🧁 Must Have — Pastel de Nata
1🍽️ Favorite Restaurants
17
Barro
City Centre
Great Wine
Modern Portuguese kitchen built on local ingredients and serious prep time. Custardy French toast, potato pavé, fresh seafood and beef from Serra do Marão show that patience; the tight list of special wines is always worth asking about.
Go forPrawnsScallopsHappy Cow steak
Café Guarany
City Centre
Regular
Sister restaurant of the famous Harry Potter café (Majestic Café), but with fewer crowds and great food. Love their club sandwich and Invicta omelette (Porto's omelette). The building's history is richer than any Harry Potter connection.
Go forClub sandwichInvicta omelette
Casa Vasco
Foz & Western Porto
Locals Only
Near the beach where locals go instead of tourists. Their steak sandwich (prego no pão) is thick, juicy, and properly seasoned. No pretense, just good food.
Go forPrego no pão
Coupage 51
City Centre
A wine bar where the food outdoes the wine. The list is short, the plates are the reason to come, and the prawns are the order.
Go forPrawns
Lessa
Matosinhos & Leça
Zero Tourists
Tucked away in Leça da Palmeira, well off the tourist track. A high-calibre chef runs this small seafood-focused room and the food is ultra delicious: umami everywhere, great textures on every plate.
Go forEverything — the menu turns with the seasons and it all lands
🌊 Beach town🐟 Fresh seafood👥 Intimate🤐 Under radar
Mito Restaurante
City Centre
Dry-aged steak, entrecôte and a shrimp omelette, all done well. The appetizer to order is the bola de berlim, the highlight of the meal.
Go forDry-aged steakBola de berlim
ODE Wine House
Ribeira
Great Wine
One of the deepest wine lists in Porto, in a beautifully restored old building. Start with the presunto, finish with the pão de ló, and get the chicken blood rice when it's on.
Go forPresuntoPão de lóChicken blood rice — seasonal, get it when it's on
Oesters e Coisa
City Centre
Regular
Great seafood in city center. Quite busy, book in advance. Their two versions of scallops are always tasty. If they have razor clams, that's super delicious. Great seafood without going to Matosinhos.
Go forRazor clamsSeafood pasta in tomato broth
Oficina
City Centre
Great WineLocals Only
Contemporary Portuguese from famous chef Marco Gomes (who also has TV shows) in a modern industrial art-filled space. Excellent wine list and creative dishes. Get their foie gras white chocolate egg appetizer if they have it - the roast goat is also superb.
Go forFoie gras eggRoast goat
Pata Gorda
Greater Porto
Great WineLocals Only
Modernized Portuguese in a residential neighbourhood. The menu is on a blackboard and everything on it is good, so order widely.
Go forEverything
Peixe no Mercado Porto
City Centre
Inside Bolhão market, so it is the easy seafood stop in the city centre. Start with the French toast with blue lobster, then the seafood rice or a grilled fish.
Go forFrench toast with blue lobster, to startSeafood rice or lobster riceGrilled fish
Zizi Restaurante
Out of Town
Great WineLocals Only
30-minute ride south to this beachside gem with a terrace right on the sand. Barnacles, sardines, local shrimp - everything from the sea here is fantastic. Ask the friendly staff what's seasonal and fresh today. Their seafood rice and tomato rice hit different with sunset views.
Go forSeafood
🌅 Sunset views🏖️ Beach terrace🦐 Fresh seafood🍚 Seafood rice specialist
💎 World-Class Dining
4
Cozinha das Flores
City Centre
Great Wine
Modern Portuguese with a creative edge by chef Nuno Mendes. Expect innovative takes on traditional flavors in an elegant setting.
Go forSmall bitesBlue lobster riceAged steakPeixeMassada
Enoteca 17.56
Vila Nova de Gaia
Great Wine
Amazing view with a strange but successful combination of sushi, steaks, and cheese. They pulled together good chefs for each type of food. Be careful with wine recommendations - prices can go way up.
Go forSushiSteak
ÉON Restaurante
City Centre
Great Wine
Beautiful and delicious. The dining room is traditional and the building itself is worth the visit — go and see the azulejo-tiled Café Servo as well. A focused wine list and great service.
