TRAVEL TIPS (274)

The following supermarket chains are common in Portugal:

Portuguese Continente and Pingo Doce, they are similar, but I like Continente a little more. An important point: the larger the store, the better and more diverse the assortment.

The German chains Lidl and ALDI, these chains are like twin brothers, but I like Lidl a little more.

Also from well-known networks there are Auchan, Minipreço, Mercadona, Intermarche, Spar, Makro (like our METRO), Normal, E.leclerc, Сoviran, Meu Super, Jafers etc.

Online purchases can be made at Continente, Pingo Doce, Auchan, Minipreço, Intermarche, Spar and Makro.

Gastronomic delights and a more diverse range, unusual for Portugal, can be found in the spanish Supercor El corte ingles, especially in the gourmet section. Supercar currently has 3 more locations (easily searched by Google maps). An online store is also available.

The most beautiful grocery store in Lisbon Consi.go. Organic products, beautiful fruits and vegetables, you can even come just to look at this set design. I was also attracted by the presence of kimchi with a good composition without flavor enhancers and preservatives.

As for eco–bio–healthy lifestyle stores, I most often use the Сeleiro, online ordering is also available. There are also several other stores on this topic: Miosotis, Girassol, LOJA SÃO.

Well, my love in all countries is the Mix-Markt network. Here are all the products from the post-Soviet space + a little Balkan vibe. The assortment varies from store to store.
An alternative to this chain of stores: Smak, Mist, Berezka, Troika, MultiCook and online store Grechka.pt

Also, in Portugal there are farmers’ markets, bakeries with artisan bread, and small local shops specializing in a specific food field, I’ll tell you about some of them.

There are many bakeries in Lisbon, I prefer yeast-free bread. And at the moment, I have found the widest selection of bread in Gleba. And another plus of this network is that they work until late in the evening.

Cheese shops with French cheeses and other French delicacies (pies, mustard, sauces, etc.): Maitre Renard (there is a larger assortment here) and Fromagerie de Lisboa.

In Portugal, meat is very tasty almost everywhere, but if you need delicacies such as certain-aged cuts, terrines and truffle foie gras, then you can go to Talho do campo and Charcuterie française chez Fred.This is not a classic butcher shop with fresh meat, but rather a delicatessen that was opened by the French.

To buy the right piece of meat, below is a diagram of how the parts of beef and pork are called in Portuguese, because even good dictionaries will not be able to translate the names of all cuts correctly.

Source. The link also describes in detail which part is the best way to cook (cooking, frying, stewing).

Source. Here you can also find information with recommendations on the preparation of each of the parts.

The tail (rado) is not mentioned in these diagrams. But it also sells and is very successful.

All parts of the animal (offal, for example – “miudezas”) are also sold very successfully, here are some of their names (sorry if I translated something incorrectly, but I tried very hard to understand what the butcher described):

Baço – The Spleen
Cabeça – The Head
Coração – The Heart
Fígado – Liver
Língua – Tongue
Mioleira – Brains
Mollejas – The pancreas
Redanhos – a skin with fat (you can say it’s pork fat in our understanding)
Rins – Kidneys
Túbaros – Testicles

There is a mix of products from completely different Asian countries – Mercado Oriental Martim Moniz (minus 1 floor)

Thanks to the recommendation of a wonderful person, I discovered this store Supermercado Chen – it’s truly the best among Asian markets. They have everything you could wish for: fresh, canned, and frozen products, sauces, spices, and much more.

Korean products – KoPo Mart and Woori

Japanese products – Goyo-Ya

Indian and Thai products – Dilliwala Global Foods.

Middle Eastern store (sesame tahini paste is important to me here) – Zaytouna

Next, I will tell you about the specific products that I buy.

My basic regular grocery purchases take place at Continente and Lidl, and in other stores I buy things that are not represented in the mentioned chains (for example, some kind of cheeses, delicacies, organic products, etc.).

Nuances:

I will not write about my entire grocery basket, but rather about my favorites.

I love when the product tastes delicious and good in composition. A good one is when there is nothing superfluous that is required for its preparation. That is, at a minimum of any thickeners, hardeners, sweeteners, dyes and other improvising pieces.

