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Oporto Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

Paco

By Paco
in Spain & Portugal: Dining

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Paco

Paco

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I will be 2 days in Baiona (Galicia) and then drive down to Oporto for another 2 days. I did a search on the forum for Oporto and only came up with the following restaurants:

Solar do Porto - good sampling of Port wines

Capa Negra - great Steak, ham, sausage, cheese, gravy sandwich...

I have found many places in Baiona and Tuy (excellent lobster and crab, specially at this time of the year, and incredibly cheap), but haven´t been succesful on Oporto. Any suggestions? I heard seaffod is quite good here. Moderate prices are greatly appreciated.

Someone in the forum has recomended a trip to Aveiro for seafood.

I booked at a great price at Infante de Sagres Hotel, has anybody been there?

Thanks,

Paco

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Luis Gutiérrez

Luis Gutiérrez

Posted
Posted (edited)
Hi,

I will be 2 days in Baiona (Galicia) and then drive down to Oporto for another 2 days.  I did a search on the forum for Oporto and only came up with the following restaurants:

Solar do Porto - good sampling of Port wines

Capa Negra - great Steak, ham, sausage, cheese, gravy sandwich...

I have found many places in Baiona and Tuy (excellent lobster and crab, specially at this time of the year, and incredibly cheap), but haven´t been succesful on Oporto. Any suggestions? I heard seaffod is quite good here. Moderate prices are greatly appreciated.

Someone in the forum has recomended a trip to Aveiro for seafood.

I booked at a great price at Infante de Sagres Hotel, has anybody been there?

Thanks,

Paco

Hello Paco,

I think that the best restaurant for modern & creative cuisine in Porto is Bull & Bear (Av. Boavista 3431, tel +351 22 6107669) where the chef Miguel Castro Silva will take care of you.

If you're into wine, an interesting place with a good QPR is A Mesa Com Bacchus (Rua de Miragaia 127, tel +351 914 553 823). It's a very small place with no menu, you just sit down to have whatever they have cooked that day, and the chef/owner Mario will give you some interesting wines, mainly from the Douro region.

For traditional portuguese food it's worth going to Portucale (R. Alegria, 598 - 13º, tel +351225370717), inside the Miradouro hotel. It's a big tower and the resturant is on the top floor, so you have a nice view of the city. Tripas a la moda do Porto (tripe the Porto way) is a must there. The deco is like a trip back to the 70s.

For fish and seafood, the joints at Matosinhos are probably the best. An old classic and a bit of an insider's secret is Mariazinha (103 Rua Primeiro de Dezembro, Matosinhos Tel: +351 22 923 8461 or R. D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, 184 Matosinhos Tel. +351 22 937 89 52 don't remember which is which; one is the old location and the other one the new one, and I'm not sure if both are open or if the old one is now closed), and we also had a nice lunch at O Manel (Av. Serpa Pinto 424 4450-277, Matosinhos +351229350477), but there's lots of them. Very close is the new wine shop from Vinho e Coisas, worth a quick visit.

Enjoy!,

Luis

Edited for spelling, of course!

Edited by Luis Gutiérrez (log)
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MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso

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I agree with Luís, although Portucale is an acquired taste. I love it as it's pure 50s (Sr. Eugénio de Azevedo, the maitre d', is an institution) but the food is pure 50s too, i.e. very rich and a little over the top.

If you want a taste of the 19th Century at 19th Century prices, with old aristocratic service, Chanquinhas in Leça da Palmeira is magnificent.

The Bull and Bear is indeed wonderful, thanks to Miguel Castro e Silva but he's often somewhere else in Europe so I'd make sure he was there when you go. He's an amazing artist and his food is unique.

Porto is full of great restaurants. Matosinhos is to fish restaurants what Las Vegas is to gambling or Mecca to Muslims: a hundred or so superb establishments, practically door-to-door. You can't really go wrong but I'd recommend, for shellfish, Marisqueira Antiga and, for very simple fish expertly cooked (and ridiculously expensive, but worth it for the atmosphere which is Spartan to say the least), Rosinha. Fernando is enormous and canteen-like and gets through a ton of fresh fish a day, though the quality is very high. It's interesting because it still acts as if fish was a cheap alternative to meat - a rare experience.

You must try the hake and octopus fillets at Aleixo, in the Campanhã - unsurpassable and the best-seasoned salad in Portugal too. Another cheap, all-round restaurant with ridiculously high standards is Casa Nanda.

In Porto, you want to enjoy the coexistence of truly bourgeois cooking (Chanquinhas); new Portuguese cooking (Bull and Bear; the beautiful Norte overlooking the Douro) and resolutely traditional food (Nanda; Aleixo; Mariazinha mentioned by Luís; Rosinha; Fernando).

For the best octopus and rice I've ever tasted - a secret recipe involving red wine, bacon, onions - you should definitely go to Veleiros. It's always full but you can get in if you say you support Benfica as the owner, Senhor Mário, is a fanatic.

The fish which is best around Porto (better than anywhere else in Portugal, which is saying a lot) is black hake (pescada) and flounder (rodovalho). The small, red shrimp (camarão da costa) is astounding and now in season, though you must phone ahead (Marisqueira Antiga, for instance) to assure there's a catch that day. In Porto all fish is eaten practically the moment it's landed - many restaurants (the best) make a point of not having refrigerators except for wine, ice-cream and other non-perishables.

Be wary of recommendations from friends in Porto - they're so used to eating well that they're fascinated by cool and trendy new places and tend to forget the reliable stand-bys where they go when they're truly hungry.

Finally, the Infante de Sagres is lovely, truly old-fashioned but efficient. It's my mother's favourite hotel in Porto (and Amália Rodrigues' too!). I usually stay at the Méridien, which is also great - and I mean great.

