It was my last morning in Lisbon and I was on a mission. No…I wasn’t running around town trying to one-up my last pastel de nata. (Those are delicious and all, but one was enough and I’m more of a savory girl.) I was on a mission for PORK. Brunch pork…in the form of the famed, and yet-to-be-tried Portuguese sandwich known as the bifana.Â
In my quest for this seemingly glorious crusty wonder, I had one place in mind—the aptly named Casa Das Bifanas—and boy did it deliver! It’s full of locals. The staff don’t seem to speak a lick of English (just be polite, learn please and thank you, and point). You can eat standing up. And it’s cheap as eff.Â
So…what is a bifana, you ask? It’s essentially a roll stuffed with thin slices of pork that have been lounging in a garlicky bath. You then jazz it up to your liking with basic bright yellow mustard and/or piri piri hot sauce. Divine swine. Hog heaven. Porktastic perfection. (Okay, I’ll stop.) JUST LOOK AT IT!
And to really make this the champion of all breakfasts…after pairing this bad boy with a shot of espresso, my grand total came to €2.50. TWO FIFTY. I would follow that up with a “why can’t this place be in New York?” – but then I know my liver would be shivering. No bueno.Â
Vacation pork wins again! And the next time I go back to Portugal, I intend to cross two more sandwich musts off my list: the much-loved prego (sort of the bifana’s beef cousin) and the leitao – made of MAGICAL SUCKLING PIG. I’m already drooling. Portugal you destroy me.