If you are looking for the perfect souvenir to bring home from Portugal, you need to investigate the best places to buy canned fish in Lisbon.
More than just canned sardines, tinned seafood has been a staple in Portugal and a huge local industry since canning was patented in 1810.
The Portuguese harvested, canned and exported eels, bacalhau, tuna, sardines, octopus, mackerel, mussels, and salmon all over the world. Canned seafood sustained the country during world wars and various economic crises of the 20th century.
Today, canned seafood makes an excellent souvenir or gift, and it is easy to pack and travel with in your checked luggage.
Preserved fish – also called conservas, can be found in stores all over the city. Here are some of the more memorable shops in Lisbon that specialize in tinned seafood.
A Conserveira de Portugal is one of the best places to buy canned fish in Lisbon
Rua Bartolomeu de Gusmão, 4
Open every day from 9:30 am – 9:30 pm
Just downhill from the São Jorge castle, A Conserveira de Portugal has been selling tinned fish since 1942.
A Conserveira de Portugal is one of many shops canned fish shops in Lisbon operated by the Comur – a cannery that produces more than thirty brands of conservas.
Conserveira de Lisboa
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 34, a few blocks northeast of Praça do Comércio.
Open Monday – Saturday, 9 am – 7 pm.
Official website: Conserveira de Lisboa | Established 1930
Conserveira de Lisboa owns and produces three brands of canned seafood – Tricana, Minor, and Prata do Mar.
This family-owned canned fish distributor opened in 1930, and looks much the same today as it did when it opened.
They even wrap your purchases in brown paper and twine, just as it was done in the last century.
Also, Conserveira de Lisboa may have some of the best prices for tinned fish in Lisbon.
Buy canned fish at A Loja das Conservas
Rua do Arsenal, 130 (near Cais do Sodré)
Open Monday – Saturday from 10 AM until 8 PM. Sunday from noon – 8 PM.
This cozy shop is operated by the Associção Naçional dos Industriais de Conservas de Peixe (National Association of Canned Fish Producers).
The store has a huge selection. They offer free samples from time to time, and they operate a pub next door that serves tapas made from the tinned seafood.
You can find items here, including more than 300 types of canned mackerel, spicy mackerel, tuna, salmon, octopus, and sardines.
O Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa
Praça Dom Pedro IV, 39
Open Monday 9:30 am – 10 pm, Tuesday to Thursday 10 am – 10 pm, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9:30 am – 10:30 pm
Official website: The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine
Easily the most colorful of the tinned fish shops in Lisbon, kids will get a kick out of the carnival-like atmosphere.
They sell gift tins marked with birth years going back to 1920.
A Vida Portuguesa sells conservas and a lot more
Largo do Intendente Pina Manique 23, near the Intendente Metro Station (green line)
Open every day from 10:30 am – 7:30 pm.
Official website: A Vida Portuguesa
The 500 square-foot mercantile store in the old Viuva Lamego Tile building is perhaps the most beuatiful shop in Lisbon. They sell more than 6000 products that were made in Portugal – among them, canned seafood conservas.
A Vida Portuguesa also has satellite stores in Chiado and at the Time Out Market.
Make a meal out of canned fish Sol e Pesca
Rua Nova do Carvalho, 44
Open ftom noon until 2 am,
Sol e Pesca (Sun and Fish) on Lisbon’s Pink Street Pink Street, Lisbon: The Best Bars in Lisbon for Fun is a fun place to have a beer or cocktail and a dish made from canned seafood.
