What and where to eat when you’re hungover in Lisbon
We’ve all been there. One minute you’re clinking glasses of ginjinha in Alfama, or saying “just one more” to that deceptively smooth vinho verde… and the next morning you wake up feeling like the bells of Lisbon’s cathedral are ringing inside your skull. Lisbon has a way of seducing you into a longer night than planned, especially with its lively bar scene, trendy cocktail bars, stunning rooftops perfect for warmer nights and, very relevant too, generous portions of drinks at friendly prices.
If you woke up with regrets or simply a desperate craving for junk food and carbs, we have relevant tips on how to nurse a hangover Portuguese style.
Featured photo by DIG-IN
Photo by Portugal Travel Guide
Let’s rewind a little. The drinking culture in Portugal is at par with the rest of the Mediterranean countries. We don’t usually say no to a casual glass of wine during lunch, or even a shot of brandy with our espresso (café com cheirinho), after dessert. Drinking in Portugal is social and definitely connected with eating. Unlike folks in northern Europe, unless we go out partying at night, we don’t usually drink all that much on its own. That being said, things are shifting a little as Lisbon becomes more international and the younger generations embrace imported habits such as drinking cocktails or craft beers.
Photo by ContemporaryNomad
So how do you avoid a next day disaster when drinking a little too much in Lisbon? First, as obvious as it seems, you can try to pace yourself. Most travelers coming to Portugal find wine and beer so cheap that the appeal to keep drinking is indeed strong. Furthermore, you’ll find alcohol pretty much everywhere, from supermarkets and convenience stores, to cafes, pastry shops, and even McDonalds. If you succumb to the pleasures of Portuguese alcoholic beverages, don’t forget to keep drinking water. It may seem obvious but, unless you specifically order water, most Portuguese establishments won’t offer or serve water when you ask for a bottle of wine. If you want to hydrate in a super local way, we recommend drinking Água das Pedras, which is a local brand of naturally carbonated water, with plenty of minerals and a slightly salty aftertaste, that will help balance things out inside your body.
But if the hangover does hit, what should you eat? The golden rule: fat, salt, and starch. So, here’s what and where to eat in Lisbon when you’re hungover:
Post-party: what to eat at night before the damage sets in
Caldo verde and pão com chouriço at A Merendeira
Photo by A Merendeira on Facebook
Ask any true Lisboeta where they usually go to after a big night out, and chances are A Merendeira is mentioned. Many would agree that this is Lisbon’s most iconic drunk food temple, popular for their steaming bowls of caldo verde and dense pão com chouriço that soaks up alcohol like not many other local foods manage to.
This no-frills eatery, open since 1982, has fed generations of night owls, party kids, taxi drivers and, in more recent times, a few travelers in the know too. Just off Avenida 24 de Julho, it has a strategic location near some of Lisbon’s most popular nightlife areas, such as Docas and Cais do Sodré. Inside, it looks more like a canteen than a restaurant, as you order by the counter, grab your tray, and pick a spot at the long tables often shared with other folks. Some ravenous, some half asleep, some still drinking beer with their food, in denial of the next day’s probable consequences.
So, what exactly are you eating here? Caldo verde is one of Portugal’s most beloved soups, despite it actually being quite simple. It’s made from puréed potato, gently simmered with garlic and olive oil, and then laced with shredded Portuguese-style collard greens (couve galega). Just before serving, a few slivers of chouriço are added. It’s truly a small quantity (you can ask to omit it if you’re vegetarian or vegan, as the soup itself is plant-based), but it’s just enough to release a hint of smokiness into the soup. Caldo verde is light enough for when your stomach is already full with other liquids, but it’s very comforting.
Pão com chouriço should not be confused with a sandwich of a bun stuffed with chorizo slices. It is instead chouriço baked into dough and, at a Merendeira, it is always warm out of the oven. The bread is soft, chewy, and infused with meaty drippings, just the way this establishment has been doing it for over 40 years. Biting into a pão com chouriço delivers carbs, grease, and salt, which is exactly what any alcohol saturated system is usually begging for.
This combo works because it does everything your body needs: replenishes salt and hydration, provides simple carbs to stabilize blood sugar, and offers just enough fat to slow alcohol absorption or, at least, help digest what’s already there.
If you visit A Merendeira with a big appetite, order the combo menu, which includes caldo verde, pão com chouriço, a drink (anything carbonated is a solid choice – except beer!), a bowl of Portuguese sweet rice pudding, and even an espresso coffee. It’s tasty stuff and unbeatable value for money. And, as a bonus, A Merendeira is a great spot for people watching and catching a glimpse of the late night characters that make Lisbon’s nightlife even more colorful.
A Merendeira
📍 Avenida 24 de Julho 54, 1200-869 Lisbon
⏰ Open daily until 6AM (!)
