My wife and I just came back from an excellent trip to Porto (5 nights) and Lisbon (6 nights) with 2 day trips (Sintra and Coimbra). It’s hard to have a bad meal but I thought I’d pass on some small mostly family diner type places we ate at. Yes we also had some fine meals in more upscale places including Fado and markets (and Francesinha at Cafe Santiago’s) but we view it as a treat to find small places run by ma and pa serving quality inexpensive food.
Lisbon:
@@@ Padaria Renascente
Not sure why it’s listed as a bagel shop ... bakery with some very good inexpensive lunch options. Had excellent meat dish. Tiny - 4? Tables.
@@@ O Trivial ... traditional Portuguese; sort of formal but not pretentious.
@@@ El-Rei Dom Frango (in RS) - excellent Portuguese fare with fun staff; small and busy. The shrimp appetizer was wonderful!
Coimbra
@@@ Bizarro - (in RS) classic small family diner; busy with locals at lunch. Excellent goat stew.
Porto
@@@ Casa Viuva - another classic family diner that’s very busy with locals.
@@@ Padaria Ribeiro - in RS - excellent place for a pastry and coffee for breakfast.