Meal times and pilgrim menus

[HumanistHiker]

Are the menus del dia/pilgrim menus generally available at lunchtime or only dinner time?

Is Portugal a late-eating nation like Spain?

My recollection is that Spanish lunchtime is around 2-3 pm and dinner time 8.30-11 ish. When I visited Sevilla with my sister, when we sat down at a table at around 6pm, the last of the lunch-eaters was just finishing, and there was no prospect of any dinner before 8pm! I made a small glass of Pedro Ximenez last a very long time while waiting for food.

I cannot function without breakfast (I hope that bocadillos de tortilla are widely availble at breakfast times). I could then happily subsist on the odd snack (a pastel de nata or fruit and nuts if I wanted to be healthy) until a mid-afternoon (Spanish-time) lunch. If a 3 course menu del dia/pilgrim menu is available at Spanish lunchtime that would keep me going for the rest of the day without the need for a big dinner. I sleep better if I don't eat too late in the day. (I've pre-booked my accommodation so could afford a leisurely almuerzo/almorco without fear of being too late for the bed-scramble).

 

[jungleboy]

Is Portugal a late-eating nation like Spain?

Not as late (thankfully!). Typical meal times would usually be around 1pm for lunch and 8pm for dinner, give or take, and restaurants serve dinner to early-comers by about 7pm.

 

[lovelyshell]

I was in Portugal in April and I would say dinner is not as late, generally 7pm. However I was always hungry at 5pm and definitely had difficulty finding places that served food at that time. I do not feel like I saw tortilla on the CP as much as I did on the CF but I’m a tostada (toast) girl. I also don’t feel like I saw menu peregrino as much either. But this could be because I usually ate earlier but even just around town I didn’t see the signs for menu peregrino outside like I did on the CF.

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

I do not feel like I saw tortilla on the CP as much as I did on the CF but I’m a tostada (toast) girl.

Tortilla is not really a "thing" on the Portuguese menu. But toast--they make terrific toast called "torradas" that's thick and decadently soaked with really good butter.

I also don’t feel like I saw menu peregrino as much either. But this could be because I usually ate earlier but even just around town I didn’t see the signs for menu peregrino outside like I did on the CF.

Rarely a menu peregrino at least in central Portugal (south of Porto), but almost every restaurant has a menu do dia, served definitely at lunchtime (12-2:30 or so), and often at dinner as well (6 pm >on) if they have any of the specials left.

Now typically from 8 euros or so in rural areas, and about 10 euros in bigger centres, it usually includes bread and often olives, a main course--often what seems to me an enormous amount of protein, plus typically french fries and a bit of rice and usually a bit of salad; a beverage--a glass of wine, a beer, or a canned soda or bottled mineral water; a choice of desserts; and a coffee. Often a fish choice rather than meat: if you get fish, you almost always get boiled potatoes instead of chips. Not typically a vegetarian choice (but you can often order a cheap omelet a la carte and end up spending about the same.)

Usually not available on weekends; aimed at workers having lunch during the week.

Outside perhaps some stylish high-class restaurants in Lisbon and a few highly touristic cities, restaurant owners seem to pride themselves on serving really big servings. My sense is that since in the bad old days no-one other than the upper class ever got much meat in their diet, since democracy arrived in 1974, they have made sure no-one goes hungry. People are so generous.

Bom provecho!

 

[HumanistHiker]

Thanks folks! Sounds like the lunchtime menu do dia will be the way to go, and if mealtimes in Portugal are not late like Spain, I won't need to be a hiking hobbit & resort to second breakfast.

 

[lovelyshell]

they make terrific toast called "torradas" that's thick and decadently soaked with really good butter.

Yes! Torradas not tostada in Portugal. I forgot that, thank you for the correction!

 

[lt56ny]

You can always go to a grocery store and buy some snacks and some fruit to hold you over until dinner or to make sure you have food for the morning.

 

[David Tallan]

Are the menus del dia/pilgrim menus generally available at lunchtime or only dinner time?

Lunch time (comida) is dinner time, generally in Spain. ("Dinner" being defined as "the main meal of the day, taken either around midday or in the evening".) It runs generally from 1:30 or 2:00 to 3:00 or 3:30. It is prime time for menus del dia.

Supper time (cena) is noticeably late, at least for those coming from North America. Restaurants may not even be open until 9:00 pm and when I was in Oviedo, the restaurant/sidreria I was at didn't offer their evening menu del dia until 10 pm.

On the more frequently traveled pilgrim routes (like the Frances) you can often get a pilgrim menu earlier in the evening because they know pilgrims like to eat at strange hours, when sensible people only have a light snack (merienda).

