Mercado de la Ribeira, Lisbon- Perfect place to enjoy food and wine

Eating alone in a foreign city can seem intimidating but many European cities now offer modern enclosed food markets for your dining enjoyment. These sit down food markets perfectly fit the bill for the solo culinary travel addict!

Mercado de la Ribera

Mercado-de-la-Ribera

No plastic carry out utensils here! Food items arrive on chinaware with appropriate glassware and silverware. Don’t call this a food court. This is upscale quality food whose location definitely qualifies as a major culinary destination while visiting Lisbon!!

Here is the perfect place to lose yourself in a sea of people at a communal table and not feel self-conscious about eating alone.

Mercado de la Ribera

I wandered the 35 or so stalls eagerly looking over shoulders of other patrons as they retrieved their food orders to help decide what to try.

Mercado de la Ribera

Most stands offered tapas sized offerings which made it easy to try several different dishes and styles.

Each of these photos display one of the dishes I eagerly stuffed myself with during my two visits to the Mercado. The pig below…well, he made an excellent sandwich to go for the return USA flight!