Portuguese style steak at Galeto
Photo by Expresso
Sometimes, you start partying so early that you don’t even eat a proper dinner. Or, even if you did, when your stomach starts growling after a few hours drinking, few things hit the spot quite like a Portuguese style steak. Juicy, salty, swimming in sauce and usually topped with a fried egg, this is a perfect meal to help prevent a hangover.
Let’s get our Portuguese steak terminology straight. In Portugal, when you see bitoque, you’re looking at a thin, quickly fried beef steak (often sirloin or rump), cooked in garlic and olive oil or butter, and topped with a runny egg. It comes with a pile of fries and, sometimes, a little white rice or salad on the side.
Bife à Portuguesa, on the other hand, is slightly more indulgent and it is usually served with a richer sauce, and always topped with slices of cured ham (presunto) and, of course, the mandatory fried egg the Portuguese love some much on top of steaks. As compared to bitoque, this one’s even saltier and heavier too. Steaks are excellent hangover food because they combine iron, fat, salt, and comfort, which is essentially the recovery holy grail.
But where can one grab a good steak late at night in the city? Enter Galeto which, more than a restaurant, is an institution of late night eating in Lisbon. This establishment opened back in 1966 and still looks like a retro diner (but don’t think of American dinner aesthetics, as Galeto is very local indeed, as you’d gather marvelling at their curved stainless steel counter). Galeto is located on Avenida da República, near Saldanha, and it’s famous for being open until 3:30AM, which makes it a magnet for all sorts of late night creatures, from party goers to actors and journalists working late nights.
Galeto’s menu is massive. You could certainly order a steak, but also a grilled cheese, a smoothie, a classic Portuguese bacalhau dish, eggs or a burger… you name it! But trust us on this one, as the steak Portuguese style is really good here and it comes with just the right amount of garlicky sauce to make you forget your poor life choices for a few minutes.
Galeto
📍Avenida da República 14, 1050-191 Lisbon
⏰ Open daily until 3:30AM
If you can’t be bothered to make your way to Saldanha to enjoy Galeto’s steaks and old school vibes, other places to grab a steak late at night in Lisbon include:
Café de São Bento
📍Rua de São Bento 212, 1200-821 Lisbon
⏰ Open until 1AM
https://cafesaobento.com
Foxtrot
📍Tv. Santa Teresa 28, 1200-405 Lisbon
⏰ Open until 2AM
www.barfoxtrot.pt
Savory pastries and fritters from street vendors
Photo by Marisia on OLX
Late at night in Lisbon’s party districts, such as Bairro Alto, Pink Street and the general Cais do Sodré area, there’s a very specific kind of street food economy that comes alive. Around 2AM, when bars in Bairro Alto start closing because of regulations, and those who wish to keep on partying start coming down to Pink Street and around (where clubs are open until later), you’ll start spotting street vendors. These mobile vendors sell meat turnovers (rissóis), deep-fried minced beef rolls (croquetes), samosas (chamuças), and other savory pastries straight out of coolers and boxes wrapped with foil.
They aren’t official food stalls. They’re usually folks who simply walk through the streets offering snacks to people coming out of bars and clubs. The choices are usually fried and dense, easy to much on on the go. People love these typical Portuguese savory snacks because they’re cheap, quick to get and they sure hit the spot. Also, as there aren’t that many things open late at night for food (here are some exceptions!), this kind of spontaneous street food is more than welcome, particularly Thursday to Saturday nights, the busiest nights in Lisbon, when it’s worth it for vendors to come out and carry their coolers with them.
Greasy burgers and hot dogs from Lisbon’s roulotes
Photo by Time Out Lisboa
Roulotes have been known to “save lives” in Lisbon. These food trucks are Lisbon’s answer to late night street food. These mobile trailers usually park near nightlife hotspots, big intersections, and sometimes seemingly random street corners, ready to serve whoever’s still awake and upright past midnight. You’ll find them near Cais do Sodré, Bairro Alto, Alcântara, Sete Rios, and even in more industrial areas like Braço de Prata or near the airport, strategically placed to not only catch partygoers but, to a great extent as well, night shift workers.
Their menus are usually straightforward but extensive: burgers, hot dogs, bifanas, pregos, sandes de courato, and sometimes a few extras like fries. Don’t expect anything fancy as we all know you’d go to a roulote to eat something greasy and, usually, loaded with a variety of sauces that would make almost anything taste palatable. If you want to top up your burger or especially your hot dog the way the Portuguese would, ask for a lot of batata palha, that is, crispy matchstick fried potatoes (from a package), that will add a bit of texture to your otherwise probably mushy sandwich.
