If the name TIME OUT sounds familiar, it’s no coincidence. It is a magazine that is also published in Portugal, and it has a street food market, where it determines the type and format of the restaurants that will present street food. Sometimes the magazine participates in creating the menus offered to diners. Two decades ago, I dined in a similar street food setup, served on long tables, in the Pigalle district of Paris. On both sides of the table, dozens of people who did not know each other were eating. They gathered around a table several dozen meters long, turning the meal into an extraordinary experience.
In Paris, meals take place on the sidewalk, and tables are set at the entrance of a restaurant under the open sky. At Lisbon’s capital street food market, the approach is different. In a huge complex behind the wall of Lisbon’s wholesale market, thousands of diners squeeze in for a culinary experience in one of Europe’s largest projects. The market is rooted in an urban tradition, a long-standing practice of extraordinary leisure experiences, which include fine gastronomy. This is why Lisbon’s street food market has become one of the most sought-after attractions in the world since it opened in 2014.
It is a hit with locals and the millions of tourists who visit Lisbon every year. They are invited to dine in a central space, which has become a large dining hall with high ceilings and stalls whose design maintains an industrial style. TIME OUT market in Portugal is suitable for anyone looking to taste the best of local and international cuisine in one place. The market, which has achieved great success, has inspired a wave of imitators worldwide, and it features only restaurants chosen by the TIME OUT magazine team, or as the magazine defines it: "If it’s good in the magazine, it’s excellent in the market."
TIME OUT magazine has become a central player in Portugal’s food and leisure culture, not only as a newspaper but as a culinary experience. The brand, originally from London in 1968, is now managed through a public company in London called TIME OUT GROUP, which operates a network of food and cultural markets ("MARKT").
What makes TIME MARKET unique as a cultural entity is that it offers a professional assessment of the most interesting places in the city, discovered by local journalist communities. This is not commercial advertising but a curated selection recommending the places that truly matter. TIME OUT’s presence in Portugal is part of a broad international network, active in more than 300 cities worldwide. Each city has its own local identity, but they all share the same DNA of covering culture, food, and leisure.
In Israel, TIME OUT Tel Aviv has been operating since the early 2000s as one of the main guides to the city’s culture, art, culinary scene, and nightlife. Like the Lisbon and Porto editions, the Tel Aviv magazine is built on a combination of local journalists who know the city deeply and a global brand recognized for quality and reliable recommendations.
Those who choose to dine at the Lisbon complex eat in a huge historic building housing nearly 50 stalls and restaurants, each representing a different specialty and offering its own original dishes. The complex features goat cheeses, local port wines, meats, Italian gelato, Asian restaurants, and an abundance of desserts. Bloggers and travel sites describe the place as an urban food laboratory. Most visitors to Lisbon’s street food market are tourists looking for efficient, cheap, and quick ways to reach the market.
One of the best ways is the Portuguese metro, which is the cheapest option, as well as public transportation, including buses and taxis. Another option, which is an experience in itself, is the "tuk-tuk," a kind of motorbike or small scooter, with simple and uncomfortable seats. Despite this, riding in them is a recommended and unusual experience for those who do not suffer from back pain.
The roads in Lisbon’s narrow alleys, which tuk-tuk drivers prefer to use to avoid slowing down traffic on main roads, are full of bumps, making part of the ride uncomfortable. We visited Lisbon’s street food market on a Sunday, when the nearby wholesale market was closed. Those who don’t want to miss a picturesque and unique market are invited to visit the complex on other days of the week.
Portugal is known for its fish and sardines, and in Portugal, the capital of sardine factories, you can find sardines of all kinds. If you are fish lovers, you will find a wide variety of all types of fish and seafood at the market, even those not found in Israeli restaurants. It is important not to forget that all major places are also workplaces for Lisbon pickpockets, who are as skilled as those in neighboring European countries.