5 Places for Exceptional Portuguese Cooking in Porto

There are so many great places serving delicious Portuguese food in Porto. That's one of the reasons why '5 Places for Exceptional Portuguese Cooking in Porto' was one of the hardest categories for us to put together.

Our book 'The 500 Hidden Secrets of Porto' lists 500 things about Porto in 100 different categories, and each category lists 5 places/things. Having to condense this list into only 5 restaurants was a big challenge.

In the book, we cover many types of restaurants, including different types of Portuguese restaurants such as '5 restaurants for Homestyle Cooking', '5 old-school marisqueiras for Seafood Lovers' and '5 restaurants for Fresh Fish'.

'5 Places for Exceptional Portuguese Cooking in Porto' is for those of you that love traditional Portuguese cuisine (or want to try it) and are looking for the best Portuguese restaurants in Porto.

So with no long-overdue, here are some of our top picks:

‍

1. O Paparico

Set in a beautiful old town house with a rustic atmosphere, O Paparico is the place to go for exceptional Portuguese fine dining. The selection of wines is equally impressive. Brace yourself for a journey of taste sensations that’s likely to take around three hours.

Rua de Costa Cabral 2343
+351 22 540 0548
opaparico.com
‍

‍

2. DOP Porto

Chef Rui Paula was born and bred in Porto and he’s one of the few chefs in the country to hold two Michelin stars (for Casa de Chá da Boa Nova). DOP is his creative take on Portuguese traditional cuisine. The restaurant is elegant, and the dishes look like works of art. If you go to the Douro, check out their other restaurant, DOC.

Largo São Domingos 18
+351 22 201 4313
doprestaurante.pt
‍

‍

3. Taberna dos Mercadores

If you’re looking for a cosy restaurant in Ribeira serving hearty rustic food, then Taberna dos Mercadores is the place for you. There are only eight tables, which means you better book ahead. The crispy cod croquettes, salt-baked fish and alheira (Portuguese sausage) are some of the tasty dishes that come out of the open kitchen.

Rua dos Mercadores 36-38
+351 22 201 0510
instagram.com/tabernadosmercadores
‍

‍

4. Rogério do Redondo

There’s a good reason why Rogério do Redondo has served meals to most of Portugal’s presidents. This restaurant is famous for its purist approach to northern Portuguese cuisine, with great care placed on sourcing excellent produce.

Rua Joaquim António de Aguiar 19
+351 91 803 3067
rogeriodoredondo.pt
‍

‍

5. António

You can often tell how good a traditional Portuguese restaurant is by the number of businessmen that have lunch there, and António is a prime example. The restaurant is a bit out of the way, but specialities such as the roasted octopus or the lamb make the trip worthwhile. The Abade de Priscos (caramel pudding) is yummy.

Correction: There are two restaurants with the same name in Porto and the one that we feature in 'The 500 Hidden Secrets of Porto' is António in Leça da Palmeira. Unfortunately in the book, the address is incorrect (corrected below). We worked so hard to ensure there were no mistakes and we are very sorry about this. This will be corrected in the next edition.

Rua Óscar da Silva 2681
+351 22 996 0741
instagram.com/antonio.restaurante
‍

‍

‍We hope you find '5 Places for Exceptional Portuguese Cooking in Porto' helpful.