We stumbled across Restaurante O Beco because A) we were too lazy to walk to other restaurants, and B) because our AirBnB host recommended it.
I felt like I was at someone's house and their grandma was cooking me dinner. In the best way possible.
Our waitress didn't speak much English, but she was super sweet and did what she could with our awful Portuguese. We ordered the fried green beans, clams, and codfish rice. The fried green beans were not what we were expecting, but better; they were bundled together, battered, and fried almost into a pancake-type configuration. It was wonderful. The clams were one of our favorite things we tried in Portugal. They were lemony and garlicky and I seriously debated eating the leftover broth with a spoon. The codfish stew was simple and very traditional, but tasty anyways. We also tried a coconut cheese cake for dessert and it was divine. And even after all that food, I think our total was still under 35 Euros when we finally got the check.
If you're looking for authentic, traditional Portuguese food in the Alfama area, bypass all the tourist traps on the main roads and go here. read more