ThePortForum.com

A friend of mine is about to visit Porto and would like some current recomendations on restaurants. Not michelin starred, just good eating. Plus anything else local and interesting such as markets etc. It's nearly 6 years since I was there, so more recent advice much appreciated.

I've shared this link with him and hoping he will stop by and introduce himself!

Taberninha do Manel on the Gaia waterfront
Bufete Fase for the best Francesinha in Porto
Taberna dos Mercadores in Porto... very small so you'll need reservations

Glenn E. wrote: ↑21:58 Tue 16 May 2023
Bufete Fase for the best Francesinha in Porto

When it's open

Thank you for replies so far.
Very helpful.

Omaghboy wrote:Thank you for replies so far.
Very helpful.

Welcome to the forum. Do furtle around - there is a lot of information here and plenty of people very happy to answer questions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

benread wrote: ↑08:33 Tue 16 May 2023 Plus anything else local and interesting such as markets etc.

I missed this part!

There are lots of fun things to see in and around Porto, not even including all of the Port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Amongst the lodges I always recommend Ramos Pinto for a tour because the tour includes their old HQ which is now a museum. Show up early in the morning to choose your language for a tour later in the day, otherwise you'll be stuck with whatever language someone else arranged for that time.

The Sandeman lodge tour also includes a small museum and is possibly the most polished "touristy" tour available.

If Niepoort is now doing public tours (they weren't the last time that I was there as they were just finishing renovations), that would also be an excellent tour.

Two bars/shops for you - LaDo (aka Lagar D'Ouro) and Bacchus Vini. BV is in the strip of shops/bars on the waterfront and is about as close to the bridge (ponte Dom Luis I) as you can get. Maria Fonseca is the hostess and they have an excellent selection of lesser-known brands. LaDo is a couple of blocks farther from the bridge at R. da Fonte Taurina 89. It looks like a back alley, but that's a normal street in Porto. LaDo is a collective of several smaller producers including a few of our favorite producers of Tawny Port. Maria Tita is one of the hosts and can set up a wide variety of tastings for you if you would like something like that, or you can just buy by the glass.

Okay... some non-Port things to do...

You'll probably do it regardless because it's how you get back and forth between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, but walk across the bridge - Ponte Dom Luis I.

Climb the Clerigos Tower in Porto! It's tall, the stairs are steep and twisty, but the view from the top is pretty spectacular. If memory serves it costs something trivial like 2 EUR.

Take a walking tour on the Porto side. There are a couple of pretty amazing areas for architecture in Porto such as the Palacio da Bolsa and Avenida dos Aliados. The Jardim do Cordoaria is a nice park with sculptures, and the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal are also nice.

Go to the Sao Bento train station just to see the tile work in the entryway. If you like walking streets, Rua Santa Catarina isn't far from the train station and is full of touristy shops. It's probably worth the hike up there just to see Cafe Majestic, though it can be difficult to get in so I wouldn't plan to do so unless you can get a reservation or have time to wait for a table.

Go to World of Wines in Vila Nova de Gaia. It's very polished and very touristy, but there are something like 7 small museums and 9 cafes/restaurants in the complex and you could easily spend an entire day - if not 3! - wandering around.

Seafood restaurant recommendations in Oporto - here are a handful to go with:

The Best - at least in my opinion is O Gaveto. Very popular, expensive but not stupid. Book well in advance. If you want to take your own wines, call them to book and ask permission to do so, they might well give you a reduction in corkage fee if you ask. (We managed to negotiate from €25 per bottle to €10.) It helps you're negotiations if you're taking a wine-maker with you.

The Freshest - you can't get better than eating at Taberna Lusitana in Matosinhos fish market (Mercado Municipal Matosinhos). If you eat at lunch time, you wander around the market, choose and buy your fish and then tell the fishmonger which restaurant you're eating at. He'll clean, scale and prepare the fish and deliver it to the kitchen where it's good to your order. The fish market closes about 1pm so if you have a late lunch or dinner you're limited to what the restaurant bought speculatively.

The Local's Spot - Mariazinha, full of locals. Will only take bookings for lunch and will give your table away if you don't turn up on time. But the food is amazing. Worth the wait at the door if that's the only way to get in.

The Far Beach - Bar de Laderça is fabulous, rural, full of locals, right on the beach and the menu consists of whatever the owner's husband's boat brings in that morning. You sit outside on a wooden terrace overhanging the beach. Bit of an Uber-ride to get to though since it's a good few miles north of Porto in Vila Chã.

The Nearer Beach - Praia de Luz is right on the beach but has got a bit noisy and boisterous for us in our old age. We tend to go for a drink to watch the sun go down and then go elsewhere to eat while the beautiful young things drink and party into the night.

The Up and Coming Beach is Casa de Chá de Boa Nova. I've not been there yet but have heard very good things about it.


Well worth the time is a free Sandeman walking tor of Oporto - a great way to get a quick introduction to the city, the way it all connects and the places you might choose to visit independently - but do book in advance!

Thanks Alex
We have 2 cars and two non drinkers so the beach one sounds amazing particularly as we have a couple of surfers.

So am I assume Sandimans for the full tour and then one of the lodges you have recommended for the tasting

Essentially Oporto offers two areas of interest - the city of Oporto and the Port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia.

The free walking tour of Oporto will cover the first of these, and my preferred walking tour is the one run by Sandeman.

To cover the lodges, it really is a question of how much you want to spend and therefore which tour you do, but book your lodge tour a day or two ahead of time to make sure you get your preferred time and language.

I should also have mentioned visiting the Quevedo tasting room in Rua de Santa Marinha, just off the waterfront in Vila Nova de Gaia. You can drop in without a booking and taste by the glass or have a pre-set flight to taste. Quevedo is probably the best known of the new generation of Port producers who started their own independent wine business when the regulations changed to allow families to start selling their own wines under their own names and not have to sell to one of the larger shippers.

I can pass this recommendation on. We were in a 2 month old restaurant in Porto last night. Not Michelin starred but I guess they are heading that way. It was superb. 276 euros for 4 with wine and 3 courses. I got a Niepoort 20 Tawny upgrade to 30 which was chilled and delicious.
It is called Camilo.
Also if you find yourself out of Porto on the Douro a restaurant called Sirga is open air above the River. Stunning views and beautiful food. This was incredible value as it was 400 euros for 8 people inc wine. One of the dishes was a whole turbot served at the table. It is near Sebolida.

It looks like you were in Oporto at the same time as us! We've just got back from 5 days of partying and dinners for São João.

Thanks for the restaurant tips. Tips are always really helpful.

We gave Sao Joao a miss it was too hot. We are in a villa with a pool. Porto is 35 mins on the train which has worked really well. Cheap as chips into the city.
We have loved it here and will definitely come again. Lisbon on Wednesday and Bonnie Scotland Thursday.