There’s something unorthodox about Fox Coffee that’s hard to define. The cachupa-stuffed cabbage leaf is certainly a sign that something’s unusual. Owner Tony Fox’s parents hail from Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), where cachupa is king. But “I’m a boy from the city,” he tells us. “I’ve never even been to Cape Verde.” His relatives taught him all their cachupa tricks, and he’s since established his own style (with beans, hominy, chicken, pork and a gravy of farinheira and blood sausages).

A three-floor Angolan cultural association in Rato, at ground level Caso de Angola has a charming restaurant with a few tables draped in colorful kanga fabric. The kitchen reproduces the best of Angola, home to a gastronomy that depends on many grains and starches (especially sorghum, corn, beans and yam), fruit (particularly watermelon, baobab and tamarind), peanuts and palm oil. A choice order here is the peito alto, a meat stew usually accompanied by okra and funge (cassava polenta).

The project of Octavio Chamba, a Mozambican chef and anthropologist with a passion for percussion, Roda Viva is tucked into a small alleyway in Alfama. The menu speaks of his home region of south central Mozambique – the classic vegetarian-friendly ingredients being coconut, peanut, yucca and corn. Dishes such as makofo (cabbage), nhangana (nhemba bean leaves with coconut and peanut) and the prawn-based matapah are hard to find elsewhere in the city.

Born on the Cabo Verdean island of Santiago, Milocas has spent more than 20 years in Lisbon cooking the food of her homeland. Her latest venture is located in the warm and inviting basement of Centro Cultural de Cabo Verde, with a menu that headlines the stew-like cachupa. Other harder-to-find specialties: pastéis de milho, savory cornmeal and sweet potato pies stuffed with tuna; sopa de rolon, a tuna and cornmeal soup; and mousse de camoca, a dessert of toasted cornmeal and condensed milk.

Despite its name, Tabernáculo is not a church, but a sanctuary where the local community gathers weekly for Afro-Portuguese food, wine and live music. “Ministering” is Hernâni Miguel, who came to Lisbon in the 60s from Guinea-Bissau and forever changed its nightlife. His music, bars and parties put Bairro Alto on the map. Of course, that means Tabernáculo’s music is impeccable, as is the menu. We like the chouriço assado (grilled sausage) and arroz de pato (shredded duck with rice and chouriço).

Despite the relative discretion of the community in the Portuguese capital, one of Lisbon’s most well-known restaurants is actually Mozambican. Cantinho do Aziz opened almost 40 years ago along a narrow path in Mouraria. Since then, everything around it has changed, including the customers – but its kitchen has pretty much stayed the same, with all its ingredients coming from Mozambique. The menu is rich with Indo-African curry dishes, and the crab curry is a local favorite.

With a dozen tables and keyboard set up in the corner, Tambarina is one of the few tascas serving up African dishes in the city center – which was once home to a large Cape Verdean community. The star dish here is cachupa, the pride of Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) gastronomy. This slow-cooked stew is made mainly of hominy, beans, cassava, sweet potato and fish or meat (sausage, beef, goat or chicken). From Thursdays to Sundays, mini-concerts transform the restaurant into a party after dinner.

Located on a steep residential road just east of Graça, Casa Mocambo is spread out on two floors; the café and restaurant on the ground floor offer dishes that are fusion Portuguese-PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African countries), with African-focused cultural events taking place in the basement. The name of the space is inspired by the Mocambo neighborhood, which formerly existed in the current Lisbon district of Santos, a historically African area where slaves were traded from the 16th century.