Portugal

the eastern edge of the town’s medieval port. You’ll wait for your table in a street-level
bar, amid an intriguing collection of 18th-century stonework and latter-day poured
concrete. The sprawling upstairs dining room contains a medley of different architectural
styles, as well as once-concealed stairways and granite facades of elaborate 17th-century
houses that were buried during excavations for a nearby traffic tunnel during the 18th
century. They were unearthed during the renovations that led up to the opening of this
restaurant.
Menu items are savory and superb. Stellar examples include a soup of fresh green beans
with herbs and tomatoes, at least four (and sometimes more) preparations of codfish,
roasted kid in red-wine sauce, a wide selection of shellfish, and modernized versions of
the kind of earthy rural food that many Portuguese remember fondly from their childhoods.
The wine list is so comprehensive that some American gastronomy magazines
have added it to their reference collection for research on the Portuguese wine industry.
13–15 Cais de Ribeira. & 22/200-43-07. Reservations required. Main courses 16€–30€. AE, DC, MC, V.
Daily 12:30–2:45pm and 7:30–11:15pm. Bus: 1.
Lagosteiro PORTUGUESE/SHELLFISH This favorite has won a number of gastronomic
awards in Portugal, and its wine cellar is one of the best in the city, especially
strong on vintages from the nearby Douro. It’s air-conditioned in summer, but on a
winter night it glows with a fireplace and candlelight. The chefs go that morning to the
nearest fish market for raw materials, which they prepare with a superb simplicity. Shellfish,
such as lobster and shrimp, are the specialties, but you may opt for the catch of the
day, which can be grilled to your specifications. Fish soup makes a good starter, and you
can order such delights as sole flavored with fresh coriander or a particularly savory sea
bream cooked with clams. If you’d never had tripe, you might try it here. It’s cooked in
port-wine sauce.
Avenida Fernão Magalhães 1180. & 22/536-66-78. Reservations recommended. Main courses 15€–25€.
MC, V. Mon–Sat noon–3pm and 7–11pm.
Restaurante Portucale INTERNATIONAL/PORTUGUESE This restaurant,
one of the most courtly in Porto, opened in 1969 on the 13th (uppermost) floor of
the same building that contains the also-recommended hotel, the Albergaria Miradouro.
Expect a combination of aristocratic Portugal with a slightly dated 1970s-era decor
(including some tangerine-hued tile work). It offers panoramic views of the cityscape
around it; tables that are elaborately set with fine silver, porcelain, and flowers; and absolutely
superb food.
Specialties usually include foie gras with truffles in puff pastry, wild boar in red-wine
sauce, roast capon with walnut sauce, braised escalopes of fresh foie gras, stewed kid in
red wine; and two different preparations of partridge (our favorite is stuffed with foie gras
and stewed in port). The grilled sea bass with tartar sauce is also excellent, as is an oldfashioned
and succulent dish, sole Walewski.
In the Albergaria Miradouro. Rua de Alegria 598. & 22/537-07-17. Reservations required. Main courses
16€–30€. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 12:30–2:30pm and 7:30–11pm. Bus: 20.
Inexpensive
Brasserie Irene Jardim PORTUGUESE This dining room often does a thriving
business with locals. The menu is made up of traditional recipes often given creative
touches. Start perhaps with the fresh mushrooms stuffed with smoked ham, bacon, and
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