Updated 8/21/22.
The average traveler to Lisbon will encounter several cuisines that they do not have in their hometown, so I present the best places to try ethnic food in Lisbon. Ethnic food adventures abound in Lisbon given Portugal’s history as a colonizer of other peoples, and Lisbon’s current popularity as a great city to immigrate to.
Food from the Azores
Espaço Açores
Largo da Boa Hora, (next to the Municipal Market in Ajuda)
Closed Mondays, Sunday lunch only
A highly recommended restaurant with traditional food from the Azores.
Food from Angola
Casa de Angola
Travesaa da Fábrica das Sedas 7
Metro station Rato (yellow line)
Hours: 10 am – 8 pm
T: 351 965 527 397
https://m.facebook.com/casadeangola.net/
Billed as a “Gastronomic and Cultural Space,” Casa de Angola offers meals, concerts, and dance.
Casa de Angola is known for having a friendly and professional staff that go out of their way to explain the menu to patrons.
Menu items include palm oil bean stew, shrimp moamba, monkfish, and mango mousse,
Cash only. Roughly e15 per person. They have a lunch menu, and the restaurant fills up quickly at lunchtime.
Near the Museum of Waters Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras Reservoir. EPAL – Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres, S
Batata Doce
Rua São João da Mata 56A, near Basílica da Estrela
T: 351 964 717 152
isabelsabetaobem62@gmail.com
Monday and Tuesday 7 pm – 2 am, Wednesday – Saturday 11:30 am – 2 am, Closed Sundays
There are only 17 seats in this popular, family-owned Angolan restaurant, so reservations will be needed.
Menu items include chicken muamba – a spicy Angolan chicken stew, cod cakes, shrimp curry, and a variety of wine choices.
They have vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Cantinho do Aziz
Rua de São Lourenço 5, Mouraria
T: 351 218 876 472
Open daily from 9 am – 11 pm
I wrote about Cantinho do Aziz in my article Great quirky restaurants in Lisbon
Open for 35 years. Lots of seating outdoors. Located near the Castelo. Chicken, beef, and vegetarian Samosas, shrimp with banana in a palm oil sauce, makovu – crab, shrimp and coconut milk,
Cantinho do Aziz | Restaurante Cantinho do Aziz
Food from Cape Verde
Associação Caboverdeana
Rua Duque de Palmela 2, near Marques de Pombal metro station (yellow or blue line)
Monday – Friday Noon – 3 pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday
T: 351 213 531 932
The inexpensive canteen of the Cape Verdian social club is located on the eighth floor of an office building.
Highlights include cachupa, shrimp moqueca, and chicken with peanut sauce. They have live music on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
ACV – Associação Caboverdeana Lisboa – Home | Facebook
Bistro Crioulo
Rua de São Bento 640
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9 AM until 6 PM, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday,10 AM until’s until 6 PM Closed Sunday and Monday.
T: 351 912 148 473
Bistro Crioulo’s menu includes dishes such as grilled octopus with sweet potato, beef, tuna, or vegetarian cachupa, Tuna steak, chicken moamba, tofu moamba, vegetarian options are available.
https://m.facebook.com/bistrocrioulo/
Tambarina
Rua do Poço dos Negros 94
Open daily from 9 am to 2 pm
The most popular item on the menu is cachupa – a stew made out of hominy, beans, sweet potato, fish, meat, and sausage. Tambarina also serves tuna and vegetarian versions of the dish. Tambarina restaurant has live music from Wednesday – Sunday.
Tambarina Restaurante – Home – Lisbon, Portugal – Menu, Prices, Restaurant Reviews | Facebook
Food from Mozambique
Ibo
Compartamento 2, Cais do Sodré Armazem A
Tuesday-Friday 12:30 pm – 3 pm, 7:30 pm – 11 pm, Saturday 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm – 1 am, Sunday 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm.
T: 351 961 332 024
geral@ibo-restaurante.pt
Upscale Portuguese and Mozambican with located right on the Tejo River.
Menu highlights include shrimp in filo curry, chicken curry, king prawns, grilled octupus, grilled tiger shrimp, “Bellota” smoked ham and goat-cheese stuffed mushrooms, Goan style samosas, crab curry, stuffed squid, roasted cod
http://www.ibo-restaurante.pt/en/menu/menu/
Oliveiras Moçambicano
Rua Dr. António Cândido 15, near Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Sao Sebastiao metro station (blue line or red line)
Hours: Monday to Saturday noon to 2:30 PM, dinner 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM. Closed Sundays.
