Montijo travel guide for food lovers
Known as Aldeia Galega until 1930, Montijo is a town that belongs to the municipality of Setúbal, just across the Tagus River from Lisbon. If you come to Lisbon during June, the month during which our city is on party mode while celebrating the festival of St. Anthony (also unofficially known as the “sardine festival”), you might want to hop to Montijo in the later days of the month to see what the St. Peter’s celebrations are all about. Be warned, though, as there are runs with bulls involved in the local traditions, and not everyone might be into that.
Feat photo by Público
Photo by Visit Portugal
From Lisbon, you can travel to Montijo by road, crossing the almost 13KM that make up the Vasco da Gama bridge, the second longest bridge in Europe. If you don’t have a car, there are regular buses operated by Carris Metropolitana departing from Oriente station to downtown Montijo, which can get you there in less than an hour. If you have a zapping card for traveling within Lisbon, this will work to take the trip to Montijo too. This same card will be valid if you choose to get to Montijo by boat (operated by Transtejo Soflusa – see the schedule here), on a ride which lasts approximately 25 minutes, and which connects the south bank town to the capital, namely to Cais do Sodré, between 6AM and 11PM.
Photo by Till Niermann on Wikipedia
Montijo is the residence area of many individuals who travel daily to Lisbon for work. During the day, it’s a fairly calm place, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t interesting sights and things to do around here. There’s enough to justify a day trip to Montijo for sure!
If you are into religious architecture, we’d recommend stopping by the town’s main church, in Praça da República, which dates back to the 1400s. If you have enough time to explore the local museums, head to the Agricultural Museum of Atalaia (Largo da Feira, Atalaia), which offers free entry. Just the trip there, a little outside downtown Montijo, will give you a glimpse of how this is indeed a land of contrasts, as cliché as this may sound. The beautiful rural area still speaks of the know-how of the local people when it comes to producing goods from the land, such as wine and olive oil. Also related to making a living via food production, you could also visit Museu do Pescador (Largo Conde Ferreira 2), a museum dedicated to fishermen and fishing, a trade of long tradition in the area. Both these museums are interesting per se, but also because of the architecture of the buildings where they are housed.
Photo by Best Guide
If you are more into nature and sightseeing than into indoor activities, we suggest a stroll by the riverfront, which affords incredible views towards Lisbon on the other side of the river, as well as along the municipal park, which goes by the name Parque Municipal Carlos Hidalgo Gomes de Loureiro. While roaming around, make sure to include Moinho do Cais de Aldeia Galega on your itinerary, as this is one of the main attractions in Montijo. This is a striking tide mill (in Portuguese moinho de maré), that is a type of mill powered by the movement of water, caused by the difference in tidal levels in river estuaries. Once upon a time, these types of mills were very common along the Tagus river, but have now been replaced by more contemporary technologies. Still, if you want to make a trip back in time while in Montijo, or simply click some delightful shots for your Instagram, this moinho de maré is a lovely location to head to.
Photo by Vitor Oliveira on Flickr
Because at some point, all of these explorations are bound to make you hungry, we have selected some of the best restaurants in Montijo which we’d recommend for you to visit while in town. These are establishments focusing primarily on Portuguese cuisine, both for main meals, or for a quick coffee break with something sweet to munch on.
Best Portuguese food restaurants in Montijo
O Victor
Restaurants named after a person tend to be great. We feel that, unless you are sure you are providing really good quality food and service, you wouldn’t feel comfortable naming your establishment after yourself or a close family member. O Victor’s team can sleep well at night, as they sure know what they’re doing, and the inhabitants of Montijo support that know-how that translates into delicious meals. This is a particularly popular option in town for grilled fish (peixe grelhado), in a family style setting. The restaurant has seats for 140 people and they’re often full – that says it all!
📍Rua António Semedo 5 2870, 2870-186 Montijo
Photo by Hot Montijo
A Casa do Pescador
For over a decade, A Casa do Pescador (literally, the fisherman’s home) has been one of Montijo’s favorite fresh fish restaurants. This establishment is run by Ana Sousa, who is the granddaughter of António João, a well-known fisherman from Montijo from back in the day. Ana took it in her stride to continue the family tradition, in this case not fishing, but making wonderful fish available to those craving for it in Montijo. On a daily basis, but also depending on the season or the catch of the day, they have a big variety of fish ready to hit the grill, including species such as sardines, sole, sea bream, sea bass, or striped red mullet, a seasonal fish common in this area. Other specialities which they prepare only when customers order them in advance include more festive recipes such as cuttlefish bean stew, monkfish and prawns rice, fisherman’s style smalltail shark, eel stew, and a few others which you can enquire about if you’d like to expand your knowledge of Portuguese seafood focused cuisine.
