Lisbon eats like a port city that never stopped trading: salt cod from Newfoundland, cinnamon from Goa, custard tarts baked to a monastery's secret recipe. Three days of markets, tascas, ginjinha counters and grilled fish smoke drifting up the alleyways.
Skip the food-court side and enter the traditional half, open since 1892. Fishmongers slam down espada preta and percebes barnacles from 6am; producers sell Azeitão cheese and Setúbal oranges. Market hall 06:00–14:00, closed Sunday.
A wood-panelled shop near Casa dos Bicos where three generations have wrapped tins by hand in coloured paper. Tricana, Prata do Mar and Minor brands: sardines in tomato, mackerel in olive oil, smoked eel. Mon–Sat 09:00–19:00.
A tiled, shoulder-to-shoulder tasca on Beco dos Surradores where the grill runs on charcoal all afternoon. Costeletas de porco, salt-cod cakes and bean stew arrive on paper tablecloths with a jug of house red. Cash preferred.
An open-plan bakery on Rua do Loreto where bakers laminate dough behind glass and a bell rings each time a fresh tray leaves the 400°C oven. Eat standing at the marble counter with cinnamon and an espresso. Daily 08:00–midnight.
The only place licensed to call them pastéis de Belém, baked from a recipe carried out of the Jerónimos monastery when the liberal revolution closed it in 1834. Warren of azulejo rooms seats 400; queues move fast. Daily 08:00–22:00.
A 1956 beer hall on Avenida Almirante Reis where waiters in white jackets serve gambas ao alhinho, giant tiger prawns and clams à Bulhão Pato. Finish with the prego steak roll as dessert, as regulars do. Closed Mondays.
The Port Wine Institute's tasting room inside an 18th-century palace beside the Elevador da Glória. Over 100 ports by the glass, from cheap white tonics to 40-year-old tawnies, poured in armchairs under a vaulted ceiling.
Praça dos Restauradores' terrace cervejaria where açorda de marisco arrives as a bread-and-coriander porridge studded with shellfish. Percebes and arroz de marisco for two are the house orders, served until midnight.
A narrow Baixa colonial grocer with a cellar of 19th-century Madeira and Port. Shelves of Serra da Estrela sheep cheese, presunto, dried figs, quince paste and cinnamon-heavy conventual sweets. Mon–Sat 09:30–19:30.
A single-doorway counter pouring sour-cherry liqueur since 1840, invented by Galician friar Espinheira. One question only: com or sem — with or without a boozy cherry in the glass. Drink it on the pavement, as everyone does.
A 1934 neighbourhood market where locals still buy fish in the morning and share petiscos benches by afternoon: charcoal-grilled sardinhas assadas on bread, bifana rolls, Alentejo cheeses. Open until 23:00, Fri–Sat later.
A tiny no-reservations taberna in Cais do Sodré where the chalkboard changes daily: tuna-and-onion escabeche, pork with clams, sheep-cheese sourdough. Twelve seats plus stools outside, natural wines from the Douro and Colares.