We returned from an amazing trip to Portugal, which was mostly a culinary journey between Lisbon, Porto, and the smaller villages. Here’s a summary of our restaurant recommendations, great spots, and some important tips that will save you from queues and unpleasantness.

Best Restaurants of the Trip (By City)

Lisbon and Surroundings

• Ofício (Lisbon): One of the best restaurants on the trip. Modern, interesting, and amazing Portuguese food, with excellent desserts (especially their coffee dish).
• Red Frog (Lisbon): A particularly secretive cocktail bar, located inside another bar. A fun experience with excellent cocktails.
• O Velho Eurico (Lisbon): A local restaurant with very tasty food. Note: Service there is less than stellar.
• Incomum (Sintra): Excellent and affordable lunch menu. They also have an attached café.
• TimeOut Market (Lisbon): A touristy place, but rightfully so! Very worthwhile, with interesting and delicious food. Keep in mind: it’s hard to find seating during peak hours.

Porto and the North (Douro Valley)

• Castas e Pratos (Peso da Régua): One of the trip’s favorites. An amazing restaurant with excellent service, an incredible wine selection, and outstanding simple food (highly recommend: Angus steak and special desserts).
• Cantinho do Avillez (Porto): Excellent place. Affordable and recommended lunch menu - the Thai chicken dish was one of the winning dishes of the entire trip.
• Tapabento (Porto): An amazing Spanish-Portuguese tapas restaurant. Simple food, excellently executed (it was so delicious we ordered more during the meal!).
• Mito (Porto): Super sweet place with excellent modern food, including outstanding desserts.

Additional Recommendations

• Gruta (Porto): Charming restaurant combining Portuguese and Brazilian cuisine. Excellent food and interesting flavors (the beet risotto was excellent).
• Solar do Bacalhau (Coimbra): A local fish institution. Overall okay, but not a warm recommendation if you’re not a fan of the local bacalhau fish.

Sweet Treats and Snacks

• Pastel de Nata Competition Winners:
  1. Manteigaria (the famous chain): Always excellent, won first place for most of us thanks to the crispy puff pastry and lightness.
  2. A tiny bakery in Óbidos: A bubbly pastel stall on the stairs, right next to the pizza place ”A Janela”, which ranked first for some of us.
• Gelateria Portuense (Porto): Excellent gelateria with great ice cream and super special flavors.
• A Janela (Óbidos): A small window producing excellent pizzas. Right next to it is a café called Avocado with excellent salads - recommended to combine pizza and salad.

Wine Experience: Winery Tour

• Quinta de Pacheca: A winery tour that cost 15 euros per person. The tour was interesting, and the wine was excellent (we especially enjoyed the ports, white, and vintage).

Tips for Making Reservations (Mandatory!)

At first, we thought the recommendation to reserve at all restaurants was exaggerated, but we learned the hard way: it’s mandatory! More than once we saw a winding line of desperate people while we walked in thanks to our reservation. Excellent places are in high demand and always busy.

How to make reservations?

• TheFork: A website and app that provide good service, including average prices and reviews.
• Restaurant websites/Google/email: For some places you’ll book through their website, Google, or even by email. It’s recommended to write the restaurant name in Google with the word “reservation”.
• Alternative solution: The Portuguese love standing in lines for great places. If you haven’t reserved - arriving right at opening might work reasonably well (make sure they accept walk-ins).