📍Av. dos Pescadores 130, 2870-163 Montijo
www.facebook.com/p/A-Casa-do-pescador-100058272862460
Photo by Nossa Telha
Casa das Enguias
If you dare to have a Portuguese cuisine experience out of the ordinary, visit Casa das Enguias. The “home of eels” serves not only what its name clearly indicates it does, but it of course focuses on this ray-finned fish. Their specialties include eel stew, grilled eels, and fried eels with cockle rice. If this sounds a little too adventurous to you, you could also try other delectable dishes such as scallops with black rice, Spanish-style grouper, or the uber popular fried cuttlefish (choco frito) the entire area is famed for.
📍Estrada Nacional 11, 30 Lançada, 2870-524 Sarilhos Grandes – Montijo
Photo by CM Montijo
Daqui Pra Fora
The name anticipates what this establishment is all about: daqui pra fora is a Portuguese expression which would literally translate as “from here on out”, but which is often used to ask someone to leave the premises, more like “get out of here”. They are not rude at Daqui Pra Fora, don’t worry. They’re simply a restaurant for take-away only. Their dishes are available via the usual apps, such as Uber Eats and Glovo, but you can also browse them and collect them at their store on the address below. The food prepared by Daqui Pra Fora is not your usual take-away, as the team cooking is managed by a trained chef who is used to collaborating with other restaurants which focus on more elevated cuisine. While the dishes here would be fairly straightforward, there is some of that flare that shines through even when you order something simple to take home.
📍Rua Dr. Manuel da Cruz Júnior N° 36, 2870-121 Montijo
www.instagram.com/daquiprafora_montijo
Photo by Daqui Pra Fora
Casa do Choco
You can’t simply travel to the general area of Setúbal, the municipality which encompasses Montijo, and not eat choco frito. For real! The breaded and deep-fried strips of succulent cuttlefish are not only an object of desire around here, we would go as far as stating that they inspire a certain devotion, both from residents and other folks from the Great Lisbon area which make it across the Tagus river for the sake of indulging in this kind of meal. Served with home fries and a little side salad, choco frito is straightforward but most of us find it uber comforting. Casa do Choco (the home of cuttlefish), as the name clearly indicates, is all about making your choco frito dreams come true. They sell about 500KG of cuttlefish per week but, even then, there’s room to prepare a variety of other dishes, namely their also popular frango à Guia, a style of Portuguese grilled chicken originally popularized in the southern Algarve region.
📍Rua Vasco da Gama 17, 2870-823 Montijo
www.facebook.com/casadochocomontijo
Photo by Montijo On City
Taberna dos Cabrões
The “tavern of motherfuckers” – that is correct. This is literally what the name of this taberna translates as and we confess that we love it! We’re certainly not the only ones. Everyone in Montijo has heard of this restaurant where mighty generous portions of the most traditional of Portuguese dishes are served, always with joy, in an atmosphere that screams “good times” out loud. Taberna dos Cabrões is famous for their liver dishes (iscas), grilled kidneys (rins grelhados), as well as for the ossos carregados, which translate as “loaded bones” and features a variety of meats, similar to cozido à portuguesa. Not many places in the city dare to cook Portuguese food like we used to back in the good old days, learning from the countryside, but here at Taberna dos Cabrões they do just that, and they do it well.
📍Avenida São Francisco de Assis 408, 2890-497
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064272446135
Photo by Evasões
Marisqueira Maré Cheia
What’s a Portuguese town somewhat near the coast without a proper seafood restaurant, aka marisqueira? Maré Cheia may not be located by the sea, but it affords lovely views towards the riverfront, as they’re housed by the former docking bay of Montijo. Because, somehow, seafood always tastes better by the water. They focus mostly on grilled fish over charcoal and on a variety of fresh seafood, such as shells and crustaceans. During the week, they also serve changing daily menus (prato do dia), which are usually more affordable than their a la carte menu. Expect comforting recipes such as squid stew, oven roasted fish, fried fish filets served with naughty rice, and beans and cuttlefish stew, just to name a few.
