restaurants in Porto

[graciegirl]

Were going to be going to Porto at the end of a two week trip in October to Barcelona/Madrid. I've been reading lots of ideas of yummy places to try in Spain, but what recommendations for Porto, Guimaraes and nearby? Anyone have any recommendations?

[tsquare]

I was charmed by:

A Tasquinha

Chloe and all had some great sounding recommendations in the Northern area - see the thread from early 2003! There are a couple of planning at trip to Portugal ones.

Edited August 29, 2003 by tsquare (log)

[Eric_Malson]

When I lived there, I used to spend a fair bit of time in Porto, because I liked the city and the food up there so much. I should be able to suggest a place or two.... (Unfortunately, I had to live in Lisbon because of my job.)

Aha!....I knew I had posted about this before, and I somehow managed to find it. Quoting myself:

[in Porto] I had, generally, fewer stand-out great meals, although I found the level of cooking consisitently higher. One place that one could always count on for an outstanding meal was in the first suburb to the north along the coast, Matosinhos, called Marisqeuira Mauritânia. They specialize in seafood, but I also had many spectacular meat dishes....find out what the daily specials are and order what sounds good. You can hardly go wrong there.

North of Porto, in the Minho region, is the town of Ponte de Lima. It's a charming town, as is its sister/rival town up the river a bit, Ponte de Barca. Worth a day trip to see it (especially on market day), but worth a trip from anywhere to eat at A Carvalheira, which is located across the river from the center of Ponte de Lima in the neighborhood called Arcozelo. It's in an old stone house, and the centerpiece of the restaurant is the big stone hearth, where some of the cooking is sometimes done....it's the perfet spot for a warming, winter evening meal. Although everything I tried was superb, the house specialty is pernil de porco assado, or roast pork shoulder (Filipinos, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are quite familiar with this cut), and it is spectacular. Crispy crackling...well, I suppose it's not skin, but fat....on the outside, perfectly tender meat on the inside, accompanied by roasted potatoes and greens (couve, something between cabbage and collard or mustard greens, wilted, then sauteed). The potatoes and greens have so much flavor that it's impossible that they're cooked in simply oil--there's definitely lard working its magic in there. As I recall, one of the other house specialties is arroz de pato (duck with rice, baked in the oven)....I saw some at a neighboring table, and it looked wonderful. I was so intoxicated by the meat and potatoes, I can't remember what else I had (dessert must have been good, but what was it?). At any rate, at about 20 bucks a head, VERY well worth the trip if you're in the vicinity. This place is extremely popular, especially on the weekends, so it would be worth calling ahead (258 742 316).

Chloe can second my recommendation for that last one.

Since you mention Guimarães (I love that town.....don't miss the Paço dos Duques de Bragança), definitely do not miss one of my favorite traditional Portuguese restaurants in the country, Restaurante Carreira. It's out from the center of town, if memory serves, to the west. It's one of those old-fashioned restaurants where you walk through the kitchen to get to your table. I've only had one meal there, but everything we tried was outstanding--I suspect you really can't go wrong here. Really about the best homestyle regional cooking I had in any restaurant in Portugal. It's the kind of place where most dishes come with a nice pot of arroz de feijão (rice cooked with kidney beans, and some bacon and chouriço, of course) on the side. And it's the only restaurant I ever found that has doce de aletria on the menu--a traditional Portuguese dessert made with spaghetti-like noodles, the ubiquitous sweetened egg-custard and cinnamon.....sort of like an eggy rice pudding, except with noodles. Sounds weird, but it's delicious. It's a bit tricky to find--the best address I can come up with for it is Rua 25 de Abril, 1, in the neighborhood called Silvares (there used to be a lot of car dealerships nearby). But ask around--it's worth the trouble! You also might want to call first...the last time I tried to go there it was closed, on a day when it was supposed to be open. Tel: (+351) 253 418 448.

If you think you may be doing some driving around to other cities in the region, I could recommend some other places. Viana do Castelo is a particularly nice town, and Monção is the home of perhaps my favorite Portuguese traditional dish.

[vserna]

The classic Portucale is in good form and is one of the best restaurants in Porto these days. In nearby Leça de Palmeira (just four miles to the north, across the Leça river), O Chanquinhas has superlative seafood (including top-notch bacalhau, i.e. cod, dishes). At Gondomar, which is slightly inland in the outskirts of Porto, a good, similarly maritime offer can be found in the Margem Douro restaurant. They also make a very good lamprey, but unfortunately that's not in season in October...

[graciegirl]

Thank you thank you for all your replies. This is exactly what we are looking for. Our experience in Portugal five years ago when we were there was that although everyone we knew predicted that the food was uninteresting, we had great meals, even if we couldn't find a vegetable to save ourselves. We had a wonderful meal in Coimbra in a restaurant in a tiny alley with no name on the door...we first walked into the kitchen, then into a teeny dining room where the walls were covered with graffiti--sound familier to anyone?

[vserna]

even if we couldn't find a vegetable to save ourselves.

There's a trick in Portugal: have some soup, by all means. They're hearty, very good and with plenty of vegetables. In the north, around Porto, 'caldo verde', with nice crunchy turnip greens, is the thing; in Alentejo, it might me 'açorda de coentros', i.e. fresh cilantro soup.

[Chloe]

We had a wonderful meal in Coimbra in a restaurant in a tiny alley with no name on the door...we first walked into the kitchen, then into a teeny dining room where the walls were covered with graffiti--sound familier to anyone?

That would be "Zé Manel", also known as "Zé Manel dos Ossos" - one of the dishes he serves is pork bones (ossos de suã). It's in a little alley behind the Hotel Astoria, near the bridge.

Good memories from many, many years ago!

Chloë

just back from holiday

[Chloe]

In the north, around Porto, 'caldo verde', with nice crunchy turnip greens, is the thing; in Alentejo, it might me 'açorda de coentros', i.e. fresh cilantro soup.

Turnip greens are common in Portugal (grelos and nabiças), but the brassica in caldo verde is finely shredded (flat-leaved) kale - couve galega.

Chloe

[vserna]

You're entirely right, Chloe. My mind must have been on grelo season coming up...

It's still a very good vegetable soup, the caldo verde!