A Taste of Lisbon with Secret Food Tours Lisbon

One of my favorite things to do when I go to a new country or city is try out some of the local cuisine. We were hosted by Secret Food Tours: Lisbon to try out local delicacies, drinks and walk all through the Mouraria District of Old Town Lisbon. I was so blown away by the quality of this tour. I’ve done several food tours, but Secret Food Tours Lisbon tops the list at providing such a large quantity of both food and alcohol.

QUICK INFO ABOUT SECRET FOODS TOUR LISBON

⋙ This tour lasts approximately 3 to 3.5 hours and costs €59. You’ll be stuffed by the end so at most eat a very, very light breakfast beforehand.

⋙ Wear comfy shoes (and stretchy pants wouldn’t hurt). We walked quite a bit through this tour, but it was certainly doable for all ages if you’re up for a nice walk.

⋙This tour cannot be adapted for vegans. The website didn’t say anything about not being vegetarian friendly, but I would definitely contact them to be sure before taking the tour.

⋙ As with any other cultural food experience, I would encourage you to try things you might not usually eat. While I myself have limits, I did try everything on this tour. Most of it surprised me in a great way.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE TOUR

We met Claudia, our guide, in a central, easy to find location: under the main arch in Praça do Comércio. This makes getting started easy! Cláudia showed us where we would be walking on the map and then it was time to start!  We kicked off our tour with the breakfast of champions: port wine. We popped into a local wine shop where Cláudia poured us each a small glass of tawny port to sample.

Our next stop was in a small shop that I never would’ve found without the help of Cláudia and Secret Food Tours Lisbon. Matt and I both agreed that this was our favorite of the stops (don’t worry, though, they’re all good). We enjoyed a traditional bifana which is a delicious pork sandwich and a glass of traditional Portuguese beer to go with it. Don’t forget the mustard on your bifana.

Along with this being a food tour, Secret Food Tours Lisbon is also a walking tour of the Mouraria District. This area was traditional the Moorish part of town and has maintained a really rich culture. I loved the street art, markets and more in this area. Most of Lisbon was terribly damaged in the 1755 during a massive earthquake. However, part of the Mouraria District was spared, so a lot of the architecture is older and more traditional.  

The Mouraria District, like most of Old Town Lisbon, was perfectly picturesque.  We had our secret dish at a restaurant after the sandwiches, but I can’t tell you what it was, of course. That’s part of the surprise. I will tell you that it was delicious and wine was served as well. Cláudia purchased some traditional cheeses and Black Pork Ham at a local market before we stopped at the Independence Palace to partake in these goodies along with some petiscos. Petiscos are similar to tapas or an appetizer. We had these delicious tempura green beans, little cod cakes and octopus salad. I’m not an super adventurous eater, but I actually enjoyed the salad. We stopped in this fruit market for a treat. However, it wasn’t what you’d probably think. It was for a shot of traditional cherry liqueur, ginjinha. No trip to Lisbon, or Portugal, would be complete without having Portugal’s most famous pastry, pastel de nata. This eggy little treat was super sweet, had an amazing texture and even better flavor. Having this pastel de nata with Portugal’s signature teeny tiny coffee was a beautiful end to this food tour.

SECRET FOOD TOURS LISBON TAKEAWAYS

I truly loved this tour because it wasn’t just about eating the foods and drinking the drinks, you got a taste for the culture behind them as well. We met the locals who made the foods and Cláudia did a spectacular job at leading us and explaining it all. The foods that we tried on Secret Food Tours Lisbon was all very unique and different. Each stop brought new flavors, textures and more. I also really enjoyed the walking aspect. We got a local insight of the Mouraria District and it helped to digest a bit as we went along. I would highly recommend taking a food tour with Secret Food Tours and hope that this is the first of many Secret Food Tours we get to take around the world.

You can book your own Secret Food Tours Lisbon here. Secret Food Tours offers food tours around the world. You can find their other locations here.

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Disclaimer: Although Matt + I received complimentary tours from Secret Food Tours, all opinions are, as always, my own.