📍Rua Miguel Pais 69, 2870-356 Montijo
Photo by Maré Cheia
Ti Teresa
There aren’t many places left in or around Lisbon where you can still have a wonderful meal for less than ten euros. This is the first reason why we applaud Ti Teresa, but we can keep clapping as the food here is not only affordable, it’s incredibly delicious too. This is a bonafide traditional Portuguese restaurant, just like from back in the good old days. Their specialities include bacalhau à casa (their signature salt cod dish), cozido à Portuguesa (Portugal’s most representative boiled meats meal), ensopado with lamb or mutton (a type of stew from the Alentejo, served over thick slices of rustic bread, which absorb all the meat juices), polvo à lagareiro (roasted octopus with garlic olive oil), and coelho à caçador (a rabbit dish, perfect for those into gamey meats). Come hungry as not only are the preparations quite hearty, the portions are surprisingly large too, especially considering the price.
📍Rua Bulhão Pato nº67 2870-338 Montijo
Photo by CM Montijo
Gilson
As per this restaurant management’s own words, they serve food which is “traditional, honest and with Mom’s touch”. We, as most Portuguese would, love the sound of that. The funny thing is that, when they refer to Mom’s touch they literally mean it, as this restaurant was started by João Coelho and his parents, Fernanda and João. The family comes from Alentejo, a region of Portugal which has become synonymous with excellent cooking. The menu is divided into petiscos, which are small plates to share which can also be ordered as appetizers, and heavier main dishes. Some of their specialities include scrambled eggs with farinheira (a flour based type of Portuguese sausage), quail eggs served with paio (cured pork loin), grilled lamb chops, and several ways of preparing Iberian block pork, one of the Alentejo’s most prized ingredients.
📍Praceta Cidade de Braga 101, 2870-129 Montijo
Photo by Montijo On City
O Forno d’Aldeia
If you’ve traveled around Portugal, or have simply read anything about Portuguese food before, you’ll know that locals love frango de churrasco, most commonly known internationally as peri-peri chicken. We’re quite serious when it comes to churrascarias (also known as churrasqueiras), that is restaurants which specialize in grilled meats, such as chicken, but not limited to it. O Forno d’Aldeia’s main focus is chicken and this is what most clients come here to enjoy, either dining in or for take-away. During summer months, don’t be surprised to see a line, as this is the kind of food many of us crave for dinner on a warm night when we don’t feel like cooking at home. Good food, friendly service and great value for money, make O Forno d’Aldeia a local’s favorite in Montijo.
📍Rua José Joaquim Marques 125A, 2870-348 Montijo
www.facebook.com/ofornodaldeia
Photo by Restaurant Guru
Mr. Poeira
Affordable tasty food? Check! Special menus for group gatherings? Check! A big screen to watch the football match on TV while sipping beers with your friends? Check! Mr. Poeira has all of this and more. They are a very popular restaurant in Montijo both for eat-in and take away, offering dishes which aren’t spectacular from a creative point of view, but that are just what the Portuguese masses might crave when they want something they are familiar with. We’re talking about things like choco frito (the fried cuttlefish strips which are always present in this part of Portugal), grilled chicken, moelas (stewed chicken gizzards), grilled cuts of Iberian black pork, alheira served with fried egg, grilled salt cod and more. It is not the best place for vegetarians, even if they do serve some plant based options. But for traditional Portuguese food, Mr. Poeira does a wonderful job.
📍Rua Oceano 26, 2870-403 Montijo
Photo by Mr. Poeira
Marradas
Marradas is a steakhouse and, simply put, it is one of Montijo’s favorite addresses for meat lovers. They focus on premium aged meats (carnes maturadas in Portuguese), which are known to be particularly flavorful and succulent. Marradas has three locations in Montijo, all decorated in a trendy way, making them not only a good stop for a quick week day lunch, but also to go hang out with friends during the weekend. Before ordering your favorite cut of meat, indulge with one of their carefully crafted cocktails to get in the mood for great things to come. If you’re unsure of what to order, ask for a grelhada mista, which is a mixed platter with a variety of cuts and offers you the opportunity to try more than just one meat.
📍Beco Ten. Valadim 5, 2870-012 Montijo
Photo by CM Montijo
A Taska
This petiscaria is a wonderful address in Montijo for small servings of a variety of Portuguese specialities, known locally as petiscos. This is certainly one of the most fun ways of eating out in our country, particularly when you’re in good company, as more people around the table translates into the opportunity of ordering a larger assortment of tidbits often enjoyed while sharing a bottle of wine or a few rounds of beer. Some of the petiscos you can enjoy at A Taska (whose name refers to the no-frills typical Portuguese restaurants known as tascas) include stuffed mushroom, loaded scallops, bacon-wrapped baked cheese and, by far the most popular option in this restaurant, choco frito, the much famed breaded and deep-fried cuttlefish strips from the area of Setúbal.
