Seafood is popular, especially in Lisbon. Soup is a main dish. Portugal’s sweet pastries are also worth a try.
Things to know: Table service is normal. There are no licensing hours.
National specialties:
•
Sopa de marisco (shellfish soup cooked and served with wine).
•
Caldo verde (green soup made with finely shredded green kale leaves in broth).
•
Bacalhau (dried cod, cooked in over 100 different ways).
•
Caldeirada is a fish stew with as many as nine kinds of fish, cooked with onions and tomatoes.
•
Carne de porco á Alentejana, in which bits of fried pork are covered with a sauce of clams stewed with tomato and onions.
• Puddings
include arroz doce (rice pudding), Madeira pudding and
nuvens (egg custard).
National drinks:• Portuguese wines have changed beyond recognition over the past 10 years. Many of these new, modern wines are indigenous varieties with distinctive flavors. Sparkling rosé wines are mostly produced for export.
•
Mateus Rosé is a famous lightweight rosé.
• Portuguese brandies are also good; the best are produced around Porto, where port wines originate.
Legal drinking age: 18.
Tipping: Generally 10-15%.
NightlifeThe large towns offer every kind of entertainment. There are many nightclubs, theaters, cinemas, stage shows, folk dancing and music performances. The traditional
Fado can be heard in many restaurants, and performances begin at about 2200. Gambling is authorized and Espinho, Estoril, Figueira da Foz and Monte Gordo have casinos. The elegant Estoril Casino is the most renowned.
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