T: 351213570159
Offerings include Dory, Rock Bass, grilled cutlets, black pig secrets, Oliveiras beef steak, muquane, and coconut rice, beef samosas, sarapatel, chicken à cafreal, fried shrimp à zambeziana. The also have shrimp, crab, or fish curry, as well as
https://www.oliveirasmocambique.pt/index.html#
Roda Viva
Beco do Mexias 11, near the Museu do Fado in Alfama
T: 351 967 659 543
Noon – 11 pm, closed Mondays
Menu items include samosas, shrimp curry, crab curry, peanut chicken, sea bass with sauteed rice,
Badjia, cachupa (a stew made of hominy, beans, cassava, sweet potato, and sausage), mathapa – a stew made with shrimp, greens, and peanuts. Desserts include mango and lime mousse.
Brazilian restaurants in Lisbon
Comida de Santo
Calçada Engenheiro Miguel Pais 39, Príncipe Real
Open 12:30 – 11 pm
15 seats only, reservations required
Not a Brazilian steakhouse – traditional dishes from Bahia in the northeast of Brazil.
Typical dishes include Xim-Xim de Galinha (chicken with peanuts and cashews), moqueca de camarão (shrimp stew), and casquinha de siri (crab cakes).
And the national dish of Brazil – feijoada, a black bean, and meat stew served with orange slices and farofa on a bed of rice.
Comida de Santo – Comida de Santo
Fogo de Chão
Avenida Elias Garcia 13, near Campo Pequeno metro station (yellow line)
Open every day 12 PM to 3 PM, dinner 7 PM until midnight
T: 351 217 977 077
This Brazilian steakhouse chain has been operating in Lisbon for 20 years. Check out their generous lunch specials.
Fogo de Chão – Steakhouse (fogodechao.pt)
A Nossa Casa
Rua da Atalaía 31, Bairro Alto
Closed Mondays. Saturday and Sunday 12:30 – pm – 10:30 pm. Tuesday – Friday 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Trip Advisor says this is the number 6 restaurant out of more than 5000 in Lisbon. Octopus with sweet potato, chicken wings with peanut butter, pork cheek tacos with red cabbage, mussels on an avocado puree, and a good wine list. Plan to spend $25 – $35 per person.
Prazeres da Picanha
Avenida Barbosa du Bocage 48, near Campo Pequeno metro station (yellow line)
Daily from noon – 3 pm and dinner from 7 pm – 11:30 pm
T: 351 920 318 880, also WhatsApp
bocage@prazeresdapicanha.pt
A Brazilian steakhouse, or “rodizio,” offering good value. All you can eat for $18 – $29.
Pleasures of Picanha | Grilled Meats | Portugal | (prazeresdapicanha.pt)
Food from Macau – Comida Macaense
Patuá Lisboa
Rua Ilha de Sao Tome 10A, between Miradouro de Monte Agudo and Anjos metro station (green line)
Hours: Monday – Saturday 7 pm – 10:30, closed Sundays
T: 351 211 571 942
On the menu you will find minchi carne (shredded steak sauteed in a wok with spices and cubed sweet potato, served with a fried egg and rice), katsu (chicken breast marinated in sake, breaded and garnished with tonkatsu – a fruit-based Japanese catsup, Japanese mayonnaise, and sunomono).
You will also find shrimp curry, shrimp creole, Jaca Gochjuan (jackfruit stuffed with aromatic Korean chilis and sticky rice, served with fried bananas), a semi-spicy Japanese coconut milk and okra curry, as well as a spicy eggplant dish called Sambal de Beringelas.
PATUÁ.lisboa – Home | Facebook
Food from São Tomé e Príncipe
Kwa Doxi
Travessa dos Mastros 25 (near the Tram 28 stop in Sao Bento)
T: 351212419719
You can enjoy grilled andala fish with fried banana bread and salad.
Try a chicken curry with coconut and hints of citrus in a lightly spicy sauce.
Gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options are available.
Nepalese / Himalayan food in Lisbon
Casa Nepalesa
Avenida Elias Garcia 172A, near Campo Pequeno metro station (yellow line) and Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Hours: Lunch 12 noon till 3 PM, dinner Monday through Thursday 7 PM to 11 PM, dinner Friday and Saturday 7 PM to 11:30 PM, closed on Sundays.
T: 351 217979797
Trip Advisor ranks Chef Tanka Sapkota’s Casa Nepalesa number 53 out of 5507 restaurants in Lisbon.
On the menu you will find a variety of types of roti, multiple shrimp dishes, lamb dishes, goat, boar, partridge, chicken prepared various ways, and multiple rice dishes.
Restaurant Casa Nepalese | Flavors of Nepal (casanepalesa.pt)
Sanskar Nepal
Rua das Chagas 25
Hours: 12:30 pm – 3:15 pm, 7: pm – 11 pm, Closed Sundays.
T:351 920 339 698
Sanskar Cozinha Nepalesa e Indiana – Home | Facebook
Traditional Indian and Nepalese food, as well as a Vegan menu with vegan chicken masala, vegan cheese naan, vegan shrimp and other options.
Vegetarian and Gluten-free options.
Ranked the number 9 restaurant in Lisbon by Trip Advisor.
