Chocolate de Tableta Valle Canoabo 70 %  @ Hacienda San Cayetano
At Hacienda San Cayetano, you can sign up for weekend tours of the area’s cocoa plantations and learn how the beans are processed to achieve quality chocolate. They make two types of chocolate bars: Valle Canoabo 60% and Valle Canoabo 70%. The thick chocolate has a fruity taste with hints of nuts and sugar cane. The valley is full of trees that provide shade to the cacao: bucare, samanes and mijaos. The flavors draw from fruit trees such as oranges, tangerines and bananas.

Franceschi Río Caribe 60 %  @ Franceschi Chocolate
Members of the Franceschi family are passionate advocates of the art in making dark chocolate from Origin. They are artisans of fine and superfine chocolates, which are made with carefully selected Venezuelan ancestral cocoa beans of Criollo and Trinitario Origin from their property in Golfo de Paria. Consider a chocolate bar made by Franceschi Chocolate. Río Caribe 60% is a thin chocolate made with fine Trinitario cacao. With intense aromas, its flavors are predominantly earthy, spices and wood, reminiscent of the large cocoa region surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. This bar won Gold and Silver awards at the International Chocolate Awards 2014.

Chuao 70%  @ Cacao de Origen
Cacao de Origen is a unique place. A friendly store showcasing chocolates of various craftsmen, you can enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate and sign up for organised lectures and tastings. On the mezzanine is the bean-to-bar, limited-edition fine chocolates made with cocoa beans from regions around the country. Consider buying the Chuao 70% chocolate bar, at left. Handmade with cacao from the 2013 San Benito Harvest of the Empresa Campesina de Chuao, it has a delicate cacao taste accented with juicy cherry, lemon and orange. Melt it on your tongue and enjoy the explosion of flavors and delicious aftertaste. It is one of the few chocolates made with cacao from Chuao available in Venezuela.

Carne Guisada Puffy Taco @ Ray's Drive Inn
The Puffy Taco may not have been invented at Ray’s Drive inn (usually attributed to Henry's), but it is here that this San Antonio staple made a name for itself. The puffy tacos here are famous, and for good reason: the tortillas are crispy, airy and packed with flavor. We recommend the filling of carne guisada - beautifully spiced, stewed beef that melts in the mouth.

Prego tradicional  @ O Cantinho do Avillez
Another top quality steak sandwich is found in this cozy restaurant in Chiado. Award-winning chef José Avillez offers two versions of the prego at Cantinho, but I would go for the traditional, with mustard and/or spicy sauce. Unless you ask otherwise, it comes really medium rare. It’s a juicy tenderloin steak served in light, homemade bread.

The Traditional @ Rui dos Pregos
A famous prego place with several cervejarias in Lisbon and surrounding areas, Rui dos Pregos specialised in this popular steak sandwich. The thin, hammered steak features lots of garlic and a simple bread roll. In Lisbon, try the one in Docas. And the Alcântara location is always busy with locals enjoying the nice terrace. A prego here, as in most places, is washed down with an imperial (draught beer). The price is good, too.

Corn Fritters @ Bossy Boots Cafe and Food Store
These are no ordinary corn fritters. Served with smashed avocado, house made salsa, sour cream and crispy bacon, the corn fritters are brilliantly executed. Two generous sized fritters are sandwiched between luscious layers of seasoned smashed avocado, salsa and sour cream. Crispy bacon is served on the side, the perfect accompaniment to bring all the flavors together and offset some of the creaminess with a bit of crunch, smokiness and salt. The corn fritters have a superb texture, light and moist without being stodgy or soggy.

Salmon and Cuttlefish Burger  @ O Prego da Peixaria
Created by the same people at Sea Me, O Prego da Peixaria is dedicated to serving only meat and fish sandwiches but widening the range: There is steak but also salt cod pregos and my favorite: a cuttlefish and salmon prego, with bread baked with the ink from the cuttlefish. Seaweed and tomatoes accompany this delicious light sandwich. You can choose to add some sweet potato chips. The restaurant is in Príncipe Real and there’s a kiosk in Mercado da Ribeira.

The ‘dessert’ @ Cervejaria Ramiro
The prego at Ramiro is considered one of the best in Lisbon and I totally agree. Still served on the traditional roll with a generous loin steak, a garlicky flavor infuses the sandwich. The prego is called the dessert in this old-school cervejaria, as it comes after the seafood. For anyone with a sweet tooth, disappointment quickly turns to joy after the first bite! Anthony Bourdain was there with “No Reservations.” This means: Expect a queue to get in.

Prego in Bolo do Caco @ Sea Me
Sea Me, a fine seafood restaurant, also serves a classic prego in bolo do caco. It is as delicious as it looks and probably the best in this new bread trend: a perfect tenderloin steak and the bolo do caco is superbly baked. Simplicity works best here. Add mustard if you like, but I enjoy the basic flavors of the meat and the bread. Their sweet potato tempura chips are very good, too.