Where to Eat in Porto: Traditional Portuguese Cuisine and Local Favorites

One of my favorite parts of travel is discovering what a place tastes like.

Whenever I visit a new city, I try to experience its food from multiple perspectives. I want to eat at family-run restaurants, neighborhood favorites, food stalls, markets, and, when possible, one restaurant that pushes the boundaries of what the local cuisine can become.

Porto delivered on every front.

From refined tasting menus cooked entirely over fire to iconic sandwiches drenched in sauce, the city provided some memorable meals and introduced me to flavors that were distinctly Portuguese.

Elemento

If I could choose only one restaurant to recommend in Porto, it would be Elemento.

Michelin currently recommends the restaurant, though after my meal, I left convinced it deserves a star of its own.

Chef Ricardo Dias Ferreira has built an entire restaurant around a single idea:

fire.

Every dish that requires cooking, is prepared in either the 19th century oven or on the customized grill that you see in the picture above. Chef Ferriera uses a variety of components to ignite and maintain the fire including, traditional firewood as well as eucalyptus, straw, pine needles, pine cones and more. Selections are made based on what will enhance the flavors in a given dish.

O Nosso Pão e Manteiga

Bread and Butter

This butter was so creamy and would have been perfect on its own but, was upgraded with the infusion of fresh chives and a dash of black salt.

Amuse Bouche #1: King Fish with Trumpet Mushrooms and Caviar

The sweetness of the roe and the nuttiness of the mushrooms, complemented the firm fish, swimming in a perfect sauce.

Amuse Bouche #2: Beef Tartare

This was such a clever dish. Rather than serving the tartare with a traditional crostini, the meat was nestled inside a tart and topped with a dollop of hollandaise-like sauce instead of the customary egg yolk.

Tártaro de Camarão Vermelho, Guanciale, Caldo de Cebola

Red prawn tartare, guanciale, roasted onion broth.

Robalo de Anzol, Molho de Carabineiro, Ervas de Ria

Line caught sea bass, red scarlet prawn sauce, saltbush leaf.

This was the first time I had eaten saltbush which is a plant that is native to Australia. It added a salty, herbaceous quality to this dish that I really loved.

Lombo de Veado, Cogumelo, Macadamia

Venison loin, mushroom, macadamia nut.

I usually avoid ordering venison because it is such a lean meat that, if cooked incorrectly, will easily and quickly dry out and become very tough and unpleasant to eat. This was not the case at Elemento. This venison was tender, moist and flavorful.

Entrecôte de Minhota, Bochecha Assada, Vegetais, Cominhos

Beef entrecôte, braised cheek, oak grilled vegetables, cumin.

Bolo de Abóbora, Espuma de Feno, Merengue de Szechuan

Pumpkin cake, hay foam, szechuan pepper meringue.

This meal was flawless. To my surprise, Elemento is Michelin-recommended but does not have a star, which I think it deserves. I highly recommend Elemento if you are in Porto.

Cantinho do Avillez

Chef José Avillez is a legend in my book. He earned his first Michelin star while working at Tavares, arguably the oldest restaurant in Lisbon. Two years later, he set out on his own and opened Cantinho Do Avillez. This, his first solo venture, is his tribute to Portuguese home cooking. The menu features an array of comfort foods that are all perfectly executed.

Assortment of breads with olives, tomato and garlic sauce, and house-made butter

Deep Fried Green Beans with Tartar Sauce

Green beans tempura seasoned with lemon, salt and tartar sauce.

Prawns à Bulhão Pato

Prawns with white wine, lemon juice and cilantro, sautéed in olive oil.

After opening this restaurant, Chef Avillez opened Belcanto. Within a year of Belcanto's opening, he earned his second Michelin star. He now has over 20 restaurants, each with a unique concept. Impressive, right? Oh, and did I mention that he is only 43 years old? Cantinho Do Avillez was the only one of Chef Avillez' restaurants I was able to visit while in Portugal and it was magnificent. I will definitely be back to experience more from this exceptionally talented chef and entrepreneur.

Almeja

Almeja is run by husband and wife team, João Cura and Sofia Amaral Gomes who have created this cozy, charming, bistro-style restaurant in a former, historic, grocery shop. "Almeja" means "to crave" in Portuguese and this restaurant produces dishes that you will indeed crave.

Carolina Rice from Mondego, Seafood and Seaweed

Carolina rice, I learned, is a native Portuguese rice from Mondego (the river that crosses Coimbra). In this dish, the rice was cooked risotto-style and loaded with cuttlefish and samphire (a succulent that grows wild near rocky or marshy saltwater sources). The brininess of the samphire harmonized beautifully with the sweet and milky notes of the cuttlefish.

Sweet Curry, Coconut, Mango and Lime

This dessert was so creative. It introduced me to a flavor combination I had never experienced. The server insisted I order it and I am glad I acquiesced. This was one of the most happily surprising desserts I have ever had.

On another note, prior to my trip to Portugal, people kept insisting that because I speak a moderate amount of Spanish, I would be able to pick up Portuguese. I must strongly disagree, as I found the two languages extremely different. For example, in Spanish, "almeja" means "clam." You can imagine how confused I was when I searched the entire menu and could not find a single clam. I did however find many things to crave.

The Famous Francesinha From a Street Vendor

Francesinha

No culinary tour of Porto would be complete without a Francesinha. Imagine someone looking at a French croque monsieur and deciding that what it really needed was more meat, more cheese, and significantly more sauce.

The result is the Francesinha.

Created in Porto by chef Daniel Silva after returning from France, the sandwich layers bread, steak, ham, sausage, and cured meats before being smothered in melted cheese and a rich tomato-beer sauce. It is unapologetically excessive. It is also unapologetically delicious.

Porto had already impressed me with its architecture, river views, and history. Its food completed the picture. From sophisticated tasting menus to humble street food, every meal felt connected to the city and its traditions. And while my time in Porto was coming to an end, another Portuguese experience still awaited.

Next, I would travel into the Douro Valley, the world's oldest demarcated wine region, to learn more about the wines that helped make Portugal famous.