I hope you enjoy your trip!

Edited by MiguelCardoso (log)
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Paco

Paco

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Miguel and everyone,

Thank you very much for your help, I really mean it!

I am afraid I will need 2 more days to enjoy all these great recommendations!

You are probably right about not going too wrong about eating in Portugal, almost all my experiences have been truly good, honest and of good quality (XL and mercado do peixe in Lisbon and Cafe Imperial in Tavira - 4 hours savoring an "arroz caldoso con marisco" and a high rise tower with views in Albufeira) still bring back great memories.

I looked at the map, and the drive down from Bayona (Pontevedra) to Porto may include a stop for a lobster in La Guardia. This is probably the most famous place in Spain for it. They even have their own lobster festival, I think in June or July. A local person has recommended me 2 places near Bayona, O muiño de Sabaris and Pazo de Mendoza, will let you know if I try either one.

Not too sure about lamprea, the area is one of the best for preparing it, but the idea of eating it cooked in its own blood.... I don´t know, and then I love morcilla and most of the pork derivatives, I guess it has to do with the snake-form it has...

Thanks again,

Paco

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  • 2 weeks later...
Eric_Malson

Eric_Malson

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I feel compelled to put in my $.02 here and second the Matosinhos recommendation....my favorite is the Marisqeuira Mauritânia (Rua Brito e Cunha, 119. Tel. 22 938 06 35). I was first taken there by the extremely cultured and gracious man that ran the concert series I was playing on in Matosinhos. It was the first of many wonderful meals I had in that establishment: the food was so good I simply couldn't work up enough interest to go anywhere else. Interestingly, although the seafood is excellent, their meat dishes are extraordinary. You can't go wrong with the pratos do dia here....they're listed, day by day, here, and I tell you reading it is enough to give me some serious saudades.

My restaurant blog: Mahlzeit!

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PauloR

PauloR

Posted
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I will be in Oporto for a short week-end in two weeks. I would love to try out traditional local dishes as well as more modern offers ("molecular gastronomy" style if there is any example).

Please advice....

Best modern restaurant in Oporto is Bull & Bear. Telf. 226107669

Not molecular, ( there are no molecular style restaurats in Oporto) but good modern portuguese food. Good wine list .

Best tradicional restaurant S Gião. It's 45 minutes driving from Porto in the village of Moreira de Cónegos. ( telf. 253561853 ).

Very dificult to find ( ask for " Estádio do Moreirense" , its the football stadium)

Very good tradicional food in Oporto

Small and cheap.

Restaurante o Poleiro.

Rua Monte de Burgos 1112, Telf 228 312 519

Edited by PauloR (log)
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PauloR

PauloR

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Paulo

Many thanks for taking the time to write your suggestions.

Very much appreciated.

Best regards

I forgot this one.

Retaurante. D.Tonho. Cais da Ribeira 13-15. Tel.222004307

http://www.dtonho.com/

Food, and wine service, in O Poleiro is better in my opinion.

If you have time try both .

D. Tonho have good tradicional food, and the restaurant is placed in one of the most tipical areas of Portugal.

Best dishes.

Bacalhau ( salted cod )

Robalo ao sal ( seabass in salt crust )

Cabrito assado ( roasted lamb )

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Pizza Napoletana

Pizza Napoletana

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Most of the best meals I had during my many trips to Porto were actually in Matosinhos, the neighboring town to the north by the coast.  For excellently prepared traditional food, it's well worth the short bus-ride.

There's an old post of mine about it here.

Thanks for this.

I will be landing late on Friday so I have only Saturday and Sunday Lunch and Saturday dinner to try as much as I can. How long is the bus ride to Matosinhos?

Thanks again

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Eric_Malson

Eric_Malson

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Most of the best meals I had during my many trips to Porto were actually in Matosinhos, the neighboring town to the north by the coast.  For excellently prepared traditional food, it's well worth the short bus-ride.

There's an old post of mine about it here.

Thanks for this.

I will be landing late on Friday so I have only Saturday and Sunday Lunch and Saturday dinner to try as much as I can. How long is the bus ride to Matosinhos?

Thanks again

That, of course, depends on just where you're staying, but half an hour is a nice, round guess. Matosinhos is sandwiched between Leça (which is where the airport is, just 5-10 minutes from Matosinhos) and the city of Porto. If you're staying near the ocean (the westernmost part of Porto), Matosinhos will likewise be 5 or 10 minutes away.

You can check out the website for Porto's various modes of public transportation here.

My restaurant blog: Mahlzeit!

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Pizza Napoletana

Pizza Napoletana

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I have just returned.

I did like Porto over all, and I also had a chance to exercise (up and down the hill..)...

I did try to get to Matosinhos, but from where I was (Bathala) it took 40 minutes and once I got there I could not find the restaurant. As it was the Sunday lunch, and I had my flight back early that evening, I decided to go back without trying this restaurant. I did manage to eat at D.Tonho, but at the branch across the river. Apparently they carry the same menu. The food was good and fresh but nothing too impressive. The service was great with a very knowledgeable Maitre d. Very simple food, quite Mediterranean (all appetisers could have been found in any south Italian osteria...), which did not impress me much. The sea bass, although very fresh, was overcooked and thus dry... The star of the dinner was a very good Mango sorbet served with strawberry ice cream.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

PS The airport is first class.. I wish Naples new airport in Grazzanise would look something like that when it will be operational in 2012...

Edited by Pizza Napoletana (log)
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PauloR

PauloR

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The sea bass, although very fresh, was overcooked and thus dry...

PS The airport is first class.. I wish Naples new airport in Grazzanise would look something like that when it will be operational in 2012...

Fish overcooked, is a problem in most of the traditional restaurants in Portugal.

Edited by PauloR (log)
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