I didn’t notice a clear correlation between cost and quality. That is, expensive is not a guarantee of quality, but cheap is not always terrible.

I also note that it will be about those products that have plus or minus the same stable quality.

In Continente I buy:

Gallo Azeite Virgem Extra Sublime Olive Oil

I like it because the oil itself is delicious, and the dispenser is perfect – it does not spill and does not stain the bottle like most other oils. In addition, an iron lid can sometimes hurt your hands, and a plastic one (like this oil) is unlikely. In general, it is convenient. I love Greek olive oils most of all, but Portuguese ones are in second place for me, and not Italian and Spanish ones at all, so be guided by your taste in any case.

Balsamic Vinegar Ponti Vinagre Balsamico Bio

Ideal composition: only wine vinegar and grape must. And it tastes delicious, plus the bottle is quite large, it’s always more environmentally friendly and profitable.

The aforementioned oil and balsamic can be found not only in Continente.

Oat milk Bebida Vegetal de Aveia Berief

At the moment, this is my favorite both in taste, and in consistency, and in the way milk behaves in coffee. The composition is as simple as I like: water, oats, vegetable oil, sea salt.

I do not like when guargams, sweeteners and vitamins are added to vegetable milk. If I need to drink vitamins, I’ll somehow choose which ones myself and buy them separately.

Canned tuna

I had a long tasting of different cans from different stores, in the end I chose Atum ao Natural Ramirez

It’s not salty, it doesn’t have a normal smelly (as it happens) smell, the fish pieces are whole, not dead. Although, there are different parties, sometimes better, sometimes worse.

I most often use canned tuna for a very tasty salad with mozzarella, for a morning burger with a poached egg, as well as for a tuna and cheddar sandwich, and pasta.

Also, I basically buy all canned fish from this brand. Sardines, for example. And with them, I cook “herring” under a fur coat, because in Portugal I have not found herring without a lot of preservatives, but it turns out very tasty.

Chicken eggs

I am very sensitive to the taste of eggs, especially when you eat them almost in their original form (poached egg, egg in a bag), and its taste is clearly clear.

I like the taste of eggs from free-range chickens. On the packaging of such eggs is marked “Ar Livre”. Of course, I tasted different eggs from different chickens, including without this mark. And there are also delicious eggs there, BUT not every time, but if you’re lucky. The same manufacturer, the same store, and the eggs taste different. I don’t need such Russian roulette)))

You can buy eggs “Ar Livre” in any store from any manufacturer, but most often I buy these Ovos de Ar Livre Classe M/L Continente.

Tagliatelle pasta – Massa Tagliatelle Nido from the Garofalo brand, the main thing is not to overсook it.

Grissini Breadsticks Gressinos Integrais Continente

In ordinary non-healthy food stores, it is difficult to find cookies and bread products that have a good composition. In this case, the composition is as follows: my favorite whole wheat flour, plain wheat flour, olive oil, water, salt.

Why do we need these sticks: instead of crackers in soup, it’s especially cool in the summer hot season with gazpacho, it’s delicious to dip in cottage cheese or melted cheese, it’s delicious to put in salads, instead of crackers, especially in Balkan, where there are tomatoes and feta. Grissini are imbued with aromas and, together with the rest of the ingredients, it is divinely delicious. I love them and eat them in pure form with coffee instead of cookies.

Since I started talking about coffee, I’ll tell you more about nut and fruit bars, which I also like to eat with it.

Many different bars are sold in different stores, but almost all of them have a terrifying composition and calorie content.

I found 2 good manufacturers for myself:

Barras Cruas de Cacau e Avelã sem Glúten Continente Equilíbrio and from Rude Health, I like Barra Batata Doce e Cacau sem Glúten

Tomatoes that taste and smell like sweet pink tomatoes Mini Tomate Coração Sweet Continente Seleção

If there are none, I buy plum-shaped cherry tomatoes, they are almost always sweet.

Cucumbers in Portugal are delicious only in mini format, that is, Pepino Mini

I buy similar ones at Lidl and Pingo Doce, and they are also available at Auchan.

