What to eat in São Paulo

In São Paulo you do not eat Brazilian, you eat everything at once, and that follows from immigration: Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside Japan, around two million people, and more than half of them live in São Paulo state; alongside them are Calabrian Italians and the Lebanese who turned esfiha into street food. The city reads better through meals than through monuments.

Lunch by weight — an institution, not a gimmick

Comida por quilo is a system where you fill a plate at the counter, put it on a scale and pay by weight. It exists across Brazil, but São Paulo took it furthest: in the better places the counter carries grilled and cured meats too, which are charged separately elsewhere. A kilo averages €14.58 across the city, by a Procon-SP survey of 350 places — cheaper in the north of the city, dearer in the west. Go between noon and two, when everything is fresh.

Liberdade — Japanese and everything else

Ramen, tempura, gyoza and dried seaweed in shops where nobody speaks Portuguese. On Saturdays and Sundays there is a market on Liberdade square with yakisoba and pastel de bacalhau. The quarter is Chinese and Korean now too, so the best lunch is often the one that is not Japanese.

3 daysHow these meals fit into the three-day plan:São Paulo in 3 days →

Bixiga and the Italian inheritance

The quarter Calabrians settled, with cantinas running since the fifties. Portions here are for two regardless of how many of you there are. On Sundays there is an antiques market on Praça Dom Orione, the same one since 1984, and lunch afterwards is part of the ritual.

The padaria — where the city starts

A bakery open from six where breakfast is eaten standing: pão na chapa is a roll split, buttered and pressed on the griddle, with white coffee. It is the city's default breakfast. The padaria is also where fresh fruit juice happens in the afternoon.

Feijoada, and why on Saturday

Beans with pork, sausage and cured meats, with rice, farofa, greens and a slice of orange. Eaten at midday, traditionally on Saturday, and nothing is planned afterwards. The habit is Portuguese — a dish tied to a day of the week — so São Paulo's restaurants keep it on Wednesdays as well; if your trip has no Saturday, look for it on a Wednesday.

What not to do

• Dinner at seven. The kitchen is open, but the room is empty and nothing is at its best.
• A taxi to dinner in the rush. On weekdays from 5 to 8 the rodízio is in force and the city stands still; take the metro to the restaurant, or set off after eight.
• Booking everything. A table is booked ahead only at the houses from world lists; a Bixiga cantina or a Liberdade place you walk into unannounced — and that is half the pleasure.