It’s week one of a whole year of getting to know Lisbon’s metropolitan area (the AML) better. Each week I’ll share what I have “uncovered” in a short (or maybe long – let’s see how it plays out) post. In the spirit of “travel writing” I’ll be documenting the weeks journal-style rather than as typical structured travel guide. My hope is that through my rambling you might find a bit more depth to your travel planning.
If you’re new here I’m an independent travel advisor based 30 minutes outside of Lisbon. I’ve been living in Portugal full time since 2016 and I have travelled through every region in my adoptive country. This post is part of a journal series called Finding the Forgotten where I attempt to lose myself in Lisbon’s bairros and wider municipalities. The goal is to indulge in slow travel and learning rather than ticking off boxes. If you’re looking for quick tips and easy itinerary ideas you’ll find them on my Portugal page and in my travel guide collection. If you want to dive into a story with a cuppa and learn through my travels, then stick around.
Apart from a (rather long) list of places I want to visit in Lisbon’s wider area I don’t have much of a plan for these weeks. I want to embrace the “old days” of travel when there was limited information and tools. Each week I’m picking a restaurant, activity or place from my list and setting off to do that and whatever I find along the way or in the area. As I have already realised in the first week, sometimes not even that one task will be achieved.
Week 1 : Where I Went
- Maça Verde | Rua dos Caminhos de Ferro 1100, 1100-486 (opposite Santa Apolónia station)
- Fabrica Santa’Anna Tile Shop | Largo Barão Quintela 4, 1200-015 (Chiado)
- Livraria Sá da Costa | R. Garrett 100, 1200-273 (Chiado)
- Bertrand | R. Garrett 73 75, 1200-203 (Chiado)
Culture / History / Portuguese Figures
- Statue of Eça de Queirós, by António Teixeira Lopes | Largo Barão Quintela, 1200-046
My original plan for this week was a museum (music-themed) and a specific tasca (typical restaurant) in São Bento, but after a long, complicated morning involving train signal issues and a hospital appointment on the other side of Lisbon I had to change tact. An excellent lesson in “going with the flow”.
On my train into Lisbon I started frantically searching for tascas after my original plan was foiled. It quickly became a stressful task as I scrambled to find a tasca while my phone was low on battery.
That sentence is EXACTLY why I want to do this series. The fact that I was stressed about the task of finding a restaurant to enjoy a typical Portuguese lunch is ridiculous. It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t have smart phones and without the (literally) thousands of recommendations at our fingertips travel was simpler and much more magical.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I am a PLANNER. It’s literally my job and I believe planning before a trip helps you make the most out of it. However the way in which people plan and travel has changed. These days we want everything quickly and we want it all decided for us. We are constantly searching for the “best” of everything, but rather than developing our own opinions on what that actually means, we rely on Google reviews and AI to make our decisions. The art and beauty of curiosity is becoming lost – which is what travel is about. The theme of curiosity will feature heavily over the next year as I try to reclaim mine.
Right back to it – looks like it’s going to be a long post after all.
Tascas of Portugal, you’ve got it all wrong
Although I didn’t go to the original tasca I had in mind, I managed to hunt down another one that looked exactly what I wanted. Maça Verde. This classic tasca has a green apple (the name of the restaurant) theme with various apple pictures on the walls. I never did find out about the apples but I did find out that the restaurant has been running for 43 years. I arrived at 12:30, just in time because 20 minutes later the place was full. On entry I was greeted by one row of tables, each seating a single gentleman in their, at a guess, 60’s or 70’s, ready and waiting for lunch. I already knew I was in the right place. This was definitely a local spot and I wouldn’t be surprised if these men have been coming here for lunch for decades.
The welcome from the servers was super friendly and there was no staring. When I lived in Algarve, frequenting a village tasca as a solo woman sometimes triggered some staring (always curiosity not anything malevolent) but staring is rare in Lisbon.
I knew exactly what I wanted and ordered couvert (bread and olives), grilled dourada and a glass of white wine. The main meal was with me in about 20 minutes and by this point the whole restaurant was bustling. It seemed to be a mix of people, lots of workers on lunch but also some family gatherings and a birthday / celebration get together. The man next to me was also solo and came, ate and left in quick succession, but the rest of the diners were chatting away.
