Eating out:
Azorean cuisine is plain and hearty. Even though inexpensive and always available, locals do not eat fish very frequently, except for Bacalhau
(dried cod) stew. Shellfish is not in place, except for
Lapas
(limpets). After all, there are no conches to be found at the beach. But many restaurants serve
Lulas
(squid) resp.
Polvo
(octopus). If fish is only a part of the menu of a standard restaurant, it's often overcooked and dry. Due to that, it's higjly recommended to go to a designated fish restaurant, or - which is even better - prepare it on your own, e.g. on the barbecue in the patio of the Casa Sillanova.
Typical snacks are
Bifana
(pork chops) and
Prego
resp.
Bitoque
(beef), which are served inside a small bread
(no pão)
or on a plate
(no prato)
with french fries and rice. The meat is typically marinated with the ubiquitous sweet pepper sauce (ground sweet pepper + salt), white wine and garlic. Moreover, you will find
Entrecosto
and
Torresmo
(pork ribs resp. pork belly),
Costoleta do Novilho
(young bull's chop - very good!) and
Hamburguer
(if you order
no prato,
it's a patty without bread, but french fries and rice). The culinary art is commonly a matter of price. A low-price
Hamburguer
in a snack bar will most likely be instant meat from the freezer.
Azoreans prefer to eat out for lunch, only, from 12 am till 2 or 3 pm. That is why there are not too many homecooking restaurants, which serve dinner. Dinner restaurants are usually more touristic and expensive. You also can find buffet restaurants, in which typical
micelense
food can be tried from 10 Euros up. Lunch only, of course, but it pays, because it's the same food that people cook at home. Azorean families use to go out for lunch on Sunday, so it's recommended to do a reservation for that day of the week!