Go forThe tasting menuThe buildingFocused wine listCafé Servo tiles
Euskalduna Studio
City Centre
SplurgeMy #1Great Wine
Modern Portuguese, tasting menu only, and my number one in Porto. A small room, a short menu, and every course lands. Book well ahead: the reservation is the hard part.
Go forTasting menu
🎨 Artful plates👨🍳 Chef's counter🍷 Wine pairings💸 Special occasion
☕ Coffee & Brunch
9
C'alma Coffee Room
City Centre
Quiet corner spot that's perfect for working or just enjoying good coffee in peace. Laptop-friendly atmosphere.
Combi Coffee
City Centre
Nice space with good espresso and really cool branding. The kind of place you'll want to buy a tote bag from.
Comum Porto
City Centre
New
New coffee shop from Senzu Coffee Roasters. Great coffee, creative and tasty sandwiches, and a not-so-French French toast that works.
Go forFrench toastSandwiches
☕ Third wave coffee🥪 Creative sandwiches🧇 Unique brunch
Early Cedofeita
City Centre
Their rabanada (French toast) is super tasty. Add a fried egg on top; with the bacon and chutney it becomes one of the best French toasts anywhere.
Go forRabanada (French toast)
Hakko House
City Centre
Scandinavian-style coffee shop doing pastries the Nordic way. Great coffee, good cardamom buns, and they even have semlor (Swedish cream buns). Worth checking out.
Go forCardamom bunSemlor
Protest Kitchen
City Centre
Regular
Coffee nerds who actually know how to cook and understand flavor. Turkish-influenced menu changes weekly, but catch their pop-ups - they do Mexican tacos, Thai curry, kebabs, whatever they're into. Sometimes here, sometimes they take over other spots. Their cinnamon bun is super good.
Go forCinnamon bunSausages and fried eggs
So Roasters
City Centre
Minimalist coffee shop where the focus is purely on well-roasted and perfectly prepared coffee. No distractions, just great coffee.
🍣 Japanese
5Omakase
Hikari Omakase
City Centre
At Marquês, this is the most authentic Japanese omakase you can get in Porto. The room feels transportive, Chef Wataru crafts the menu masterfully, and the highlights include the extensive sushi course, chawanmushi, and tempura.
Go forAll the sushiChawanmushiTempura
Ikigai Omakase
Out of Town
The owner trained as an architect, then opened this authentic omakase counter serving the best fish from Porto and Japan. It is north of the city, so take an Uber or Bolt. Highly recommended.
Go forThe omakase — trust the counter
Kaigi Porto
Greater Porto
Omakase using Portuguese ingredients - a brilliant fusion that actually works. Precise, intimate, and uniquely Porto.
Go forMochi dessertThe sushi
Other Japanese
Out to Lunch
City Centre
Japanese curry and soba for lunch, done properly, and izakaya plates for dinner at the weekend. My change of pace from Portuguese lunches.
Go forCurrySobaChicken nanbanSiu maiMatcha tiramisu
🥪 Casual Eats
4
Mercado Bom Sucesso
City Centre
Very nice food court with lots of choices and honest value. Try O FORNO DO LEITÃO DO ZÉ for roast piglet (500-600g good for 2) and FORNO DO MERCADO for their steak sandwich (prego no pão) - not the pizza.
Go forRoast pigletPrego no pão
Mercado Beira-Rio
Vila Nova de Gaia
The food court to go to instead of Time Out: more local, more authentic, across the river in Gaia. I like the seafood counter, the dessert counter and the central beer station. Step outside and the view back to Porto is beautiful.
Go forSeafood counterDessert counterCentral beer station
TimeOut Market Porto
City Centre
Skip It
A one-stop shop that stops short. To me, eating here is announcing you're a tourist and inviting the tourist price. Many of the chefs run excellent standalone restaurants — but under Time Out Market's management it all feels commercialized, losing the authenticity, hospitality, and character that make the originals worth the trip. Want to experience Porto? Skip the food hall and go straight to the source.
🥐 Pastry & Bakery
2Ogi by Euskalduna
City Centre
Great bakery with the best sourdough and croissants (French style, not Portuguese style). Modern bakery that takes bread seriously.
