Our best meals in Lisbon, Portugal at two restaurants you absolutely must give a try.

I chuckled inwardly as I gazed upon the massive spread of food before me. I was in Lisbon, and any hopes I had had of sticking to my diet over the course of my three days in town had just flown out the window.

Portugal is rife with food that excites your tongue and expands your waist, and Lisbon, being both the capital and the largest city, is one of the best places to sate a capricious belly . There is meat and seafood galore, good wine, and pasteis de nata. Restaurants here are cheaper than, say, London or Paris, so you can eat a five-star meal on a three-star budget. The weather is good most of the year, which makes dining on a terrace as you’re serenaded by a skilled — if over-zealous — fadista (singer of a Portuguese musical genre known for its mournful lyrics) entirely possible.

The only question, then, is where to go eat.

Can I give you two suggestions? Here are the two best meals we had in Lisbon and all the deets on the restaurants they were at.

Cervejaria Ramiro

Av. Almirante Reis, nº1 – H, 1150-007 Lisbo

We came here on the recommendation of my friend Jarmo, travel blogger over at Arctic Nomad, and boy, was I ever glad we took his advice. We knew we were on to something good when we got to the restaurant and there was a queue that stretched out of the doorway and snaked all along the sidewalk. Thirty minutes after our arrival, we were seated and salivating over the offerings on the next table. Ramiro is a traditional restaurant that specialises in seafood. Heavily aromatic and endearingly greasy and salty, we ordered garlic shrimp, crude ham, clams, and copious amounts of bread dripping in butter. The food is a cholesterol lover’s dream — definitely not for the faint of heart. Though a tad on the expensive side considering how simple the menu is (we paid 8 euros for the bread alone), the food is divine.

Can the Can

Praça do Comércio 82  1100-083 Lisboa

If Cervejaria Ramiro is an example of a traditional Portuguese restaurant, Can the Can is the poster child for modern dining. Turismo de Lisboa, Lisbon’s tourism authority, invited us to dine at this restaurant, which is known for putting a  new twist on old Portuguese favourites.  The chefs use a lot of canned food in their dishes (hence the name of the restaurant) and their goal is simple, if ambitious: catapult Portuguese canned food to gourmet status.  We tried the bacalhau, which was extremely salty, but tasty. We dabbled in tuna tapas and squid selections presented so prettily that I was reluctant to eat them. While the food is good, the location is even better: not only does the restaurant sit on the Praça do Comércio (the city’s main square), but if you eat on the terrace you are guaranteed a view of the Tagus River.

Lauren Pope