about it separately so I could attempt to do it justice.

So, here goes for a tour through our Lisbon eating experiences…

Night one, slightly jet legged and craving an early to bed evening, we arrived at Cantinho do Avillez at the almost ridiculous hour (for Portugal, or for anyone under the age of 73) of 4:30 for dinner. What a great start to our stay in Lisbon. Olives, a baked cheese dish and some local pork sausage got us off to an amazing start.

The main dishes here were outstanding. I had the first of what was a lot of octopus over two weeks, and my wife had perfectly grilled scallops before we both shared the restaurant’s self professed “life changing” dessert – a multi-textured hazelnut creation that was the perfect cap to our first day in Portugal. For two travel-weary people, the explicit gluten-free indicators on the menu were much appreciated.

The next morning, there was no doubt what I was going to have for breakfast.  A short walk from our apartment, I entered the busy Manteigaria for what many in Lisbon believe are the best pastéis de nata in the city. These custard tarts, found everywhere in the city, were heavenly. Cool, but charred on the top custard, and perfectly flaky crusts made me a very happy man. After much city-wide sampling, these were indeed my favourites.

Pastéis de nata are a celiac’s nightmare – forbidden to eat, but clearly such a treat to everyone else. Luckily for my wife, Zarzuela, near the water in central Lisbon does a very respectable gluten-free version of these. We made a few stops here over the week in Lisbon.

Another place that warranted more than one visit was the Time Out Market – essentially, a food hall featuring a diverse array of dining choices.

Choice here was almost paralyzing as I wanted to try everything. My wife and I split up and ordered different dishes from two food stands in the market. Her cod won the night. Flaky and perfectly fresh – it was a stunning dish. My octopus rice and cod fritters were outstanding too. We even got to enjoy our meals with great company, having a nice conversation with a retired couple from Australia who travel during their country’s winters.

The Time Out Market was so good, I made it back for another lunch before we left Lisbon. This dish of Alejento pork cheeks, potato puree, cabbage and crispy bacon was one of the best things I ate on this trip (and that’s saying something!). Paired with a young white wine from two hours north of Lisbon, I was in my happy place.

Lisbon wasn’t all restaurants and fancy eating – sometimes you want to just stay in and pull together a meal from the local grocery store. In this case, aided by some outstanding tinned fish we picked up at the market and that became a staple of our snacking here and in Nazare, Coimbra and Porto, we added in unbelievably addictive ham-flavoured chips, fresh cheese, some garlic olives and a nice bottle of red wine that somehow didn’t get into this picture.

A must do for me before leaving Lisbon was to visit “A Ginjinha” for a taste of the traditional Portuguese sour cherry liquor. For the cost of a euro and standing outside a cramped bar that might fit 4 people at most, I tried this drink that has been a staple here since the 17th century. My tasting notes? Good in a NyQuil-like way.

One of our last meals in Lisbon was one of our best. At Bairro da Avillez, the meal started out with what was termed as “exploding olives” – olive juice enclosed in a cellulose like wrap (picture on the left below). When you slid one of these into your mouth, it did indeed explode. It was a bit later in a series of dishes we were sampling that we had what we both agreed was the best single item in our entire Portugal trip – octopus with kimchi (bottom left dish, picture on the right below). For all of the seafood I packed away over two weeks, this was a little slice of perfectly cooked, earthy, spicy heaven.

A week in Lisbon and thousands and thousands of calories later, I will always remember the food from this portion of our Portugal trip.