Go forSourdoughCroissant
🦐 Seafood in Matosinhos
5A Marisqueira de Matosinhos
Matosinhos & Leça
Great Wine
Seafood towers with almost every kind of shellfish, a seafood lover's heaven. On the pricey side, with an extensive wine list to match.
Go forSeafood tower
Meia Nau (Matosinhos)
Matosinhos & Leça
Go to the Matosinhos location specifically; it is the better of the two by a distance. Excellent quality here.
Go forGrilled fishSeafood rice
O Gaveto
Matosinhos & Leça
Great WineLocals Only
A calm and formal Portuguese seafood restaurant. When they have carabineros (scarlet prawns), order them: the preparation is top-notch. Everything from the sea here is tasty, and the wine club means the list is excellent. Winemakers eat here.
Go forCarabineros
R. Heróis de França
Walk along this street around numbers 200 to 300 and follow the smoke: two or three blocks of seafood restaurants grilling outside. All of them are good and the atmosphere is perfect.
Go forWhat's fresh in the window that day, grilled
Sempr'Assar 2
Matosinhos & Leça
Affordable seafood grilled right on the street. No frills, just fresh fish cooked perfectly over open flames.
Go forGrilled fish
🍷 Wine & Drinks
8Aguardente
You need to try an aged aguardente here - it's basically Portuguese brandy. I find them tastier than any French brandy. Stronger than it looks though!
Go forAged aguardente
Atman Speakeasy
City Centre
Get the password to go to this speakeasy. Their menu is divided into Mind, Body and Soul. They put effort into crafting cocktails that will delight and surprise.
Go forGo with the flow — ask for a recommendation
Beyond Port - Pick Portuguese Wine
Portugal makes incredible wine besides Port. Douro kills it with reds and whites. For vinho verde, Soalheiro is solid, but Élio Lara View is next level. Douro reds? Can't go wrong - compare a 20€ vs 70€ bottle. Dão does lighter reds (think Burgundy). Want bubbles? Bairrada espumante.
Gota a Gota Winehouse
City Centre
Wine Pros
My go-to wine shop. Amazing value, and ask for recommendations: they are almost always excellent quality for the money.
Go forAsk them to pick you a bottle
🎯 Expert picks💰 Great value🗣️ Ask for recs
Port Wine 101
Can't leave Porto without trying Port. Ruby vs Tawny - learn the difference. LBV isn't Vintage Port (don't be fooled). Tawny ages are averages, and won't improve in your cellar. But real Vintage Port and Colheita? They age beautifully. Find out if your birth year was good enough for Vintage - if not, there's always Colheita.
Wine Quay Bar
Ribeira
Wine Pros
The best wine bar in Porto, with the best view: the Douro from the Ribeira quay. The owner's family has lived in this building for generations, and it shows in how the place is run. Fantastic wine choices, and ask for the mãozinhos — pure collagen.
Go forAsk for the mãozinhosLet them pick the glass
🌅 Best view🏠 Family-run🗣️ Ask for recs
🚗 Day Trips from Porto
4Canastra do Fidalgo
Out of Town
Drive to Costa Nova, near Aveiro, for their eel dishes. Worth the trip for this one specialty.
Go forEel
Douro Wine Tasting
Exceptional wines from this region. Book a private wine tour with Sara at Portoalities.com. She brings you to the best non-touristy wine houses and you might meet some of the best winemakers. Don't forget to get bottles of high quality olive oil from these wine houses.
Filhos de Moura
Go north for the family-restaurant version of suckling pig, traditional style. The more authentic experience. Pair it with espumante.
Go forLeitão
Restaurante Rei dos Leitões
Out of Town
Drive down for Portuguese roast suckling pig (leitão). Literally translates to "King of roast suckling pig". Remember to pair with espumante (sparkling wine).
Go forLeitão
✨ Things To Do
7Private Tours
Private tour operator I use for Porto and the Douro wine region. They know the area well and can customize based on your interests.
WOW District
Vila Nova de Gaia
Museums I have yet to try and restaurants that are mostly expensive, but a free square with incredible views. Great at sunset, and the Portuguese restaurant is decent.