Try chicken or lamb tikka masala, butter chicken, naan,
For more information on Vegan options in Lisbon, see my article, How to fit vegan restaurants into a day of site-seeing in Lisbon
New Himalaia
Rua São Jose 105
Noon – 3:30 pm, 6:30 pm – 11:15 pm
T: 351 963 232 802
New Himalaia Restaurante – Home – Lisbon, Portugal – Menu, Prices, Restaurant Reviews | Facebook
New Himalaia offers vegan options, vegetarian, and gluten free options. Healthy, Indian cooking. Trip Advisor’s number 2 restaurant in Lisbon. Onion bhaji, chicken tikka masala, korma, chicken curry.
Food from India in Lisbon
Rose Stupa
Rua Ponta Delgada 80B in front of Finanças office
T: 351 214054?234
Trip Advisor says Rose Stupa is the number one restaurant in Lisbon.
Shrimp curry, chicken with mint, vegetable fritters, butter chicken, spicy chicken dumplings, lamb curry, momos
Rose Stupa Restaurant And Snack Bar – Home | Facebook
Goan restaurants in Lisbon
Jesus é Goês
Rua de São Jose 23 (near Restauradores metro station (blue line)
Hours: Noon – 3 pm, Dinner 7 pm – midnight, closed Sundays
T: 351 920 091 826
Cash only
Jesus é Goês was featured on Netflix’s “Somebody Feed Phil.”
Chef / owner Jesus Lee Fernandes cooks great shrimp samosas, fish curry, chickpea fritters, shrimp masala, chapati, bouges (fried cauliflower bites with a coriander relish), and the Holy Burger.
For dessert, chocolate mousse with whiskey gummies. Outdoor seating available.
Jesus é Goês – Home | Facebook
Sabores de Goa
Rua do Zaire 17, Near the Anjos metro station (green line)
T: 351 218 129 144
Hours: Noon – 3:30 pm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Close at 11:30 pm Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
Email: geral@saboresdegoa.com
You can try fried and stuffed prawns, prawn curry marinated with garlic and stir-fried with coconut and spices, Crab Xec-Xec marinated in garlic and stir-fried in coconut and spices, clams suken, super spicy shrimp balchão, stuffed fish, shrimp curry, lamb curry, chicken curry, chicken chacuti, lamb chacuti, sarapatel (pork offal), pork vindaloo, spicy pork balchão, Goan sausage, pork admass (flank and ribs).
Sabores de Goa – Lisbon Restaurant – Goan food
Tentações de Goa
Rua de São Pedro Mártir 23, Mouraria neighborhood, near Martim Moniz metro station (green line)
T: 351 218 875 824
Hours: Mon 7 pm -10 pm, Tuesday – Saturday noon – 3 pm, 7 pm – 10 pm
Temptations of Goa’s menu items include Bhaji Puri, Boje/s with Chetnim, shrimp and beef samosas, shrimp masala, pork vindaloo, sarapatel, and a variety of curries.
Tentações de Goa – Home – Lisbon, Portugal – Menu, Prices, Restaurant Reviews | Facebook
Zuari
Rua de São João da Mata 41, Lapa neighborhood
T: 351 213 977 149
Hours: Sunday 10:30 am – 3 pm, Monday – Saturday 10:30 am – 9:30 pm
Fish curry, shrimp curry, chickpea curry, sarapatel, chapati, shrimp balchão chamuças (samosas)
Restaurante Zuari – Home – Lisbon, Portugal – Menu, Prices, Restaurant Reviews | Facebook
Fish and seafood are staples at many of the ethnic restaurants above. If you love seafood and want to try more options, see my article Finding the best seafood in Lisbon
Clandestine Chinese restaurants in Lisbon
In the backstreets behind Praça Martim Moniz in the Mouraria neighborhood, there are a few non-permitted Chinese restaurants that people are running out of their apartments.
If you want to try to eat in one of them, go looking on Beco da Oliveira, Rua do Terreirinho, Rua da Guia 9, and there are two restaurants at Rua do Benformoso, 59. Source: What You Need to Know About Lisbon’s Culture of Illegal Chinese Restaurants | by Hubble | Explore. Everyday. | Medium
If a secret, non-permitted, non-inspected restaurant sounds a little too dodgy for you, there is a great Chinese / Asian food court near the Martim Moniz (green line) metro station as well, at Rua da Palma 41. Mercado Oriental. Mercado Oriental – Home | Facebook
If you continue north past Martim Moniz metro station, the road turns into Avenida Almirante Reis. Around the next metro station – the Anjos station, you will find a few Middle Eastern or Turkish restaurants that sell Halal food or Doner Kebabs. For more information, see my article, Europe’s best fast food – the Doner Kebab – In Lisbon!
Thanks for taking the time to read about finding the best ethnic food in Lisbon. I am not affiliated with any of the businesses mentioned in this article.
