Select Page

Where to Eat Good Food in Porto

Mar 17, 2018 | Travel, Food, Restaurants

Although already a must-visit for wine, I can certainly see Porto becoming a growing foodie destination.

My recent short trip involved several great restaurants I can recommend.

The Best Placed Authentic Portuguese Restaurant

Our first lunch after arriving in the city was in the well-located Bacalhau. This wine-led eatery is perched on the waters edge overlooking Gaia.

Bacalhau - Porto

Not too busy on a Friday lunchtime, but I reckon that this cosy and petite restaraunt would surely be crammed later on in the year.

We had unseasonal bad weather – I blame Storm Emma, but there’s a few small tables outside you’d be able to use. It’s very likely you’d have to book in advance later in the season to do so.

To start, we ordered some fried cod skins and some warming soup. We followed this with more Cod dishes and the Pork Belly.

Maybe you can tell, Bacalhau is the Portuguese word for salted Cod, and you’ll find it in various guises throughout the city.

Although not designed to be food to share, we decided to share anyway. The portions were generous – and we were expecting to eat a lot more during the day.

We ordered the house red which went perfectly with the fish skins – as it states on the bottle in fact!

The food was very authentic, with superb ingredients and an intense depth of flavour.

The cod had an excellent crumb and huge white flakes.

Cod - Bacalhau

A marvellous hunk of Cod

The Pork belly melted in the mouth, with excellent use of pulled and cured meat mixed with the white beans as accompaniments.

Probably one of, if not the best all-round pork belly dishes I’ve had!

Pork Belly

This dish tastes better than it looks!

All of the food on offer was exceptional, despite the restauranteur initially being concerned about our greasy choice of fried cod fish skins and pork belly.

Hey! We are English and used to such things. Bring it on!

Our party left happy and we decided to explore the city to hunt for desert.

The Best Pastel de Nata in Porto?

Portugal is well-known for Pastel de Nata – it’s delicious custard tarts.

See also  Port Wine Tasting in Porto at Cockburn's

Wikipedia states that they were originally made by Monks who had travelled to Lisbon, and had an abundance of egg yolks after using the whites to starch their robes.

Luckily, the moreish tarts can be found throughout the city of Porto too.

By surprise, our party of pastry hunters found out that excellent, freshly baked tarts can be found across the river in Gaia.

The price? You can get a box of 6 tarts for just €4!

Pastel de Nata

You’ll even see them being made by the skilled bakers through a large glass window.

The pastries are still warm from the oven, with the custard oozing out. They were so good we actually went back again to get more two days later!

You’ll find them in the bakery opposite the red Mercado Municipal de Gaia, which is well worth checking out itself for food.

In the market you’ll find an indoor area which is great to grab a few snacks, especially as a group as you’ll have a choice of popups to choose from.

Prices were reasonable, and it served as an ideal shelter from the uncharacteristic rain storms.

The Best Value Tasting Menu in Porto

After hiding from the rain with bread and cheese on our first evening, our second evening out was at Pedro Limao.

This restaurant offered a great value 10 course tasting menu at just €37. The menu changes regularly to keep it fresh and interesting.

Pedro Limao

The simple and sparse menu left us wondering in what form each of the courses would be in.

Pedro Limao - Porto Menu

Would one of the courses be a Kit-Kat?

All this was paired with a delicious Douro red.

Here are all of the courses in order:

First Impression

First Impression

Chicken Broth

Chicken Broth

Smoked Tuna

Smoked Tuna

Steak Tartar

Steak Tartar

Give me a break!

Give me a break!

Squid and Curry

Squid and Curry

Pig's Belly

Pig’s Belly

Suzette Soup

Suzette Soup

Goats Cheese

Goats Cheese

My favourite dish was predictably the wonderfully spicy steak tartar, followed by the smoked Tuna.

Best meal I’ve had? No. But still, fun and well made food.

If I have the chance to return to Porto in the sunshine, I’d love to travel around the coast to the fishing port of Matosinhos for seafood, as well as sail into the Douro region to eat amongst the vines.

Keith Greywood

Keith Greywood

Author

I'm the Founder of Bacchanalian, a food and drink blog. I write about food and drink, with a keen focus on beer.
Healthy Valentine’s Food Ideas

Healthy Valentine’s Food Ideas

Valentine’s Day is a special day for couples to celebrate their love for one another but It’s easy to over-indulge on chocolates and unhealthy food. What are the other options?

A Visit to Diddly Squat Farm Shop

A Visit to Diddly Squat Farm Shop

Feels like a while since we’ve explored a new place due to COVID and the toddler, so a visit to the Cotswolds came at the perfect time this spring.

0 Comments

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This