I would say in Lisbon it’s unusual not to hear English or other languages wherever you are, but for the entirety of my meal there was only Portuguese spoken in the restaurant. Which I love when I am on my own because I spend the meal deciphering various conversations around me. It’s an excellent lesson in the language.
The lunch was great. The dourada was cooked perfectly, the meat flaking away. The salad was, as usual, a garnish, not something to be savoured. The potatoes were the soft boiled potatoes I’ve come to expect and love from a tasca. The €2 glass of house wine washed everything down perfectly. For dessert I chose a creme caramel on recommendation from the waiter but wished I had gone for my long-time favourite – mousse chocolate. Overall the meal came to €19 which was well worth it. I would say this is about the average cost in Lisbon. Outside of the city prices drop.
Finding a Tasca in Lisbon
When searching for a tasca on Google I tend to inspect the photos rather than people’s reviews because after 10 years I know what a good tasca (and its classic dishes) look like.
A decent tasca will be distinctly plain looking; don’t expect ambient lighting or any effort to make the space look welcoming in a traditional dinner restaurant sense. Basically you want something that appears stuck in time, probably with a flash of decor from the 80’s or 90’s. While many are sparse, an equal amount are a cavern of various memorabilia. It’s not uncommon to see artefacts dotted around the restaurant that look like they belong in a museum. A shrine to football or a particular local team is common too; in Lisbon Benfica or Sporting.
A tasca is there to serve a purpose; to feed the working population at an affordable cost. Tascas aren’t typically tourist restaurants but many have adapted to serve this purpose.
The true traditional tascas rarely change, it’s been the same for so many years because it works (if it aint broken don’t fix it mentality). They’ve been serving a bairro (neighbourhood) the same classic dishes for years.
However, if you are reading this as a visitor to Portugal it’s important you understand what a tasca is and why you should celebrate it for that. By their very nature tascas are supposed to be affordable (granted Lisbon is not the best example of this) so don’t expect top cut meats and dishes with complex flavours and textures that have been carefully put together on the plate with three dots of sauce on the side. You don’t go to a tasca for a prime cut of meat or vegetables prepared in a multitude of ways. You go for simple, well-cooked and filling food. I’m definitely not saying tascas serve poor quality food; on the contrary, it’s usually very good thanks to a great relationship with local butchers or fishermen. But it’s cheap so don’t expect the best of everything. It sends me crazy when people go to a tasca and then complain that their €9 bitoque wasn’t the best steak of their lives (a lesson in why reading reviews only tells half the story).
What tascas do do well is preparing traditional Portuguese dishes like no other restaurant can. For the Americans here, these are ‘mom & pop’ style restaurants or more likely in Portugal the Avó and Avô (grandma and grandad) run restaurants; often places that have several generations behind them.
Most serve the same classic dishes you can find all over Portugal, but it is also common for tascas become known for doing one or two of these classics very well. For example you might have a tasca that becomes known for doing an excellent arroz do marisco.
What are some of the classic dishes found in tascas in Portugal?
- Bitoque – Steak with egg, gravy and chips
- Frango no Churrasco – BBQ chicken, usually served with chip, rice and piri-piri oil. This is more commonly served at a Churrasqueira (bbq restaurant) which is a type of tasca dedicated to bbq’s meats. The frango is usually the star of the show.
- Feijoada – a mixed bean meaty stew
- Cozido à Portuguesa A rich stew with rice and various meats. It varies from place to place but typically includes smoked sausage, pork, beef, cabbage and sometimes chicken.
- Peixe Grelhada– Grilled Fish (commonly Sea bass Robalo or Sea bream Dourada) with boiled potato and salad or boiled veg. Sardinhas (Sardines) are seasonal (June- September).
- Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato – Clams in white wine, garlic and herb broth.
- Arroz de Tamboril – Monkfish Stew
- Bacalhau à Brás – salted cod mixed with thin potatoes, onion and egg
Aside from the classics, tascas vary throughout the country by offering regional classics for example Porco Aletejano in Alentejo, bifana(more of a snack than a meal) in Novas Vendas or choco frito in Setubal.