📍Av. dos Pescadores 99, 2870-114 Montijo
www.facebook.com/p/A-TASKA-100054370248233/
Photo by A Taska
Tasca Galega
Good food at fair prices – this is what Tasca Galega in Montijo stands for. This family run establishment is one of those homely places which invites friends to spend hours around the table sharing a few bottles of wine over rounds of petiscos and, particularly during weekends, receives families for hearty meals on a lazy afternoon. Their honest cuisine includes dishes such as oven roasted goatling, Portuguese style seafood rice, cuttlefish stew, feijoada bean stew with prawns, duck rice, and so much more. This is food just like an expert Portuguese cook would prepare at home. So flavorful and nourishing!
📍Av. Corregedor Rodrigo Dias 79, 2870-890 Montijo
www.facebook.com/tascagalegapetisqueira/
Photo by Uber Eats
Enche Panças
The name of this restaurant is quite funny, roughly translating as “belly filler”. There’s no point in filling your belly if the things you are eating aren’t particularly tasty, but thankfully that is not the case at Enche Panças. They serve straightforward Portuguese food, not particularly complicated, but very well prepared. As it happens with most traditional restaurants in our country, the menu is divided into meat (carne) and fish (peixe) dishes. Expect classics such as bitoque, carne de porco à portuguesa (cubes of fried pork served with potatoes, pickles and olives), alheira from Mirandela, grilled fish, and a few salt cod dishes. If you’d like to try something a little different than the usual, ask for the salada de ovas, a chilled salad featuring hake roe in a tangy marinade. Particularly during summer, with a cold beer or glass of chilled white wine, this one goes down wonderfully.
📍Praça Descobrimentos 219, 2870-007 Montijo
Photo by Uber Eats
D’Gustus
Every region of Portugal has its own distinct cuisine. Restaurant D’Gustus in Montijo devotes itself to the gastronomic wonders of the islands of Madeira. If you are not familiar with Madeiran cuisine, know that this translates into wonderful fish and seafood dishes, but also their much acclaimed espetadas, that is skewers which can be full of meat, seafood, or a combination of both. Many of the regular customers who visit D’Gustus enjoy simple but very flavorful dishes such as a fresh tuna steak very lightly grilled, or sandwiches of meat tucked inside bolo do caco, a typical bread bun from Madeira prepared on the stove top, made from a wheat and sweet potato dough. As appetizers we would always recommend grilled lapas, or limpets, a type of seafood which is common in Madeira and even Azores, but not that frequently found in the Portuguese mainland. So when you have the chance to try it, we would certainly suggest making the most of the opportunity.
📍Rua Hospital 24, 2870-304 Montijo
www.facebook.com/p/DGustus-Restaurante-100077828029675
Photo by The Fork
Taberna do Ilhéu
This old style tavern recalls times gone by, where bars were actually decorated with big wine barrels. Besides these, the atmosphere of Taberna do Ilhéu is heavily influenced by bullfighting related paraphernalia, so if this is something which doesn’t appeal to you, you may want to go eat out at a different venue around Montijo. That being said, the food at Taberna do Ilhéu is great. They specialize in charcoal grills of different cuts of pork, both regular and of the Iberian black type. Because pork is king at Mr. Lino’s tavern, here you can also enjoy delicious morcela (blood sausage), linguiça (a thin type of chorizo), torresmos (pork cracklings), entremeada (pork belly), and more. If you don’t care for meat, there’s always a good salt cod dish on offer too.
📍Rua Sacadura Cabral 59, 2870-361 Montijo
Photo by Lifecooler
Casa das Iscas
Iscas is the Portuguese word for liver, namely for thin slices of liver steak, which could either be made from pork or beef. Iscas cooked with plenty of garlic and served with boiled potatoes is one of those old time traditional meals from Lisbon (called iscas com elas), and here in Montijo it can be enjoyed in all its glory at Casa das Iscas, “the home of liver”. If you’re into a quick snack or would even like to enjoy your liver steak on the go, ask for iscas no pão, which features saucy liver tucked inside a soft bread roll. Super tasty and affordable too.
