Best Restaurants Porto
Padaria Ribeiro
Padaria Ribeiro is my first stop in Porto. It is one of the patisseries recommended by the locals. When I arrived at the square, it was not difficult to understand where it was from the queue in front of it. The tables outside were cancelled due to rain, and the tables inside were full. Snacking while standing is the only solution. I intend to buy a croissant, but since I have entered the borders of Portugal, I think it is time to try nata.
I am having breakfast at the counter in the patisserie with croissants and coffee. The croissant resembles to the grandma pastries made at home, it has the taste of yeast in the dough. It is soft and delicious, but I don’t think it can be considered in the classic croissant category. I take Nata with me to eat later, and I eat it in less than 10 minutes. The cream is very delicious and so is the outer dough, but it has a very slight smell of the eggs. This scent is overpowering in the natas I tried in Istanbul, and moreover, their creams are not as delicious.
Santa Gloria Cafe
If you have read my Spain articles, you may remember this cafe. There is a huge Santa Gloria Cafe in one of the most central points of Porto, very close to the bookstore. The ones in Spain are not that good, to be honest. In addition to its size, the variety of seating arrangements is also good.
The day is long, my battery is low; I also need to leave some places for tomorrow to visit with my friend. I’m not hungry after breakfast in the morning, I just want to rest. I am buying freshly prepared carrot orange juice to give me some energy. I take my vitamins accompanied by pigeons wandering around from table to table. Pigeons are accustomed to visiting tables in Porto, just like the seagulls in Istanbul.
Honest Greens
Those of you who have read my article on Spain are wondering, “Are you in Spain or Portugal?” Don’t worry, I tried a lot of new places, but when I came across Honest Greens, which has become my stop on every trip to Spain, on Porto’s busiest shopping street, I found myself going here for coffee. I’ve been walking for hours, I traveled by bus at night, don’t you think I deserve a little rest? When I go in, the chocolate tart looks at me so beautifully, sorry, I look at it so beautifully with admiration :)) It’s almost saying to me “you’re so tired, you deserve another dessert” and the best part is it’s flourless, sugar-free, which makes it an innocent dessert. It accompanies perfectly my oat milk latte.
I’m looking for different places to eat in the evening, but the places I go to are either closed or full. University students also have a celebration that day, all the streets are crowded. I wish I could eat a slice of pizza or something, but there seems to no place for those. My dear Spain, I miss you already. After looking around a few places, my feet know where to go. Honest Greens is also a safe choice in terms of food. I hope the shift in the morning has changed 🙂 There is no falafel in this branch, I prefer the chicken. It tastes a bit bland and I wish I had it spicy, but luckily it is a satisfying meal with its side dishes and portion size. Again, I’m buying a glass with the H2O bar refill option. I drink 4 glasses of different natural waters.
Nicalou Porto
Since my friend has arrived, I need to choose a place that offers larger portions because she will not be satisfied with a croissant for breakfast. While wandering solo the day before, I noted a few places that caught my eye as crowded. Nicolau is one of them, we see that its score is high on Google maps.
We are waiting in line at Nicolau for a little while. Then, we are being seated on the bar chairs by the window and watch everyone passing by, in one of our favorite modes.
I order Florentine eggs with spinach and mushrooms. I wouldn’t even try the egg yolk that flows like raw when you pop it. Since I am going to pay a good amount of money, I have to eat it. Surprisingly it is so delicious with other ingredients and bread, now my only complaint is that the portion is so small. We order orange juice on the side, because our throats slightly hurt. And guess what, the orange juice comes with ice. While we want vitamins to be good for our throats, we end up making them worse. Prices are a little expensive for breakfast but everything is delicious. My friend is also very pleased with the egg plate with avocado and beetroot hummus.
Leitaria da Quinta do Paço
Portugal’s famous éclair shop. We didn’t ask why there is a famous eclair shop when eclairs are not even a Portuguese dessert, because we live in Istanbu where you can see many nata shops for instance😊 We decided to taste the classic small eclairs at Leitaria da Quinta do Paço, next to Ribeiro Patisserie. Of course, there are many varieties other than the classic here. When we eat the classic, we wonder whether it would be different if we tried the others, but don’t think so. It did not suit our taste at all, it was way too sweet. In Istanbul, even a mediocre eclair would taste better than this, I’m sorry. It’s best if you leave eclairs to their homeland, France. You are in Portugal, just eat nata for God’s sake. I would also like to thank my friend Semiha, who acted as a hand model in the photo :))
Hard Club
Hard Club was one of the places I read in local recommendations, recommended for concerts and nightlife. We didn’t think we would go since we wouldn’t stay long enough to experience the nightlife. However, it was raining as we went down to the riverside and we saw people in front of the Hard Club, which made us say let’s go in and see what’s on offer at this hour. The view outside the Hard Club is as seen in the photo. When we entered, there was no concert or entertainment yet, but people were already sipping their drinks at the bar.
