Are you looking for a culinary experience to kick-off your Porto, Portugal vacation? Look no further than Taste Porto for the best food tour in Porto! Taste Porto is the oldest food tour in Porto, Portugal and allows you to to skip the tourist traps and have an authentic Portuguese cultural experience via food in Porto.
My sister and I booked the Downtown Food tour which was 3.5 hours and 65 Euro (or about $75 USD for each ticket). This included a lot of off the beaten path places and a visit to the local food market. The best part is that the tour can accommodate vegetarians and other dietary needs.
The other food tours Taste Porto offers are:
- Food Passport: Which is a self-guided Food Tour: This tour includes seeing Porto through the lens of a local. It is also geared towards travelers who want to walk around alone without the help of a tour guide. This tour is available in 7 languages and is 3.5 hours long which will give you plenty of things to do in Porto.
- Craft Beer & Food Tour: This tour is focused around the idea of demystifying the idea that Porto is only about wine. It’s also about beer! This tour is geared towards beer enthusiasts to learn about the basics of brewing, exploring the craft beer history of Porto and discovering brewing techniques used. The tour is about 3 hours.
- Vintage Food Tour: This tour is geared towards first time Porto visitors and covers just over 1.5 miles of classic Portuguese food and drinks, history, architecture, and culture. This tour also has a bonus mini-masterclass in Port wine. The tour is about 3.5 hours for all food in porto lovers.
Our Food Tour in Porto
Our food tour in Porto included 6 stops. We booked ahead of time before arriving in Porto and met our tour guide at the corner of Rua da Firmeza and Rua Santa Catarina in Downtown Porto which was a short walk from our hotel. If you plan to go on this tour, wear comfortable walking shoes and bring some bottled water with you. There is a lot of walking, standing, sitting, and of course eating food in Porto throughout the tour.
Porto Food Tour Stop #1: Loja dos Pastéis de Chaves
Our first stop was at Loja dos Pastéis de Chaves. What this restaurant is famous for is their “Pastel de Chaves.” On the tour we learned that you can only name a pastry “Chaves” if it comes from or is made with ingredients from this particular region in Portugal. Chaves is a city and a municipality in the extreme north of Portugal, about 13 miles south of Spain.
We tasted the Pastel de Chaves which is a Veal filled pastry. There was also a vegetarian option available with mushrooms.
We then tried a dessert styled pastry called “Pastel de Chaves de Chocolate” which was a chocolate filled pastry in a flakey shell. Both were very good! Imagine the delicacy of a croissant with a really nice savory or sweet filling on the inside. These pastries are baked from a family recipe and are light, buttery, and fluffy for the perfect flake.
Porto Food Tour Stop #2: Bolhão Wine House
Our next stop was to Bolhão Wine House. This restaurant is temporarily inside of the temporary Mercado do Bolhão which is a building with vendors selling produce and prepared foods. The original building is a historic, bi-level market in a 19th century structure that is undergoing major renovations. The Mercado Temporário Bolhão is a nicely remodeled space underneath the La Vie Porto Baixa which is a few blocks from the original Mercado.
Our tour guide gave us the freedom to walk the entire Mercado Temporário Bolhão which was nice to see the other vendors and shop for souvenirs. At the Bolhão Wine House we ate the following goodies:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the Douro Valley called “Azeite do Douro”
- Canned Sardines by Georgette called “Sardinhas Enlatadas”
- Mackerel Patê by Cego de Maio
- White Wine from Vinho Verde region
We took a separate trip to the Douro Valley the day after our food tour which is a must if you are visiting Portugal! The Douro Valley is known for its beautiful rivers, bridges, and wine, up to Barca de Alva, and is the oldest wine region in the world. The name comes from the river which has historically carved deep valleys into the land. The other thing the Douro Valley is known for is their Olive trees so it was really great to taste the Olive Oil from this region.
I’m personally not a fan of sardines but they were really good on this tour! The Mackerel pate was also really tasty with the bread and olive oil. Mackerel is an oily fish that is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. If you’ve never tried Mackerel before, it tastes similar to tuna or salmon and has a bit of a sweet taste. The way we were served this meal was in the form of a patê so it was grounded up and used as a spread. The wine pairing with these items was perfect!
Porto Food Tour Stop #3: Flor dos Congregados
Our third stop was at Flor dos Congregados. This restaurant is tucked away down a narrow alley and is a long time family-run business.
The sign right outside the door at this location said “slow food.” At first I didn’t understand what that meant until we were seated and ordered our sandwiches. The slow food reference is referring to how the restaurant cooks their meats which is low and slow for the best taste and flavor. At this restaurant we tasted the following:
- A Double Layered Sandwich with Roasted Pork Loin and Smoked Ham called “Sandes Terylene”
- Red Sparkling Wine called “Vinho Tinto Bruto da Quinta de São Domingos”
The sandwiches were double layered with roasted pork and ham. I’ve never seen a sandwich made with so much detail! The vegetarian option included cheese and was as fancy of a grilled cheese as I’ve ever encountered. At this restaurant we learned to toast with our wine and say “Par nós” which means “to us!”
Porto Food Tour Stop #4: Café Guarany
Our fourth stop was at the Café Guarany which is an old-fashioned cute cafe that has been open since 1933. We went over the difference between how to order coffee in Portugal vs. the United States. In Portugal coffee is usually consumed similar to Italian espresso and is ordered as a “um Café” or “um Cimbalino” in Porto. You can also order tea at this restaurant if you are not a coffee drinker.
Porto Food Tour Stop #5: All in Porto
Our next stop was All in Porto. This was one of my favorite spots! If you love Charcuterie you will love this place. We were served:
- Three different Portuguese cured meats
- Three different Portuguese cheeses
- Bread and Olive Oil from Douro Valley
- Pumpkin Jam
- Red table wine from Douro valley region
The selection of meats and cheese were so tasty with the red wine at All in Porto. The pumpkin jam was absolutely delicious and was served as a sweet element to the salty foods. I made sure to bring some of this back with me to the States and bought this jam in a jar in Lisbon (which was the second half of our trip).
Sadly it looks like this location has been permanently closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant has started a new project called Kug Porto.
Porto Food Tour Stop #6: Monstra Nacional
Our last stop was at Monstra Nacional to round out the Porto food tour with dessert! We ate a traditional Portugues pudding called “Abade de Priscos.”
Abade de Priscos is a typical Portuguese dessert that is a rich creme caramel pudding created in the 19th century by Father Manuel Joaquim Machado Rebelo. What makes this pudding unique is that it contains bacon and a very large amount of egg yolks. It was really sweet but also very tasty. This dessert was served with “Licor de Singeverga” which is an Aromatic and Balsamic Herbs Liqueur and it was very strong! The shop itself was a really cute business tucked away near the river in Porto and sold some other sweets, treats, wines, and mugs.
A Bit of History Too
Our tour guide was such a delight and we even had a history tour on our walk from location to location which was really nice. If you are planning a trip to Porto make sure you book a tour with Taste Porto for the true Portuguese foodie experience. As they say in Portugal “Até a próxima” or until next time!
The food looks delicious! I have only been to São Miguel but Porto looks beautiful and the food definitely makes me want to visit now!
https://whereintheworldismaria.com
It was! I hope you get to travel to Porto one day. You will love it!
– Monica