📍Rua Manuel Neves Nunes de Almeida 41, 2870-352 Montijo
Photo by Os Melhores Restaurantes
Sabores do Peixe
In and around Lisbon, as in most coastal areas of Portugal, you can always have access to nicely grilled fish. It is one of those simple meals, where the barely seasoned fish is only enhanced by the addition of a little salt and the smokiness of the grill, with straightforward sides such as boiled potatoes and vegetables, which us locals often order when we are in the mood for something uncomplicated, not too heavy, and generally speaking quite healthy. At Sabores do Peixe in Montijo you can enjoy a great selection of fresh fish, which is displayed on a counter inside the restaurant, market style. If you’d like to, you can choose your piece of fish from the counter itself, having no doubt whatsoever that it is as fresh as it gets.
📍Rua António Oliveira Feyo 15, 2870-054 Montijo
www.facebook.com/saboresdopeixe
Photo by CM Montijo
Best bakeries and pastelarias in Montijo
Pão e Bolos do Montijo
This is a classic bakery and pastry shop in Montijo, whose name literally translates as “bread and cakes from Montijo”. You can’t go wrong, as this is the type of very typical Portuguese establishment where you’d normally be able to purchase the usual savories and cakes local pastelerias usually sell. Come here for coffee any time of the day, for a pastel de nata or another sweet bite or, if you are having a special occasion such as a birthday, you may order their beautifully decorated party cakes too. Pão e Bolos do Montijo is appointed by many Montijo locals as simply the best bakery in town.
📍Travessa José Augusto Saloio 2, 2870-384 Montijo
www.instagram.com/paoebolos.montijo
Photo by Pão e Bolos Do Montijo
Pastelaria Gavião 1986
This pastry shop makes the most famous mil-folhas in town. Mil-folhas is Portugal’s take on a mille feuille pastry, which is generally way denser than the French original and in our country stuffed with one of our favorite creamy fillings, doce de ovos, that is, an egg yolk and sugar confection. Mil-folhas are topped with chocolate and sugary icing and Montijo residents are known to flock to Pastelaria Gavião for the sake of this sweet indulgence. Everything sold is baked on the premises, something that is usually announced in Portuguese establishments with the words fabrico próprio, which is something you’ll often see by the entrance or windowshops of pastelarias.
📍Av. Luís de Camões 24, 2870-236 Montijo
Photo by Restaurante Guru
Pastelaria Armazém 75
If what you’re looking for is value for money pastries in Montijo, look no further than Pastelaria Armazém 75 – trust us when we say that long gone are the days when we could easily have access to nice cakes for less than one euro. Not only are the baked goods at this shop affordable, they are also pretty good. Everything is super fresh, tasty and served with a smile. This is a great place to stop by for a Portuguese style breakfast, whether you live in Montijo or simply passing by.
📍Estr. Do Pau Queimado, 2870-500 Montijo
Photo by Melhores Pastelarias
Sabores D’Ouro
More than a straightforward pastelaria, Sabores D’Ouro is a croissanteria, that is, a croissant focused bakery. That doesn’t mean though that, besides their famous croissants, their range of sweet baked goods doesn’t include other popular Portuguese specialities. Owners Pedro and Roseli come from Setúbal and, after working abroad for several years, returned to Portugal and somehow randomly ended up buying an apartment in Montijo and eventually decided to set shop around here too. We are so glad they did as, thanks to their move, Montijo residents can now enjoy delicious pastries, as well as loaded grilled sandwiches, salads, freshly squeezed juices, boba tea and more. Their croissants are fresh out of the oven at least twice a day, at around 7.30AM and noon – come around those hours to enjoy them warm and at their prime.
📍Av. João de Deus 45, 2870-158 Montijo
www.facebook.com/Saboresdeouro
Photo by Montijo On City
Grande Lisboa
Just like Sabores d’Ouro above, Grande Lisboa specializes in croissants, baked throughout the day and filled on the spot with creamy stuffings of choice, such as nutella, strawberry compote, egg jam with crunchy almonds (doce de ovos com amêndoa crocante), pumpkin, and chila, a type squash we commonly make jam with here in Portugal. As a full fledged pastelaria, Grande Lisboa also prepares other small pastries, as well as birthday cakes, and still sells freshly baked warm bread all day long.
📍Rua Gaspar Nunes 27, 2870-113 Montijo
www.instagram.com/grandelisboapastelarias
Photo by Grande Lisboa
We hope to have opened your appetite for all things fun and tasty in Montijo. If you travel to Portugal and make it to Montijo, please share your photos with us tagging #tasteoflisboa on Instagram.
Feed your curiosity on Portuguese food culture:
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