In this city, snacks come fast and cheap, but you won’t be able to stop at one

Gather some coins: in Portugal, life’s simple pleasures remain affordable. The local morning ritual, a dark shot of espresso, will set you back a euro or so. It’s usually paired with a flaky pastel de nata, and it, too, hovers around the euro mark. Besides Portugal’s quintessential mood-boosting duo, the country’s snack culture is strong and cheap, too.

I’m on an Intrepid Travel tour to rediscover the street food I missed on my last visit nearly a decade ago. My second helping (and gold coin squandering) begins at Porto’s Mercado do Bolhao, a beautifully restored 19th-century smorgasbord that spans a city block. It rivals Barcelona’s La Boqueria, with more than 70 merchants, peddling everything from Atlantic oysters to fortified port wines across a maze of aisles and eateries.

By midday, the undercover market is bustling. I begin with a protein fix at Talho do Toninho. Operating since 1937, the fourth-generation butcher sells bite-sized beef, veal, and deer tartare cups, as well as paper-thin carpaccio. It’s impossible to go past a red orb of beef tartare the size of a ping pong ball for €2 ($3.20)and lean, rolled deer carpaccio on a Jatz-like cracker for €1.50 a pop.

Nearby, fruit juice stands appear as drinkable rainbows. Drawn to its pink hue, I grab a dragonfruit juice for €2.50 – pity it’s watered down. For the same price, and far punchier, is a glass of godello from the neighbouring Spanish region of Galicia. Homegrown favourites, port and ginja, are just as inexpensive at the market’s small bars.

Humble pantry staples have their sexy moment at Bolhao Wine House, de Hugo Silva. The small bar pairs tastings of Portugal’s famous tinned export – sardines – with wine. Other smallgoods and souvenir stores stock countless canned fish brands with eccentric, eye-catching designs to make you contemplate collecting cans, from as low as €4. Sold on samples – and novelty – I buy five.

For those who prefer seafood straight from the water, there’s Casa das Ostras. The oyster bar sells a quartet of the salty shellfish from €6, alongside an omega-three-heavy line-up of mussels, scallops, prawns, octopus and more. Save that stomach space.

Of course, there’s more snacking beyond market gates. A 10-minute stroll away, Casa Louro offers a taste of tradition. The father-and-son-run bar is like stepping into a man cave; FC Porto memorabilia – posters, shirts, scarves, a crude clock – covers every inch of wall space. Cured hams dangle – and tease – from the ceiling.

What has kept this neighbourhood hangout operating for nearly a century is its simple offering: authentic and cheap bites and booze. Feeling peckish, I opt for one small fried sardine (€0.50) and a salt cod cake (€1.10) with my fino – Porto’s lingo for a small draft beer – poured straight from the tap.

Emerging from the time portal, I try the hot dog cachorrinho (€4.50) at locally lauded Republica dos Cachorros 2. “Little dog” devotees, ravenous for Porto’s iconic snack, fill the space. However, the squished, toasted roll hides the sausage and a blanket of melted cheese masks its flavour. I expected a meatier affair from this little dog.

Thankfully, the bifana exists. In essence, it’s a simple sandwich: thin pork steak in a small, light, crusty roll. Rivalry between the cities of Porto and Lisbon extends to which version is best. In the capital, Lisbon, the steak is cooked on a hot plate, dressed with mustard and ketchup to each person’s liking. In the north, things are much saucier. Porto’s take sees pork medallions cooked in a simmering pot of white wine, garlic, olive oil, piri-piri, chicken stock, bay leaves and paprika. Bread acts as a sponge, soaking up the pork’s aromatic red broth.

Late-night institution Conga has been slinging one of the city’s top-rated bifanas since 1976. It’s 9pm on a Friday, and Conga lives up to its name, as a 20-person line snakes outside the casual eatery. Inside, the sardine-like crowd mills under stark-white fluorescent lights.

In Conga’s shopfront window, two yellow-shirted workers entertain – and entice – those shivering in the queue. I’m enthralled as I watch them stand over colossal pots brimming with pork, hurling the in-demand fist-sized rolls together like a frantic tag-team match.

Finally inside, I weasel my way toward the bar and place my order: “One bifana, plain, no cheese, obrigada. Keep the change.”

It’s slapped together and served on a no-nonsense porcelain plate at breakneck speed. And in that moment, I hand down my verdict: this juice-dripping, humble sandwich is the best €4 I’ve spent in Portugal. My purse is lighter, but at long last, I’m full.

THE DETAILS

TOUR
The seven-day Portugal Real Food Adventure costs from $3645 a person and includes transport, some meals and activities. See intrepidtravel.com

VISIT
Porto’s historic Mercado do Bolhao is open Monday to Saturday. See mercadobolhao.pt

The writer travelled as a guest of Intrepid Travel.