Food Tours · Tour

Tinned Fish, a Bifana, and One Dish Kept Back

Three and a half hours, twelve people, meeting at the Coliseu on Rua Passos Manuel, the largest theatre in the city, where the guide waits under an orange umbrella. Eight tastings. The custard tart, with its blistered top and shattering pastry. A bifana, marinated pork in a roll. A codfish cake, the fried croquette of salt cod, potato and parsley that is on every counter in Portugal. And tinned fish, which needs the explanation it gets: Portuguese conservas are not a fallback, they are a category with its own vintages and its own shops, sardines and mackerel cured in oil to a standard nobody else bothers with. One dish is not named in advance. That is the format, and it is the reason people book this company. To drink: vinho verde, poured young and faintly sparkling; a local beer; an aged port; and tea, coffee and water throughout. The walking covers a traditional open-air market, the Ribeira on the riverfront, the double-deck arch of the Dom Luís I bridge, the Clérigos tower, which is the tallest campanile in Portugal and visible from most of the city, and the Casa da Música out on the Boavista, the first building in the country designed solely for music. It ends on Rua das Flores. There is a fair amount of walking; wear shoes for it. English only. The route and menu can change with availability and weather. Contact the operator in advance about any dietary requirement.