With all this in mind, when I say “good tasca” I mean a tasca that nails the traditional portuguese dishes.
As for the wine. I hope I don’t need to say it again but just in case, tascas are supposed to be affordable every day restaurants, it’s not the place to conduct a wine tasting. Having said this, the quality of wine in Portugal is high and even house wine is usually decent.. Usually you order house wine vinho da casa by the jug jarro or by the liter um litro or half meio litro but you can usually find brand name bottles too. Common bottles to see hiding in a fridge include Casal Garcia vinho verde,
As for the ambience – this obviously changes from place to place but generally speaking the ambience of a local tasca is noisy, lots of chatting and glasses clinking. It’s usually a warm and friendly atmosphere.
A History of Tascas
Tascas are known to have originated in the north, thought to be created by the immigrants from Galicia in the early 20th century. They started as small shops but began offering small plates and wine to increase their income. When these immigrants moved south to Lisbon to make a better life they opened these same style establishments which became known as tascas. I used this post to learn a bit more about the history of tascas and found a super interesting post by Oh My Cod tours which is worth a read if you want to know more.
Some tips for tascas
- Most are cash only or if they do accept card it is usually only portuguese cards so bring cash with you
- You’ll often be seated with a selection of breads, olives and sometimes cheeses and patés. This is called couvert. It’s not free but it’s usually inexpensive. If you don’t want it you can just leave it or ask them to take it away and you won’t be charged.
- Although it is becoming more popular to be able to book online, most tascas require reservation via phone
- In Lisbon it is advisable to book in advance. If you don’t book in advance arrive early (12/230) or prepare to wait.
Tiles of Portugal
After my Tasca lunch I set off for a wander into the city with no real plan. A theme I intend on getting to know past simply photographing them is Portuguese Tiles – Azulejos. My phone is filled with hundreds of colourful, paterned tiles form all over the country but without much knowledge behind them. I dropped into the Fabrica Sant’Anna shop in Chiado for a look around. There was a a wall of different patterned tiles from various towns and cities around the country so I inquired if there are different styles from different places. I was informed that there isn’t a specific style of azulejo coming from a specific place in Portugal and that you can find the styles all over the country. I have since started learning about the variations of Moorish and Islamic tiles which I’m going to research in more depth on one of the weeks to follow.
The Oldest Book Shop in the World
Even though I’ve walked past Livraria Bertrand a million times and was fully aware it is the oldest bookshop in the world I had never actually been inside until this week. Honestly? Meh. It’s just a book shop with a Guinness book of world records sign above it’s door. It has a wide range of Portuguese literature (in various languages) so it is a great place to start your journey on learning more about Portugal, but otherwise it is quite unexciting.
Personally I prefer the rare book shop Livraria Sá da Costa across the street which has stacks of books, piles of maps and boxes of vintage postcards to rummage through. It is a real treasure chest.
Important Figures of Portugal
As someone who chronically photographs statues without actually reading the plaques I have decided to use this Lisbon adventure to stop and read more. The first personal discovery I made is the sculptor António Teixeira Lopes (who has a musuem in Vila Nova da Gaia) thanks to the Statue in Chiado dedicated to the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós.
I was actually drawn to it because of the naked woman and I wanted to know who she was, but learned she is symbolic of the “stark nakedness of truth”which explains the name of the sculpture allegory of the Truth.
Who was Eça de Queirós?
Eça de Queirós is widely considered as one of the best Portuguese realist writers of all-time and is often ranked alongside Charles Dickins. Eça was an diplomat and expatriate, stationed in several consular outposts around the world including Havana, multiple locations in the UK (Newcastle and London) and Paris. During his lifetime he wrote poetry and novels in addition to his consular and journalism work.
Here ends my first week of finding the forgotten. I’m looking forward to seeing how the next weeks play out and wat else i can learn about Lisbon and Portugal. You can see a run down of weeks below.
Weekly Posts
- Week 1 – Tascas, Tiles and Queirós
- Week 2 – Coming soon
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