After looking around, we noticed the stairs leading to the upper floor as we were about to leave. It said N’o Mercado on the entrance. When we climbed the stairs, we were greeted by a restaurant with a pipe stove, various chairs and tables, and even a Greek god-like statue in the middle. The service hadn’t started yet, but we thought it might be nice to sit down for the evening. Of course, since it was a little far from our hotel, we did not return for the evening though. Hard Club’s score is high on the reviews, but the restaurant’s is low, you might still want to give it a chance due to the atmosphere.
Cafe do Cais
One of my favorite cafes in Porto, I will tell you the other one soon. While walking by the river, we thought what a beautiful view this cafe has. We didn’t sit down at first because we thought there would be more cafes ahead, but most of them were restaurants and they were full. We wanted to sit at the hotel cafe in Ribeira Square, but a road construction vehicle was standing in front of us, blocking our view. Also, the prices were not low at all. We went back and forth and finally sat down at Cafe do Cais.
This cafe had already won our hearts with his stylish wicker-looking chairs, and we were even happier when we found a seat in the front row, at least until it started raining. Moreover, the prices were more affordable than the hotel cafe. Our view of both the bridge and the river was quite enjoyable. It was also a suitable spot to watch people passing by and take photos.
Ponte Pensil
We were thinking that after Cafe do Cais, we would walk over the bridge and cross to the other shore. While taking landscape photos on the bridge, we saw Ponte Pensil and loved it immediately. A bar right by the river, at the bottom of the bridge. We were craving french fries because of the smell, so we went back and sat down, hoping they might have on the menu, but we were dissapointed. Still, it was very enjoyable to enjoy the river despite the rain, accompanied by chips and beer. Moreover, we enjoyed it even though the seating areas by the riverside were not even open. Many people preferred this place for food. On a sunny day, it can be the best place to enjoy the river view and have deep conversations with your friend or a romantic date.
Mercado Beira-Rio
There were restaurants for tasting Port wines in some places in front of Mercado Beira-Rio. Since I don’t have a thing for wine, I didn’t feel comfortable sitting directly in a restaurant, but when we saw the mercado, we decided to go in and check it out. We couldn’t taste the wine inside, but the croquettes and Pintxos (tapas on small bread) caught our attention. The pintxos we bought from Piadina Mia, especially the one with the mozzarella and tomato pesto sauce, were delicious. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the place where we bought the chicken croquettes. It was a chicken croquette with a creamy sauce in the middle, different from a chicken croquette as we know it, and it was a crispy croquette covered with mashed potatoes on the outside.
Museu d’avo
Another place we admired in Porto. It’s almost like a museum inside. Perfect for a romantic date night with its dimly lit ambiance. Or we can say it is for those whose stomachs are ringing, but who make a start by inhaling the spirit of the place. The first things that come to the table are olives, bread, cheese and ham, but do not think of these as treats, because they are not free of charge. You can send back whatever you want. Hold on to the bread though, I think you’ll soon be dipping the shrimp in butter, which is also a suggestion by the owners as well 🙂 We ordered calamari, shrimp in butter and Portugal’s famous dish, francesinha. The seafood was delicious but the francesinha was a little dry. We also tried forest fruit white sangria here and absolutely loved it. The harmony of fruit and wine is much more delicious than the classic one with red wine.
The owners and staff are also very sweet, by the way. While we were eating Francesinha, the owner came and explained, using sign language, how to eat it and how to dip the bread into thesauce. Unfortunately, due to the dim environment, the photos do not come out very well with the phone camera, so you’d better go and experience it.