Some legendary roulotes to check out in Lisbon include:
- Roulote da Loira: Sete Rios, by Lisbon Zoo
- Roulote Pitêu da Rua: Alcântara, near LX Factory
- Bar J & M: Industrial area near Lisbon airport
- Roulotte TiZé: Between Moscavide and Sacavém (pictured above)
- Roulote Os Putos: In Lumiar
- Roulotte da Pontinha: Right by Pontinha metro station
Learn more about Lisbon’s street food scene, including further info about these roulotes and their exact locations.
The morning after: what to eat in Lisbon when you wake up with a hangover
Coffee and toast, at any local pastelaria
Photo by Lisboa ao Pequeno Almoço on Facebook
It’s the next day. Your head is pounding, your mouth feels dry and you’ve just opened your phone to some questionable text messages. Congratulations: you’re officially hungover in Lisbon!
Before you think of eggs or anything too ambitious, start simple. Head to your nearest pastelaria, which in Lisbon means literally every corner, and order the national recovery starter pack: um café e uma torrada. One strong espresso (bica) and a thick slice of toasted wonder bread (pão de forma) or rustic local bread (pão saloio), generously buttered, usually served cut into three pieces, knowing that any local will agree with us that you’re meant to save the middle piece, the one that’s softest and even more loaded with butter, for last.
Coffee, being strong and slightly butter, will immediately help you feel alive again. The caffeine jumpstarts your system, giving you just enough alertness to remember how you got home. And then comes the toast, warm, salty, fluffy in the middle and golden on the edges. The butter adds fat (a good thing here), while the bread gives you something solid to soak up whatever is still swirling in your stomach. It’s light enough not to upset your stomach, but substantial enough to stabilize you. The best part? You’ll be surrounded by locals doing the exact same thing. Maybe they’re not hungover, but definitely using coffee and toast as their ritual to face the day.
If you’re one of the lucky ones whose hangovers allow for a bigger meal, we’ve also rounded up our favorite places for Portuguese style brunch in Lisbon, where you can go beyond coffee and toast and enjoy something heartier.
Pastel de nata, bola de Berlim and other sugary and creamy pastries
Photo by MAGG
Once you’ve managed to sip your coffee and nibble on your toast without nausea, it might be time to level up to sugar. Sometimes your body craves dessert for breakfast and being hungover may just be the perfect excuse to give it what it wants.
So what should you order when you walk into Lisbon’s best pastelarias? The first thing that comes to mind is probably a Portuguese custard tart, aka pastel de nata, with a velvety filling swapped around flaky puff pastry. Don’t forget to dust it with cinnamon to enhance the experience.
Amongst all the pastries you’d normally find in a Portuguese pastelaria, we think bola de Berlim is particularly good for a hangover. Portugal’s version of a Berliner doughnut is big, soft, and stuffed with doce de ovos, a bright yellow egg yolk jam. As bolas de Berlim are heavy and dense, they’re perfect to help soak up alcohol.
Other pastries to look for when your body demands something sweet and indulgent include crumbly rice muffins (bolo de arroz), doughy croissants (croissant brioche) and Portuguese style muffins (queques), all with just enough dough to help settle things inside your stomach.
Saucy pork sandwiches, aka bifanas
Photo by Food and Drink Destinations
If you’re dealing with a proper hangover, not just slightly tired, it’s time for a bifana. This is Portugal’s messiest, juiciest pork sandwich, and it’s exactly what your body craves when you’re in recovery mode.
Bifanas are made with thin slices of pork, simmered in a marinade of white wine, garlic, paprika, and bay leaf, then tucked into a soft, crusty bread roll. The best ones are sloppy in all the right ways: the meat is tender, the sauce is rich and tangy, and the bread soaks up just enough without falling apart in your hands.
You might have seen bifanas the night before, served from roulotes alongside burgers and pregos. And, yes, they hit the spot when you’re drunk and need something greasy to fill the void. But the daytime bifana tends to be different and usually of better quality. With a more complex sauce and perhaps fresher bread rolls too. It’s not about finesse either way, but not all bifanas were created equal, that’s for sure.
The best bifanas in Lisbon can be found at:
As Bifanas do Afonso
📍Rua da Madalena 146, 1100-340 Lisbon
A Parreirinha do Chile
📍Praça do Chile 14A, 1000-098 Lisbon
O Trevo
📍Praça Luís de Camões 48, 1200-283 Lisbon
Prego steak sandwich at Rui dos Prego
Photo by Sapo Viagens
If your hangover allows you to eat something “serious”, it may be time to consider a prego. This is Portugal’s version of a steak, which may or may note come in the sandwich form. Variations of pregos include the steak tucked inside a bread roll (prego no pão), or served with sides on a plate (prego no prato). Either way, the steak is usually juicy, garlicky, and grilled or pan fried in olive oil. On the plate option, it’s usually served with fries, sometimes rice, and it’s not uncommon to see it topped with a fried egg too.
