Travel back in time at Lisbon’s oldest privately-owned kiosk and titillate your palette with old-school fare at old-school prices.
€ – €€
Travessa Corpo Santo, 7
Cais do Sodre
213 460 844
Tue – Sun, 12h – 20h
After reading Célia Padroso’s article on Culinary Backstreets, I was excited to try chef André Magalhães’ newest petisco (small bites) menu served out of the iconic red Quiosque de São Paulo. Established in 1872, this is the oldest privately-owned kiosk in Lisbon, formerly known for serving salgados (savory snacks), aguardente (firewater), and ginhinha (cherry liqueur) to sailors from the Cais and commuters coming in from the ferry and train terminals nearby, so it’s a match made in bite-sized heaven for the chef at Taberna Da Rua das Flores to take over this historic spot in Cais.
We tried the torresmos, a pork-crackling sandwich smeared in chouriço butter (!) paired with a Mónaco (a mini beer mixed with groselha, a Portuguese red currant liqueur), and we went for the salada de orelha (pig’s ear salad) and a Sangacho with onion — a sandwich made from Pinhais’ canned Filets de cavala (mackerel filets) in olive oil. At 1,50 for the beer cocktail, 3,50 a pop for the sandwiches, and 4,00 for the salad, our bellies were full, our spirits were lifted, and we understood all that petiscos were intended to be — a taste of Portugal that’s accessible to everyone.
