Tag: Portugal

Posted on

5 Oceanos

We stopped by here for our last dinner in Porto (technically it is in the city of Matosinhos).

Great restaurant. Our waiter was a little assuming in what we wanted to order (ie we mentioned cod, and that order came through… which wasn’t a bad thing in the end).

To start, we ordered macallan 12 (very generous pour). Then ordered the scallops, Octopus, and fried cod. The Octopus and cod came with other things like vegetables and potatoes and chips (which made things extra filling). also chips were made by the restaurant.

Food and vibe overall was good. Would come back here.

One thing they didn’t have but we wanted to try was percpbes (aka barnacle)

Posted on

Praia da Luz

We stoped by here for a beach club vibe in Porto.

Music was great (lots of tech house and John Summit like DJing). If it wasn’t windy and cloudy, experience would have been a lot better (would come back here!).

I ordered an espresso martini and Aperol Spritz. Would order both again.

Posted on

Manteigaria

Had a friend try egg tarts (aka Pasteis de Nata) in Portugal for the first time at this place. Overall it tastes great, and paired it with a port wine.

As a side note, although it’s not Pasteis de Belem (the original egg tart in Lisbon), it was very comparable.

Also an FYI this is a chain, so would have to look up the location of the pictures for the exact one.

Posted on

Muu

We stopped by this steakhouse from a friends recommendation in Porto. Honestly, great recommendation.

When we entered, they served us with their house sparkling wine before they seated us.

When we were seated the service felt personalized. Waitress sat beside us to take our orders.

For drinks got an espresso martini (they made it correctly with just coffee/espresso, Khalua , and vodka). Also got a red wine to pair with the ribeye we ordered (they let us cook one part medium and one part medium-rare which I thought was great).

For sides we had spinach and roasted potatoes (which ended up looking cake like).

Forgot to mention we did order appetizers, which was a seafood selection of prawns, mussels and clams.

At the end they gave us coconut chocolate and dark chocolate as a small desert.

From the food, service and drinks would recommend this place to people that go to Porto.

Posted on

Almeja

This is a Michelin recommended restaurant, and it did not disappoint!

We started off with the pig’s head terrine toast. Didn’t know what to expect but it was awesome (slightly like a pate).

We then got the lobster dish to share. It’s for two people, and it came with other sea foods like shrimp, and squid. Also great.

For desert, we got two. The queijada Ike a tart served with whipped cream and sorbet), and a flan like fish served with bacon flavored ice cream. Both were delicious.

For drinks, got a port tonic (their version with lime instead of orange and cinnamon), and an Aperol spritz. I liked the port tonic but didn’t finish it since I felt it was like a drink with simple syrup (ie the brain effect).

100% would come back to this place.

Posted on

TimeOut Market Porto

Visited TimeOut in Porto.

Obviously got an Aperol spritz from the Aperol Spritz stand. (Should’ve worn my Aperol visor).

Got also a pizza and sushi salmon hand roll. Both were good.

Overall, this TimeOut did not disappoint.

Posted on

Vaccarum

We went to this place from a recommendation from a family on a tour we were in at Duoro Valley.

Overall, place seemed good, but we did think the family over-hyped the place.

We ordered the Pichano steak (apparently it’s different since in North America they usually remove the fat from the top of the steak). They served it medium rare automatically (ie didn’t ask, which was fine). Because it was medium rare it was a bit more gamey than I usually prefer, but still ate it. We orders fries and steamed vegetables as sides which were good. As a starter (or “snack” as they call it in Portugal) we had the garlic shrimp (which I liked how it was prepared, and it cakes with 3x the amount I was expecting). Also paired it with bread.

For drinks, we got a red wine to pair with the steak (waiter’s recommendation, which was from Duas Quintas winery). They also let us take the alcohol back!

I would come here again (ie food was good), but would also want to try other restaurants.

Posted on

Brasao

After grabbing drinks at the bar at our hotel, went here for a quick bite on our first night in Porto.

Got a prawn croquette and a beef mushroom rissole. Definitely would order the former again, but not the latter. Both these are Portuguese.

Our main and final dish is the francesinha, also a Portuguese dish. It was like an English sausage muffin with tons of gravy, but it was more of a beef. It was a good experience but would not seek to get it (like McDonalds sausage McMuffin better). (Also as an fyi it’s traditional to get it with fries)

Mixed drinks were limited (ie no whisky sour or Aperol spritz), but Glenlivet was available, so had that.

Would check this out again to try Portuguese food of others wanted to.

Posted on

17 Restaurant and Bar

First place we stopped by in our Porto trip (since it was on the 2nd highest floor of our hotel, Hotel Dom Henrique Downtown.

We mainly stopped by here to catch the sunset. View was ok, but drinks were good (at least mine was)…

Friend had an old fashion (which he doesn’t recommend), and I got a pisco sour without egg whites. They also served peanuts.

Although view as just ok (they have an outside, it doesn’t face the sunset), would still come back here for drinks, especially if staying at the hotel.

Posted on

Selllva

We went to this restaurant for dinner near the hotel in the Baixa area. It was focused on healthy style Asian food.

For drinks, got a rum drink with pineapple juice.

For appetizers, got the Vietnamese spring rolls. It was purely vegetarian with peanut butter sauce. Thought it was ok.

For the main, got the pad Thai with chicken. Honestly, it was ok. Could order it again, but there is this tuna dish I would try next time.

For desert, we tried the hot brownie with ice cream. Because it is supposed to be healthy, it wasn’t as sweet as I wanted it to be.