Plates of meat, cod and chickpea salad, and octopus salad
Bacalhau com Grao - Cod and Chickpea Salad along with ham, and octopus salad

Portuguese Food Tour in Porto

Back in 2017 I went on an excellent food tour in Porto. It was a four hour food tour around the old city of Porto taking in five different food locations along with plenty of wine pairings and some cultural chat. If you want some inspiration for Porto food and wine, here is everything I ate in Porto on the Portuguese food tour. 

inside the train station with large arched windows surrounded by blue and white tiles
São Bento Station – Porto train station
Pale green soup and glass of white wine
Caldo Verde – Kale and Potato Soup

Caldo Verde – Kale and Potato Soup

The first restaurant we visited was O Rápido on R. da Madeira, a road that runs alongside the famous 19th century train station, São Bento Station. This blue and white tiled train station is one of the prettiest terminals, it’s definitely worth a visit.

There we tried the Kale and Potato Soup (Caldo Verde) along with a rather generous glass of white wine. Both were delicious and a great sign of the tour to come. The owners of the restaurant were incredibly friendly and welcoming.

O Rapido – R. da Madeira 194, 4000-330 Porto, Portugal

Porto street art
Porto street art
cobbled street with old buildings
Street in Porto
Fish cake and green wine
Pataniscas de Bacalhau – Fish cake

Pataniscas de Bacalhau – Fish Cake

Once fed we walked up the steep hill outside the restaurant passing some striking street art along the way. Many local urban street artists practice their work here.

We stopped at a small restaurant called Tasca Casa Louro on R. de Cimo de Vila. This is a charming football poster-laden petiscos stop. There we were served fish cake (Pataniscas de Bacalhau) with rye bread, along with green wine.

I felt like this food felt very much like picnic food. It was great. The fish cake (Patanisca), made with salted cod, was mild and filling. The rye bread offered a yummy tangy contrast. The green wine was a new experience for me, it was fresh and uplifting, perfect in the hot weather.

Tasca Casa Louro – R. de Cimo de Vila 80, 4000-171 Porto, Portugal

Portuguese sausage
Alheira – Portuguese sausage

Alheira – Jewish style Portuguese sausage

We walked up the road to another large square surrounded by more restaurants. There we headed to a small cafe restaurant in the basement. 

Here we tried the infamous Jewish-style pork sausage (Alheira) which our hosts had been talking about a LOT. They were big fansn. The sausage came out served with crisps, which was a new thing for me. But it worked great served with a jug of rose wine. 

Plates of meat, cod and chickpea salad, and octopus salad
Bacalhau com Grao – Cod and Chickpea Salad along with ham, and octopus salad

Bacalhau com Grao – Cod and Chickpea Salad

The final restaurant, called Taxca, on the food tour was possibly my favourite (although it’s a difficult call as they were all great). This modern Portuguese cafe restaurant had a large bar decorated with hanging hams. And unsurprisingly we tried some truly exquisite cured ham there. Along with that we had a plate of the cod and chickpea salad (Bacalhau com Grao) and an octopus salad. This was accompanied with another refreshing and delicious glass of rose wine. 

At this point of the day and food tour the wine was going to my head so I asked the bartender for some water. And as it turns out there is a local cultural custom of ridiculing anyone who orders water instead of booze! Here the bartender whacks a bell nailed to the wall with her fist for every order of water that it made. It was certainly an experience!

Taxca, Rua da Picaria 26, 4050-477 Porto

Portuguese pastries
Pasteis de Nata – Portuguese Custard Tart

Pasteis de Nata – Portuguese Custard Tart

For our final stop on the Portuguese food tour, we stopped at a cafe, called Padaria Ribeiro, for a very much welcomed coffee and pastries. For the most part, espresso is the coffee of choice in Porto but I did order a little milk to go with mine. The group sat outside the cafe at a table on the street and chatted over our day of food. It was a truly lovely way to spend some time on this trip.

Padaria Ribeiro, Praça Guilherme Gomes Fernandes 21, 4050-526 Porto

 

All in all it was a great Porto food tour and I’m a big fan of Portuguese food. If you are looking for ideas on what to do in Porto, Portugal this would be one of my recommendations.

Have you tried Portuguese food? Which is your favourite Portuguese dish? 

Also read about how to spend a weekend in Porto, Portugal.