Food budget for 2 weeks self catering in Portugal?

[littletike]

How much do you think a food budget needs to be for a family of 3 (2 adults and preschooler) for a 2 week self catering holiday in Portugal?

I'm trying to figure out how we can keep costs down but still eat out a few times etc so any tips would be much appreciated. Part of the appeal of going abroad for me is eating the local food but I don't think we'll be able to afford it every day.

I reckon about E50 a day would be plenty if you want some drinks and ice creams out, plus eat out every 2-3 days. I'm sure you could do it on less if you meal plan before hand for the meals you will be cooking. Buy local brands rather than UK brands at the supermarket as they're much cheaper. If you have hold luggage you can always take some packet foods with you.

I wouldn't buy your lo a separate meal, but let them share yours and top up with a side dish or starter if needed.

We're on similar mission. Food and entertainment budget is £100/day for four (DC 20&17)

Plan to do initial shop in Lids to buy bottled water and basic provisions like eggs,salt, oil, ice cream and daily bread. Also some Lidls have fresh fish counters so we are going to explore those.

And going to do baked potatoes and salad at least twice. Also going to buy other seasonal veg and fruit from farm stalls / markets if we are out and about

Also if we eat out we mostly do it at lunchtime. And we share side plates orders too like Onyk said.

And we bring dishwasher tabs and wash machine tablets sneaked in luggage!

We don't generally have 3 full meals a day, as eating out that much is usually too much food. Definitely feed a pre-schooler from your plates unless the portions are very small or you are big eaters.

We generally have a big late breakfast, and then lunch out at about 2/3 pm and maybe snacks/chips/tapas in the evening, or we have the small lunch and then a meal out in the evening. So if we're staying B&B we only pay for one restaurant meal a day, or we buy bacon, eggs etc from the supermarket if self catering.

We also have BBQs and simple meals in the apartments such as ham, cheese, olives, bread, ready made pizza, tapas, barbecue, salads, crisps etc and we also stock up on water and alcohol in the supermarket to limit the amount of drinks we buy at restaurant prices. We will generally have a drink or two in a restaurant, but are just as happy to have a drink while reading on the balcony.

Once you get a feel for how much food a restaurant serves, you can tailor your order accordingly. When we were in Gozo, we found the portions so massive that a starter and a main to share was more than enough, even though we were on an activity holiday so quite hungry - first two days we left so much food as we were in a hotel with no kitchen facilities to warm up leftovers - if self catering I often take leftovers to eat the next day - like the time I got a meal that was five lamb chops,

Thanks for tips. There's a lidl and aldi not far so will definitely pay those a visit. I'm not sure about the cooking facilities in our hotel apartment but will check.