Baked Pimento Vermelho Assado sweet pepper, it’s delicious to add it to salads, but my favorite is to make delicious bruschetta with pesto and goat cheese with it

Avocado Hass is the most successful and ripe (yes, avocado is a neuter noun) comes across in Continente and exactly what is on the link, although this is the most budget option in the store.

But sometimes the party is just terrible, the quality of the products here is very unstable.

Leaf salad Salada Gourmet Continente. It is already washed, which is convenient, and there is my favorite radicchio salad in the composition. A great salad mix for almost any salad.

Fruits

I will highlight only pears and grapes in this section, because everything else, plus or minus, is everywhere, or has an unstable quality depending on the season / delivery.

Pera Packham’s pear is my ideal pear, which I haven’t seen in other stores, or haven’t noticed. It is not sweet, very hard, like a potato. Imeno such a pear I like to eat))) For cooking, it is better to buy a classic conference.

Seedless grapes(!)

I rarely see seedless grapes here, and it is white (the local red grapes have a bitter skin). In general, the most successful in taste and price is Uva Branca sem Grainha

I used to buy apple puree here without any additives from ANDROS, but it disappeared from sale in all stores. I hope this is temporary, because it’s very tasty to add it to Greek yogurt, and on top of my granola. Or make oatmeal cookies based on it.

Disinfecting wet wipes Green Shield in blue packaging

The only factor in choosing wet cleansing wipes is their minimal aromatization. I’m looking for either completely odorless ones (I haven’t found them in Portugal yet), or from which the smell instantly disappears, like from these.

And Septona small pocket wet wipes are also in blue packaging, selected according to the same principle. The smell is a little more persistent than that of the big ones, but this is the best I found of the small ones, others stink for up to several days.

In Lidl I buy (there will be no links, but pictures, because there is no online store):

The little cucumbers already mentioned above.

Cheese for salads like feta cheese from Milbona

Fish (dorada mostly)

Because it is delicious, packed hermetically and cleaned. Comfortable, does not smell, does not stain anything.

Muesli with normal composition (without a huge amount of added sugar) or from the brand Crownfield:

Or these are Muesli Hahne Bircher

Gedza from VICI. From the entire assortment, it is the vegetables that are delicious. The composition is good, other manufacturers have a horror in general. They are especially good if you make a sauce based on mayonnaise, ground chili pepper, garlic and soy sauce. And you can also make express ramen with them.

Chocolate J.D. Gross Intenso 95% Cacao

In Auchan the most delicious Greek yogurt for me. Without additives and not fat-free.

In Celeiro I buy:

I try different things here, but my base is household chemicals without any flavors from the Sodasan brand, namely:

Laundry detergent Hand soap Dishwashing detergent

And from food on a regular basis is purchased:

Dijon mustard and Yeast-free whole grain bread

In Intermarche I can distinguish two types of cheeses:

Camembert for baking

And cottage cheese for anything: for salads, sandwiches, cheesecakes, etc. An extremely good composition. There is a straight version and a light fat-free version, both are good. I take light mostly.

In Mix-Markt I buy:

There are also a lot of things and different things, but the base is: buckwheat (the main thing is not Makfa), I liked the Altai buckwheat the most.

Horseradish and sauerkraut, these are:

Cabbage contains only cabbage, carrots and salt.

Horseradish composition is also ok, but it needs to be slightly refined to the ideal: I add salt, cane sugar, vinegar of any kind and a little boiled water to taste. I give it to stand for at least a day so that it marinates and is salted. Sometimes I add a little sour cream to horseradish.

Such a horseradish is perfect for both rulke and Olivier.

Similar reviews for other countries:

Croatia Montenegro Turkey Georgia USA

At the very beginning of the formation of the site, I wrote a separate post about each product / store I liked, later I began to make such collections by country.

So, interesting stores or products I liked outside the collections can be found in the “grocery basket” section and in the country recommendations.

I don’t know how much these reviews are relevant now, but I hope you will learn something useful there for yourself.

If you have something to add, please write to me, I will try everything and update the list.

I also write about my favorite restaurants, cafés, and other establishments in Portugal – in this section.