Pastel de nata, grilled sardines, ginjinha and summer snails: Lisbon tastes best at the counter.
Portugal's iconic summer dish — whole sardines grilled over charcoal until smoky and crisp, served on country bread that soaks up the juices. The centerpiece of Lisbon's Santo António street festivals.
Portugal's most famous pastry — a flaky puff-pastry shell filled with creamy egg custard, blistered at scorching temperatures until the top is caramelised and the centre stays soft. Best eaten warm, dusted with cinnamon.
Lisbon's signature sour-cherry liqueur — sweet, intense, served as a single shot at hole-in-the-wall counters that have been pouring it since 1840. Drink it standing up, with or without a soaked cherry in the bottom.
A Portuguese summer ritual — small garden snails simmered with garlic, oregano, and a touch of piri-piri, served by the bowl in cervejarias from May to September. Eat them with a toothpick, drink a cold beer, repeat.
