If you're on holiday in Portugal, your trip to Lisbon would be tragically incomplete without visiting a traditional Portuguese tasca. Taseas are small, no-frills eateries with seasonal menus which are often family-run and offer local specialities for an affordable price. Many tascas are utterly unremarkable, while others are good or even excellent, but the tradition is that if you find a great tasca then you keep it a secret because otherwise it will be overrun with foodies and the quality will likely suffer as a result. What this basically means is that as a tourist in Lisbon, you won't easily be able to find the best tasca on your own and once you do it will become a very special thing indeed.
Tascas, as an institution, are much more like local pubs than fine-dining establishments – while there can be excellent food, the decor is generally simple and there's often a football match playing on a television in the background. For the Portuguese, the tasca is a place where one goes at the end of the days to catch up with friends and have a drink. The word itself refers to any no-frills establishment serving hearty cuisine and alcohol, so this maybe isn't the most romantic place to go but it is definitely a way to get a taste of the local culture.
If your food tour Lisbon takes you to a local tasca, you'll get to experience seafood like grouper and bacalhau and pork dishes like lombinhos and chourico. Some tascas serve red wine directly from the barrels, where the sometimes the only wine available is the house wine. If you're lucky, you might even to get to try something more unique like ginjinha, which is a sweet cherry liqueur that's quite popular among Lisbonians. Some tascas don't serve coffee (a rare phenomenon in Portugal indeed), but if you're more of a beer drinker then you won't have to worry about missing out.
Portuguese food varies a lot depending on region, and so the best way to get an authentic taste of Lisbonian food is in a local tasca. If you want to experience a great tasca and eat like a local, then you it's worth your time to go on a food tour Lisbon. With an experienced English-speaking local guide, you can discover the greatest places and be satisfied with all kinds of delectable food and drinks. The best way to understand a place and its people comes through understanding the regional food culture,
Given the secretive nature of the best tascas, the best way to experience the best local cuisines is by embarking on a food tour. Choosing Secret Food Tour Lisbon will take you and your friends on a three hour long culinary adventure through the Mourarianeighbourhood. This gives you a unique opportunity to explore the heart of the city while learning about the history of the place and its local cuisines – and all of our tours come with a special Secret Dish, which is only decided on the day of.
Martin Wynn