 

[BennyB]

We did the CP last May, and found Portugal to be as relatively later for lunch and supper than we (USA) were used to dining. However, for an earlier supper we found some of the cafes and bars had a sufficient menu to meet our needs. We also found Pilgrim meals offered at most albergues and restaurants between Porto and Tui. We followed the late John Bierlies (please forgive spelling) guide book and were pleased with the “culinary” finds. Developing a palate for pulpo and white asparagus was a most pleasant aside.

 

[HumanistHiker]

Thanks all - the confirmation that lunchtime is prime menu del dia time in Spain is welcome.

I willl carry a bag of nuts & raisins in my day pack as emergency rations, and fully expect to be a pastelegrina fuelled by Portuguese custard tarts and other local pastries for elevenses if I get peckish mid-morning in villages and towns I walk through. I'm usually porridge-fuelled at home, or porridge & scrambled egg fuelled (Hadrian's wall) so I suspect the torrada toast, however delicious, might not quite fill the hole until almuerzo/almorco-o'clock.

Spanish mealtimes must be even more of a culture shock to those coming from the US than those of us this side of the pond. My husband and I have been caught out a couple of times in the US (Utah in particular if I remember) by places that stop serving dinner at 9 pm, when the Spanish might only be starting dinner! We resorted to petrol station tortilla chips, crisps and chocolate at Monument Valley when our hotel restaurant, which was the only dining option in the area, had already stopped serving for the day, and were turned away at about 8.50pm from a restaurant elsewhere on our wild west trip!

 

[Rita Flower]

2018 - Food on CP was not pilgrim specific but was fabulous - and very good value.
In Spain I eat late lunch as my main meal but in Portugal we ate dinner - I don’t remember having to wait too long.

 

[RRat]

Are the menus del dia/pilgrim menus generally available at lunchtime or only dinner time?

Is Portugal a late-eating nation like Spain?

My recollection is that Spanish lunchtime is around 2-3 pm and dinner time 8.30-11 ish. When I visited Sevilla with my sister, when we sat down at a table at around 6pm, the last of the lunch-eaters was just finishing, and there was no prospect of any dinner before 8pm! I made a small glass of Pedro Ximenez last a very long time while waiting for food.

I cannot function without breakfast (I hope that bocadillos de tortilla are widely availble at breakfast times). I could then happily subsist on the odd snack (a pastel de nata or fruit and nuts if I wanted to be healthy) until a mid-afternoon (Spanish-time) lunch. If a 3 course menu del dia/pilgrim menu is available at Spanish lunchtime that would keep me going for the rest of the day without the need for a big dinner. I sleep better if I don't eat too late in the day. (I've pre-booked my accommodation so could afford a leisurely almuerzo/almorco without fear of being too late for the bed-scramble).

Embrace the customs of the new environment. It will only take a few days. It was sad watching individuals insisting on maintaing their home schedules and routines. I can recall one albergue that for me was wonderful but for my friends was the worst experience. They refused to adjust. On more than one occasion I snuck out without them. And had a wonderful time because I didn't insist on dining on our home schedule. Without them I experienced the complementary tapas because I was there when they were serving them and wasn't expecting them. Go with the flow!

 

[HumanistHiker]

@RRat - I'm not some miserable insular Brit trying to do everything as if at home. I simply wanted to be prepared, to know what to expect, having never been to Portugal.

It was my sister in Sevilla who was keener to eat closer to UK mealtimes (somewhat unfortunate that she can't adapt to Spanish mealtimes as she is now married to a Catalan and goes to Spain several times a year!)

If you read my later post in this thread, you'll see I commented that "If a 3 course menu del dia/pilgrim menu is available at Spanish lunchtime that would keep me going for the rest of the day without the need for a big dinner. I sleep better if I don't eat too late in the day."

 

[David Tallan]

Embrace the customs of the new environment. It will only take a few days. It was sad watching individuals insisting on maintaing their home schedules and routines. I can recall one albergue that for me was wonderful but for my friends was the worst experience. They refused to adjust. On more than one occasion I snuck out without them. And had a wonderful time because I didn't insist on dining on our home schedule. Without them I experienced the complementary tapas because I was there when they were serving them and wasn't expecting them. Go with the flow!

In general that is a best practice when visiting other countries. I have occasionally found it a challenge on Caminos when restaurants didn't open in the evening until after the albergue I was staying in had locked the doors for the night.

Spanish cena hours don't always align with albergue opening hours. In this battle of schedules, the albergue schedule wins.