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Pastel de nata, bacalhau, francesinha, port, vinho verde and more: a plain-language guide to Portuguese dishes and wine regions, with where to find them.
What to order
Pastel de nata
Sweet
A small custard tart with flaky pastry, usually eaten with a bica (espresso) and a sprinkle of cinnamon. The original recipe is tied to the Jerónimos monastery area in Belém.
Where: Everywhere; Lisbon above all
Bacalhau
Dish
Salted dried cod, the national dish. It is said there are hundreds of recipes; common ones are à Brás (with eggs and fries), com natas (creamy bake) and à Gomes de Sá.
Where: Everywhere
Francesinha
Dish
A hearty Porto sandwich of bread, cured meats and steak, covered in melted cheese and a spiced beer-tomato sauce. Not light.
Where: Porto and the north
Grilled sardines
Dish
The taste of Lisbon’s June festivals (the Santo António celebrations), served on bread with salad and boiled potatoes. Sardines are best in summer.
Where: Lisbon, and coastal towns
Cataplana
Dish
A seafood stew cooked in a hinged copper pan of the same name.
Where: Algarve
Cozido das Furnas
Dish
Meats and vegetables cooked for hours underground by volcanic heat in Furnas, São Miguel.
Where: São Miguel, Azores
Espetada
Dish
Beef cubes grilled on a bay-laurel skewer, with garlic and salt, with bolo do caco bread.
Where: Madeira
Serra cheese
Dish
A soft sheep’s milk cheese from the Serra da Estrela, served with a spoon when ripe.
Where: Serra da Estrela
Ovos moles
Sweet
A sweet of egg yolk and sugar in a thin wafer shell, from Aveiro.
Where: Aveiro
Ginjinha
Drink
Sour-cherry liqueur, drunk in small cups, with or without the cherry (“com” or “sem elas”).
Where: Lisbon, Óbidos
Poncha
Drink
Madeira’s drink of sugar-cane spirit, honey and citrus juice.
Where: Madeira
Wine regions in a nutshell
Vinho verde
Light, fresh and slightly spritzy white from the green north-west. “Verde” means young, not green in colour.
Douro and port
Douro grapes make both table wines and fortified port. Port is aged in lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto. The Douro was demarcated in 1756, making it one of the world’s oldest regulated wine regions.
Dão and Bairrada
Two inland-to-coastal regions in the centre: Dão is known for elegant reds from mountain vineyards, Bairrada for the Baga grape and sparkling wine.
Alentejo
Warm-climate, rounded reds and some whites. Some producers still use clay amphorae (vinho de talha), an ancient method.
Madeira wine
A fortified wine that is heated as it ages, which makes it very long-lived. Styles run from dry (Sercial) to sweet (Malvasia).
Pico wine
Crisp whites grown in small lava-stone walled plots on Pico island.
Sources: Visit Portugal · IVDP (Douro and Porto) · CVRVV · checked 2026-11-06. Restaurant prices and opening times are not listed here.