Food & drink · Lagos
Where we eat
The places we go ourselves, and why. All from our Lagos guide, with a note on where your dog is welcome.
Breakfast and coffee
Padaria Central
An old-school bakery, not a café for lingering. We stop here on the way to the cliffs: one pastel de nata, one bica, standing at the counter.
Black and White
Where we take visitors who need a proper coffee before anything else. Pancakes, avocado toast, smoothie bowls.
Abigail’s Café
Our pick when we want to sit outside for an hour. Good gluten-free options too.
Pastelaria Pão Doce
No frills, no English menu, cheap and always busy with locals. That is the point.
Sunrays Kitchen
If you are staying at Hill View, start here. Honestly, anything on the menu is stunning, and they bring a water bowl for the dog.
Lunch and dinner
Restaurante Com Sabor
The one we book for ourselves. Proper Portuguese cooking, next to Hill View. Order the duck.
The Garden
A hidden courtyard for Mediterranean food and cocktails when it is too nice to sit indoors.
Restaurante Munich
Schnitzel, bratwurst and a cold beer looking over the harbour.
Shalimar
Indian, with plenty for vegetarians and vegans, for the night you have had enough fish.
Happy Sumo
Sushi and Asian fusion, all-you-can-eat if the teenagers are hungry.
Illicit Burgers Poolside
On the way down to Porto de Mós: burgers, a pool and a sea view.
What to order
If you only eat five Portuguese things this week, make them these.
Sardinhas assadas
Grilled sardines, summer only, eaten with bread, salad and your fingers.
Cataplana
Seafood stew cooked in a copper clam-shell pan, usually for two. Order it and nothing else.
Arroz de marisco
Soupy seafood rice, somewhere between a risotto and a stew.
Polvo
Octopus, grilled with olive oil and garlic or done as polvo à lagareiro with crushed potatoes.
Pastel de nata
Custard tart, still warm, with a coffee standing at the counter.
Planning the whole trip? Read our Lagos guide or see what’s on this week.