As Bifanas do Afonso ★ 4.5
As Bifanas do Afonso on Lisbon's Rua da Madalena: bifanas at 2.50 euros, stand-up counter, beer in a sleeve, no chairs, lunch in five minutes flat.
Try: Bifana, marinated pork sandwich
History
The bifana grew up in Vendas Novas in the Alentejo in the early 20th century as roadside fuel for Lisbon-to-Madrid hauliers, the pork tenderloin marinated in garlic, paprika and white wine and griddled to order. It moved into the city after the 1960s as the canonical 2.50-euro working lunch, and O Trevo on Camoes has been most-cited since the 1990s as the textbook Lisbon version on a soft papo-seco bun with yellow mustard.
Common allergens: Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 500g pork loin, sliced as thin as possible
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp piri-piri or chilli flakes
- 100ml dry white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 papo seco rolls
- Olive oil and Portuguese mustard to serve
Method
- Whisk garlic, paprika, chilli, white wine and bay leaves into a marinade.
- Submerge the pork slices, refrigerate 2 hours minimum, ideally overnight.
- Heat a heavy pan with a splash of olive oil until smoking.
- Drain the pork, sear in batches 90 seconds per side. Don't crowd the pan.
- Spoon a little of the marinade into the pan, let it bubble and reduce 30 seconds.
- Pile the seared pork into a halved papo seco. Spread mustard on the top half.
Tip from the editors. Slice the pork while still half-frozen for the thinnest cuts. Three minutes total cooking is the maximum, or it goes leathery.
Where to eat bifana
Bifana in Lisbon
O Trevo ★ 4.4
O Trevo on Lisbon's Praca Luis de Camoes: 2.80-euro bifanas with cheese, a stand-up beer with each, the local consensus for cheap Lisbon eats.
Try: Bifana with cheese
Casa das Bifanas ★ 4.2
Casa das Bifanas in Lisbon's Baixa: a long counter on Praca Dom Joao da Camara, bifanas at three euros with sharp mustard and a Sagres in a sleeve glass.
Try: Bifana with sharp mustard, 3 euros
Bifana in Porto
Conga Casa das Bifanas ★ 4.4
Conga on Rua do Bonjardim in Porto turns out 2.50 euro bifanas with mustard and piri-piri, a counter where two sandwiches and an imperial cost under 10 euros.
Try: Bifana (slow-cooked pork sandwich)
Cervejaria do Carmo ★ 4.0
Cervejaria do Carmo on Rua do Carmo in Porto pours a working-class house lager, sells imperials all day and runs the city's most enduring seafood petiscos.
More cities are in research. Want bifana covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.