Last stop on P and O cruise: Lisbon

Lisbon is hot, the place to be. Madonna and Michael Fassbender have moved there, what other proof do you need?

I predicted Portugal was trending up when I visited Porto a couple of years ago. Great food, fantastic wine, beautiful architecture, low prices and the Portuguese have a style of their own. 

Things I like about Lisbon:

• the trams
• the tiles
• the street art
• the beautifully dressed children
• the kiosks where you can get a coffee and a snack
• the milky coffee
• the colours
• the individually decorated Tuk Tuks
• the shops that sell tinned fish
• the custard tarts

This time I only had a few hours so we got the bus along the sea front to Belem, to try the original Pasteis de Belem bakery, a blue tiled establishment with a beautiful interior. The custard tarts here were served warm and slightly salted, which made a gorgeous contrast with the soft buttercup yellow custard inside the crispy layers of buttery puff pastry. 

The custard tarts at Manteigaria, which has a few branches, but I visited the one in the Time Out market, don't have that intriguing salt flavour but are more caramelised, browner on top. 
I could seriously embark on a 'best custard tart in Lisbon' project. They are all so different. A recipe for Portuguese custard tarts.

The Time Out Market (yes part of the magazine) is worth visiting; it's like a massive food court, but much hipper. 

Not only does Portugal have decorated cans for tinned fish (I'm now collecting), it also has restaurants that serve different varieties of tinned fish. I bought several tins at the Loja Das Conservas.

For lunch we went to an old style restaurant, Martinho Da Arcada, which proudly states 'founded in 1782'. This attractive place has shady tables outside under the arches, yellow tablecloths, and waiters with long starched waist aprons. While it is rather touristy, I noticed many Portuguese eating there too. We had a simple lunch of house wine with garlicky clams almeijoas a bolhao pato and rice. 

More posts on Portugal:

Food and drink in Alentejo

Portugal's tall green wines

Porto, picture postcard town

Douro boys

I was invited as a guest of P and O cruises to Madeira and the Canary Islands.