Still Hungry?

By Laura Wooffitt, Bluegrass Writers Studio

This is part three of series on where to eat in Lisbon, our home away from homepage. For part one, click here, part two, here.

Continuing my list of favorite cheap eats and how to get there from the Baixa-Chiado Metro stop; all directions are given from Rua Garrett, facing the elaborate cafe A Brasileira:

4. PASTELARIA EMENDA—Here you will get the exact same pasteis (pash-stay-sh) and same great galao (gah-laow) as A Brasileira for a lot cheaper. There are a lot of locals on their way to work in the mornings that come in so you know it’s a good place.

Turn to your left and cross Rua Nova da Trindade. You should be on the right side of the street. You’ll pass some high-end shops, and a big government looking building with lots of steps and another street will come up quickly. You’ll see another plaza with another statue across the way. The plaza is called Largo de Camões. Cross Rua da Misericórdia. You should be on the right side still. Pass A Padaria. Cross Rua das Gáveas. Continue on and cross Rua do Norte. The plaza Largo do Camões should still be on your left. The street is going to star curving upwards. Continue on. The street name changes to Rua do Loreto. When you get to a pharmacy called Fármacia Borreto, cross over Rua do Loreto to the other side. You’ll see the Pastelaria Emenda printed on a banner, and the shop is on the corner of Rua do Loreto and Rua da Emenda.

If you want to try some other shops like this one, keep going up the left side of Rua do Loreto, and you’ll find Pastelaria Camões (yellow building) and Pastelaria Bijou do Calhariz. I haven’t tried these two places, but my guess would be Emenda and Camões would be the cheaper options. Bijou looks a little pricier.

5. MINI PRECO—a grocery store! If you’re in a hotel or hostel, you can find some food and drink options to take back to your room. The milk is in a carton, no need to refrigerate so grab some and some cereal! If you stay in an apartment like we did, grab some lunchmeat, chips, microwave/oven pizzas, and pasta sauce and spaghetti. You can get cartons of juice, too, that are excellent. My husband loved those! You can get fruit and vegetables, too, which can help tide you over for a few days. (Note: When we visited, the market’s outside façade was being worked on, so be careful of the construction in case they are still remodeling it this summer. Because of this, the shop would close sometimes. Also, the market closes for no more than two hours during lunchtime, and they have shorter hours on Sundays. Be sure to check their hours just in case, as they could be closed on Sundays. Keep this in mind for other stores. The city closes up on Sundays, except for some restaurants)

Turn to your left and cross Rua Nova da Trindade. You should be on the right side of the street. You’ll pass some high-end shops, and a big government looking building with lots of steps and another street will come up quickly. You’ll see another plaza with another statue across the way. The plaza is called Largo de Camões. Cross Rua da Misericórdia. You should be on the right side still. Pass A Padaria. Cross Rua das Gáveas. Continue on and cross Rua do Norte. The plaza Largo do Camões should still be on your left. The street is going to star curving upwards. Continue on. The street name changes to Rua do Loreto. When you get to a pharmacy called Fármacia Borreto, cross over Rua do Loreto to the other side. Pass Pastelaria Emenda and cross over Rua da Emenda. Pass the pastelaria Bijou do Calhariz, and the market should be on the left. Look for green doors and posters advertising different prices. If you pass a bookstore called Livraria Antiquaria do Calhariz, you’ve gone too far. The market should be right next to the bookstore.

Another good thing to know is that there’s a butcher shop to the left of the market, right next door! You can order sausage and bacon and ground beef, among other things. That’s why I mentioned the pasta sauce and spaghetti earlier. You can get fresh meat to go with it, and that’s one of the things I miss the most. The meat was delicious! It was so nice having both places together in one spot. Our apartment wasn’t far from there so it was an easy trip for us.

Of course, venture out and blunder into your own places like we did, and thanks to the careful spending on your other meals, you can splurge on nicer places. I enjoyed both sides of the coin. Eating at the nicer places from time to time enabled me to experience the tourist side of Lisboa, experiencing things I’ll never forget, but the market and out-of-the-way places let me experience what it might be like to live there. Sometimes you can even have both experiences. If you eat at a seafood place, especially with all the food choices like Indian curries and British pubs at Cascais, the beach neighborhood (buy some good sunglasses so your eyes won’t be seared by topless sunbathers and ancient men in speedos), order the sardinhas (sardines) or bacalhau a braz, cod cooked with potatoes, onions, and scrambled eggs. You'll get a taste of what Lisboa is known for that you're sure to miss when you're back home.

Contact Information

Kristen Thompson
kristen.thompson@eku.edu

Published on April 28, 2014