Eating
Eating in a tasca without a reservation
The small family restaurants are the point, and using them well takes a little local knowledge.
Rui Bettencourt
Food writer, Coffee in Lisbon
Rui writes about tascas and markets, and has opinions about pastéis he will defend at length.
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8 articles
Eating
How to read a pastry counter
The glass case follows a logic, and knowing it turns a wall of unfamiliar shapes into a set of decisions.
Eating
The pastelaria is four businesses in one room
The Portuguese neighbourhood pastelaria is a bakery, a cafe, a lunch counter and an evening bar, which is why it is open all day.
Eating
Sugar, and why it arrives without being asked for
The sachet on the saucer is part of a coherent style of coffee, and the choice to use it is genuinely open.
Eating
Tinned fish is a preservation tradition, not a novelty
The shelves of decorated tins are a tourist product sitting on top of a serious and old industry.
Eating
How a meal ends: coffee, the bill and what is not included
The last ten minutes of a Portuguese meal follow a sequence, and knowing it removes most of the small awkwardness.
Eating
Soup comes first, and it is not a starter
A thick vegetable soup opens most meals here, at home and at lunch. It is a structural part of eating rather than an optional first…
Eating
The convent sweets, and why they are mostly egg yolk
An entire family of desserts built from yolks, sugar and almonds, with names that sound religious because they are. The reason is a…