Food, Portugal

Cunha Restaurant, Porto

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UPDATE 17.01.2020 – RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED PERMANENTLY Confeitaria Cunha opened on 31 March 1906 as a patisserie. In the 70s it moved to its current location, the art deco “Emporium Building,” designed in 1939. Later on, architect Victor Palla found his inspiration in the Midwest U.S. diners of the 50ies and 60ies, when he designed the interior of the restaurant, which is serving delicious wholesome meaty dishes for reasonable prices.    One of our tourguides, a self-confessed meat maniac, had recommended the veal steak (‘Meio Bife de Vitela’) for €15 to us, and thank heavens he did. Veal can be a tricky meat to cook as a steak and – where I come from – no one ever attempts to do so, we either have it as Viennese schnitzel or in dishes such as Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (tiny little strips of veal in creamy sauce). Tip to the hat to Cunha […]

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Food, Portugal

Tapabento Trindade – Porto’s #1 Restaurant

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UPDATE 15.01.2020 – RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED PERMANENTLY. Depending on which source you consult, Tapabento Trindade usually ranks #1 or somewhere between #2 and #5 of all Porto restaurants. It is the second opening of the owners of the original Tapabento tapas restaurant which we had visited just a few days earlier and which had impressed us with their delicious seafood and beef carpaccio. We came with extremely high expectations. Like at nearly all restaurants we visited in this Portuguese seaside town, the staff immediately made us feel welcome and somehow managed to squeeze us in without prior reservation. We ordered Rodovalho Manteiga for €24 (turbot) and Eryngii (king oyster) mushrooms for €19. The presentation was professional like in a top London or Paris restaurant, and we certainly couldn’t say anything bad about the food. However, the taste was not very strong. We also felt that some of the combinations of […]

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Food, Portugal

Restaurante Celta Endovelico, Porto

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Celta Endovelico drew our attention through its proximity to our hotel, its excellent Tripadvisor rating (#10 of 1,427 Restaurants in Porto), and the very reasonable prices. It plays on the Celtic/Gaelic theme and offers a variety of tapas dishes ranging from meaty calorie bombs (I tried to order three tapas after a day of hiking without much food, and was asked to stick with the recommended maximum of two tapas for the time being and then see if I want to order more, which is normally a very good sign; they don’t want their food to go to waste or their customers to spend more than they need to) to smaller side dishes.    I ordered delicious pork rolls in rich sauce accompanied by patatas bravas, and then later a portion of Padrón peppers, prepared in the traditional Spanish style. The latter did not impress me, but it was the […]

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Food, Portugal

TapaBento Porto

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We went to TapaBento on our first evening in town and enjoyed the beautiful tapas, friendly staff and rustic but at the same time somewhat upmarket atmosphere. We shared razor clams/navalhas (one of my absolute favourites, both here and at other seafood restaurants), clams/’Ameijoa Algarve’ and Carpaccio with some Tortilha Batata and a few glasses of beer. The potato tortilla slices were just €5.50 each, the other tapas €15, which is avery fair price, considering the large portions of prime quality ingredients.    We were planning on coming back, but somehow got distracted by other lovely restaurants each time, so it’ll have to be when we are back in Porto later this year that we’ll try some of their other food.    TapaBento is the original restaurant of the owners, and focuses on tapas. A few years ago they opened a sister restaurant called TapaBento Trindade (Trindade after the Trindade […]

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Fun, Portugal, Restaurants

Goa Bicafe, Porto

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On the day of my arrival in Porto (from Lisbon, by train) I was so tired, I struggled for two hours to fall asleep, then decided to go for a little walk, it was about 2am and I did not expect any bars to be open in the proximity to my hotel. But what do you know, I bumped into one of the most fun bars I had been to in years: “Goa Bicafe, cafe, snack, bilhares” in Rua de Fernandes Tomás (close to corner with Campo 24 de Agosto and 2 minutes walk from 24 de Agosto tube station). The owner, whose name I can’t seem to remember by the life of my mother, was serving behind the bar and a few regulars were finishing up their beers.    They were clearly set to close shop for the day, but the friendly owner started a lively conversation with me […]

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