A taste of Euro 2004

Only a few of us can make it to Euro 2004, but authentic Portuguese food is close to home. Fish, slow-cooked stews and pastries are among Portugal's speciality dishes, while chilli is a staple of traditional recipes. Add in some rather good and often under-priced wines, and soon you won't care who wins the penalty shoot-out - only joking!

O Fado

49-50 Beauchamp Place, SW3 (020-7589 3002). Mon-Sun £60 *
OFado's name derives from fado - a haunting and lyrical style of Portuguese singing - wistful music to sob along to should the England team crash out early. It usually kicks off about halfway through the evening, so if you want to stay upbeat, best visit at lunch time. There are various bacalhau dishes (salt cod), and the arroz de marisco, which is a kind of Portuguese paella, is highly thought of. Fish dishes are good here as is confirmed by the Japanese among the regulars - they are very discerning about fish cookery.

Lisboa Patisserie

57 Golborne Road, W10 (020-8968 5242). Mon-Sun £8 **
This bit of the Golborne Road is 'Little Portugal'. There are a couple of good food shops where you can get the very best dried cod and those salted pig's extremities - ears, tails, snouts - that make excellent stews.

The signature item at the Lisboa Patisserie (and the pastry that's distributed to restaurants and cafes all over London) is the pasteis de nata. These have cult status and are small, cheap, delicious custard tarts. There are other savoury pastries, but you can't do much better than a cup of the excellent coffee and a pasteis de nata. The seats on the pavement may be taken, but there's a quicker turnover of the tables indoors.

Pescador

33 Pratt Street, NW1 (020-7482 7008). Tue-Sun £50 **
Pescador is a Portuguese fish restaurant. It is a busy place and runs the risk of being rather commercial (decor over the top, tables close together, hustling, bustling waiters), but the quality of the food is pretty good. You can order a whole crab to pull apart yourself at your leisure, served with toast, or there's a range of plainly cooked spanking fresh fish on offer like sea bream, scabbard fish or skate. What's more the wine list has some interesting bottles including various genuine 'Vinho Verdes' (the Alvarino is very good) which are light, crisp, refreshing and worth looking out for. There is now a Pescador Too on Heath Street in Hampstead.

Bar Estrella

111-115 South Lambeth Road, SW8 (020-7793 1051). Mon-Sun £30 *
Estrella is a very, very Portuguese cafe-restaurant. There are tables and chairs outside on the pavement. There's a bar. There's somewhere to dine. And there's a large television continually blaring - this might be the place to watch the footiewhile you dine, if you don't mind the commentary being in Portuguese. And it would certainly be a great place to watch the football when Portugal are playing. Perhaps you could combine a game with an exploration of the rather good Portuguese beers available here? The menu runs all the way from nibbly starters to the great classic stews such as pork with shellfish. The atmosphere is electric and the prices are reasonable.

Nando's

59-63 Clapham High Street, SW4 (020-7622 1475). Mon-Sun £25 *
There are getting on for 40 branches of Nando's scattered across London and they are something of a fast food success story. What you get is freshly char-grilled chicken and various strengths of peri-peri sauce, and it's the peri-peri chilli sauce that makes the place Portuguese.

It was Portuguese explorers who introduced the chilli to India and so paved the way for the curry industry, and chilli has always been at the heart of Portuguese food. The chicken at Nando's doesn't pretend to be haute cuisine but it is cheap and reliable and, washed down with a bottle of Portuguese beer, hits the spot.