Mesa 325
On the last day, we go to Mesa 325 for breakfast. Finally my croissant and coffee duo, how I missed those two together. The decoration of this place is interesting. There is a table layout that resembles a classroom at school, as if it were created for people to work. The seats at the entrance are just for our taste, luckily they are empty. The dog, who likes to watch outside like us, has the best place in the cafe, with his own pillow, he goes out for inspection from time to time and goes to the pillow when he gets tired. The croissant is so delicious, after eating the first one myself, I couldn’t resist and bought the second one and shared it with my friend. I wish I could get her used to croissant breakfasts.
Chocolataria Equador
This chocolatier is one of the local recommendations as well. Of course, I’m a little skeptical after the éclair disappointment. The shop is small but stylish, I say go in and check it out, after all I never say no to the smell of chocolate. When we saw that we could buy the types of chocolates we wanted not only in packages but also individually, we decided to try them. More precisely, this is my decision, but my friend also agrees with me😊
Actually, I only eat chocolate with marzipan or pistachio, and I even prefer chocolate desserts instead of just eating chocolate. When I see the different fruit varieties here, I decided to try passion fruit and raspberry flavored ones. Aww, what a festive in my mouth 🙂 I had a feeling they would be delicious, but I wasn’t sure if I chose the right varieties. Of course, you should still decide according to your taste.
Do Norte Hungry Biker
You can see Hungry Biker cafes in several places in Porto. When we saw the Northern themed one, we were completely taken by it. Maybe it’s just because it feels different in the middle of the sincerity and warmth of the south, who knows. We waited in line for a bit, then we were able to sit at a shared table. The atmosphere is pleasant, northern-themed objects hang on the walls. My friend Semiha couldn’t go to Oslo due to a health related change in her friends’ plans but came to Porto, so why not to make her experience a little bit of the Oslo atmosphere here 🙂
I order coffee, Semiha mimosa. Citrus flavored drinks are not my cup of tea. Anyway, my coffee arrives and we settle into deep conversation. When I have finished my coffee, mimosa still missing. We said to the waitress to cancel it as we are leaving. We just stood up, put our coats on and they came towards us with two glasses of mimosas in their hands. They said, “Oh, if you are leaving, let’s do it take away, because we are very sorry, these are our treats to you.” As a result, they won our hearts, I wouldn’t write a bad review though, but of course I would have a few words about it 🙂
Fabrica Nata
Nata Lisboa was on my friend’s list, but while walking along the shopping street, I mentioned how crowded Fabrica Nata was every time I have passed. She noticed it as well, but since we were targeting Nata Lisboa, we went right up to it. And guess what? It’s completely empty, not a single person is there. Fabrica Nata has been suddenly added to our list. Do we regret it, no? Was Nata that delicious? Yes! Oooh, if you are telling already that our stomach is full of pastries and desserts, there is more, coming soon (embarrassed monkey emoji) 🙂 We really liked Fabrica Nata within the borders of Porto, but my comment about the one in Lisbon is of course will be in the Lisbon article. Where was the best nata we had in Lisbon? Flash flash flash..
Mercado do Bolhão
We passed by this market on our way to Mesa325 and put it in the back of our minds. Since we were going to Lisbon by bus in the evening, we did not want to have a long dinner. We entered the market and walked around first. We bought quiches from one of the first stalls on the right at the entrance, they were hot, fresh and delicious 🙂 Just a few stalls away is a fisherman’s stall from the seafood paradise, Portugal, it seems like we are in a good place to try oysters for the first time. I couldn’t help but wonder as Phil Rosenthal (if you haven’t watched it on Netflix, please watch it now, the name of the program Somebody Feed Phil) was eagerly devouring those oysters in a few of his shows. The problem is that I only like the smell of the sea on the seashore or on myself, not on what I eat 🙂
We bought codfish as Portugal is also famous for codfish cake, but it seems a bit dry to me, I like oily fish. We wish we had eaten delicious fried haddock or sole 🙂 We again buy pintxos on bread, but the ones we ate by the river were definitely more successful.
Our favorite ones were the quiches, we went back and forth and bought another quiche each, thinking that our stomachs should not be empty, we still have a long way to go. Yes, our stomach full of carbohydrates and us, because we are now two separate entities with our stomach, a total of 4 entities, we are ready to set off 🙂 Lisbon is waiting for us, even if it doesn’t, we are going! It is sufficient if it welcomes us with open arms, I mean with a good weather or so. Spoiler: it didn’t but we still enjoyed it.
For the places to visit in Porto, you can find the link to my article here.