If you’re just going to eat one prego while in Lisbon, we recommend heading straight to Rui dos Pregos. With several locations across the city, this place is known for generous portions of tasty pregos. The steaks are tender, garlicky without being overpowering, and grilled to order. If you order prego no pão, you’ll be amazed at how the steak is so big the bun looks ridiculously small when compared to it. The Docas location of Rui dos Pregos is ideal if you want to sit by the water and slowly pull yourself back together in the sun. The restaurant location in Junqueira offers a bit more space and a more complete menu, in case you’d like to make the most of the opportunity and order other items too.
Rui dos Pregos
📍Rui dos Pregos – Docas: Passeio Doca de Santo Amaro, 1350-353 Lisbon
📍Rui dos Pregos – Restaurante: Rua da Junqueira 508 510, 1300-341 Lisbon
www.instagram.com/ruidospregos
Roast suckling pig sandwich at Nova Pombalina
Photo by Lisboa ConVida
If you are the type of person who likes to cure a hangover with meat, while in Portugal, you should definitely consider ordering a roast suckling pig sandwich. In Lisbon, there’s one name that always comes up when talking about sandes de leitão, and that is Nova Pombalina.
This sort of tasca in Baixa has been serving Portuguese style sandwiches since 1980, with crusty rolls and actually good fillings of regional Portuguese cheeses and local cured meats, aka enchidos. Their sandes de leitão features roasted suckling pig, cut into thin slices, tucked into a crispy yet airy roll, with a touch of the roasting juices. The meat is tender and golden, with a little bit of crackly skin for texture, just with the right balance of salt and fat. And that’s exactly what makes it the ideal hangover food. It’s super indulgent and uncomplicated, and the roast pork gives you protein to keep things going. They also make fresh fruit juices and smoothies, which you may consider sipping on for a vitamin boost.
Nova Pombalina is a place for quick and efficient service, with all the old school charm you’d expect from this kind of venue in Lisbon. It’s right by Praça do Comércio so, after eating, we’d recommend heading to the river front for a walk as you feel the breeze.
Nova Pombalina
📍Rua do Comércio 2, 1100-149 Lisbon
Chicken soup at Beira Gare
Photo by minube
At some point during your hangover spiral, there comes a moment when you don’t want anything greasy, sugary, or Instagrammable. You just want to feel normal again. That’s when you go for chicken soup, and Beira Gare, right by Rossio station, is one of the best places in Lisbon to get it without having to sit down at a more formal restaurant where you’d perhaps be expected to order something more than just soup.
Canja de galinha at Beira Gare is rich, warming, and comforting in that old school, medicinal way. It’s made with a light yet flavorful chicken stock, tiny bits of shredded chicken, soft rice, and just a touch of chopped herbs on top. And while you’re there, don’t be surprised if your eyes (and appetite) wander, because Beira Gare is also a paradise for savory snacks and sandwiches. As soon as you walk by, you’ll spot the window display stacked with rissóis, croquetes, pastéis de bacalhau, and pataniscas. If your stomach can handle more eating, grab a couple of those too. They also serve excellent bifanas and pregos, fast and saucy, perfect for a more substantial second course once the soup has done its magic.
Beira Gare
📍Praça Dom João da Câmara 4, 1200-147 Lisbon
Cozido à portuguesa
Photo by Postal do Algarve
We’ll admit it: cozido à portuguesa is not for weak stomachs, even less for those who may have a hangover. It’s a heavy stew, packed with a variety of meats, brings together boiled beef, pork, chicken, chouriço, blood sausage (morcela), salted meats, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and rice, all cooked slowly in the same pot until every ingredient soaks up the savory goodness of everything else. It’s rich, dense, and so Portuguese, that we honestly believe this is Portugal’s national dish.
But does it make sense as a hangover cure? Surprisingly, yes! This is the dish for when your hangover has passed the nausea phase and you’re deep into the hunger phase. Cozido is hydrating (thanks to the broth and boiled veg), loaded with protein, full of salt and iron, and comes with plenty of carbs from the potatoes and rice. It’s basically a nutritional bomb disguised as a meat feast. It is certainly not light, but if you’re the kind of person who wakes up hungover and wants to eat “everything”, it may be just right for you.
Fair warning though, as cozido is usually only served on specific days, usually weekends or Thursdays, depending on the restaurant. But if you want to know where to get the best cozido à portuguesa in Lisbon, check out our full guide here.
We hope you feel good so that you can keep enjoying the comforts of Portuguese food. Follow Taste of Lisboa on Instagram for more local food tips, and all the edible reasons to love Lisbon, with or without a headache!
Feed your curiosity on Portuguese food culture:
The best restaurants in Lisbon to celebrate a special occasion
Portuguese chefs redefining vegetarian and vegan cuisines
Best spots for brunch in Lisbon (with a Portuguese twist)
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