Watch black-eyed peas transform into a crimson, crispy fritter. This is acarajé, a food heavily tied with Afro-Brazilian customs and rites. Few Brazilian restaurants specialize in the dishes of the country’s predominantly Black northeast, and owner Carol quips that hers is the unofficial “Embassy of Bahia.” After emerging from the oil, the acarajé are and stuffed with various offerings to make a “Bahia Burger” – coconut milk & ginger, a tomato & onion salsa, deep-fried shrimp, and more.

While Brasuca wasn’t the first kitchen serving Brazilian dishes in Bairro Alto – a few tascas had incorporated staples like feijoada (meat and bean stew) on their menus – it was the first Brazilian restaurant opened by an actual Brazilian. Here, a special mention goes to meat dishes, in particular picanha, a thin cut of grilled beef with a variety of carbs on the side. Present on all tables is farofa (a toasted cassava mixture), piri-piri and a sauce of onion, green peppers, vinegar and oil.

All of the disparate dishes loading down the table at this small café in Madragoa – bread, some sort of crepe, granola, a pudding-like dessert – have one ingredient in common: the South American cassava (uaipi, in Tupi-Guarani). Owner and Brazilian Laila means to educate Lisboetas on the joys of the tuber. The result is a restaurant that treads some of the same ground as the brunch places currently taking over Lisbon, but with much more backstory, substance and flavor.

This Sunday morning suburban market is probably best known among Lisboetas for its knockoff clothing and accessories. For us, the most popular spot here is for a bite at O Brazuca, which specializes in fresh sugarcane juice and virtually the entire spectrum of deep-fried Brazilian snacks – kibe, coxinhas, bolinhas de queijo. But the majority of patrons come for pastel de vento, a thin, flaky, rectangular pastry the size of a knock-off Gucci purse that contains finely minced beef or gooey cheese.

Smack in the middle of a busy nightlife area (its neighbor is B.Leza, Lisbon’s legendary African music club), Boteco da Dri is in the perfect spot for a boteco, a simple Brazilian bar with food. Open till 4am, they do good business serving food and cocktails (with the inevitable caipirinha and other cachaça drinks) to hungry partygoers. This includes boteco specialties made for sharing: the popular pão de queijo (cheese puffs), mandioca frita (fried cassava) and charuto (stuffed cabbage).

Among the many bars of raucous Bairro Alto, Casa do Brasil is a steadfast nighttime institution for Lisbon’s Brazilian community, hosting dinners, concerts and cultural events in a non-profit capacity. Here is the place to chat, drink, eat and dance to a myriad popular rhythms from the homeland, all performed live. Usually held on Mondays, their dinners provide the ideal space for getting to know the regional specificities of Brazilian food.