Secrets Tips: 6 Unmissable Snacks To Taste In Lisbon ♦ Even those who stay in town during the month of August are entitled to feel a bit of a vacation at this selection of snacking spots. Among novelties and classics, some of them renovated, there are shrimps, snails, patties, boards and patties, to eat after work, in urban terraces and restaurants overlooking the sea. Secrets From Portugal is here to present you the most deliciously sublime snacks to taste in the Southern region, are you ready? It’s mouth-watering, I assure you.
♦ Discover All About the Amazing Snacks in Lisbon & Subscribe to Our Newsletter ♦
CHOCO FRITO
Born in Costa de Caparica and was by the beach that grew and made itself known, during two summers. Now Choco Frito – the name plays with the Setubal accent – gets its own place in Lisbon. The fried cuttlefish is still the same: tender inside and crispy on the outside. The serving comes in a basket with lemon and french fries, but you can also eat it in a wrap, with salad, or in a sandwich. But not only: in the restaurant of Francisco Poças, Nuno Mourão and Miguel Santos, with a decoration reminiscent of a beach bar, there are also fried cuttlefish croquettes or the combined Rocket, which combines two strips of cuttlefish with a fresh imperial.
SHRIMPED CROQUETTES WITH MUSTARD
They arrive at the table in pairs and serve either as a snack between meals or as a kick-start for one. They are creamy in the filling and red on the outside: these mustard sauce beef croquettes are one of the novelties of the Beer Republic. The Parque das Nações classic has been around for two decades but is still reinventing itself. Now it bets more on snacks and tradition and has dropped the German influence that was part of the old letter. In addition to croquettes, there are other new features such as sirloin woodpecker, vinaigrette octopus salad, codfish patties with garlic mayonnaise, boiled prawns with cocktail sauce and coriander and chilli breaded shrimp.
TACO DE SALMÃO ORIENTAL
It is one of the restaurant’s entrances that unites influences from Japanese and Peruvian cuisines and can be enjoyed anytime because the cuisine does not close and on the Nikkei’s newly opened and quiet terrace in Belém’s riverside area. Crispy tacos Mauricio Padrón’s tortilla chips are stuffed with salmon and red onion tartare, in a balance of flavours that can be tasted in one bite. And since nibbling is the verb of order, it is also worth tasting the spicy gyozas or the causaditas, which has Peruvian potatoes as the base and under which is placed spicy salmon, octopus, marinated crab or tuna.
Spicy Shrimp Fried Pan
It comes in two, accompanied by a creamy, homemade pesto sauce that gives you the freshness needed for this spicy, tiger prawn. This is one of the new proposals of Café Príncipe Real, which is now led by José Miguel Pereira, hitherto sous-chef of the restaurant located on the ground floor of the Memmo Príncipe Real hotel. Their dishes are lighter to rhyme with sunny days and drink influences from various territories. Cases of peas vichyssoise, with quail egg and crispy ham chips; or Asian oysters with ponzu sauce, which mix oriental inspiration and Portuguese sea.
ALHEIRA BALL WITH STARTED EGG AND SPINACH
The francesinhas are the undisputed queens of this new restaurant, between Parede and São Pedro do Estoril – from traditional to picanha, shrimp and vegetarian – but the snacks were not forgotten by chef Rúben Tiago, who now ventures solo after passing Michelin kitchens such as Belcanto and Midori. It is worth trying the Mirandela alheira ball with starry egg and a spinach bed, but also the broken eggs and the standard peppers. To try out in the small, quiet courtyard or in the relaxed and creatively decorated interior room.
KATSU SANDO
For the letter from the new craft beer house Musa, in Bica, chef Leonor Godinho has prepared a katsu sando (pork feather sandwich on homemade kimchi toasted brioche bread), Japanese sandwich “usually made with a less noble part of the pork”. “I decided to use the feather because I thought it was a piece with more fat and would go well with the kimchi paste.” And this is the “author” detail that makes all the difference. Also of Japanese origin, the kimchi paste is based on fermented kale, and then each cooking seasoned it as they please – Leonor uses ginger, onion, garlic, fish sauce and Korean chilli, among others. The kimchi is barred on toasted brioche bread (from Terrapão) and the pork feather (breaded with panko and fries) follows with heart lettuce “in julienne for freshness and crispness”. The result is a crispy and juicy sandwich, ideal for eating in the company of a beer.
