5 Best Restaurants in Guimarães, Northern Portugal

Off a small square, behind an unassuming, grey façade is "The Kitchen"—a smart, modern space where you can enjoy the beautifully presented fruits of chef António Loureiro's years of study of regional cuisine across the country. He and his team showcase the best local produce in season, reducing food miles and waste by using herbs and vegetables from the restaurant's upstairs garden and turning offcuts into amuse-bouches. If you can afford it, opt for one of the tasting menus (€140 for ten "moments" plus €70 for wine pairing, or €110 for seven, plus €55)---they're what brought this relative veteran a Michelin star. They will do a vegetarian (or vegan) tasting menu if you let them know ahead of time, and there are also non-alcoholic drinks pairings. You can also order à la carte, and there's a three-course set lunch menu (€35) Wednesdays through Fridays---though if you want it, you must specify that when you make your reservation. The wine list is particularly strong on vinho verde, and many of the wines are organic.

A local institution, Pastelaria Clarinha is the best place to sample regional cakes and pastries. It has a range of delicious sweets, including traditional tortas de Guimarães—pastry rolls with an eggy pumpkin filling—and the local take on toucinho do céu (egg-and-almond cake, here with gila, fig-leaf gourd).

On one of the city's most scenic squares, this handsome eatery across from the Museu de Alberto Sampaio has tables in a wood-paneled dining room and beneath the arches of a cobbled courtyard. Portuguese specialties include polvo à lagareiro (roast octopus) and prime cuts of porco preto (from the Iberian black pig); they also do tender, garlic-marinated steaks.

On the iconic square of Largo do Toural, this venerable eatery whose decor has an Ancient Egyptian theme (hence its name) serves tasty regional dishes at prices that won't break the bank. Both the breaded octopus and the house bacalhau, which is fried and served with sauteed turnip tops, are fantastic. Wash it down with some very drinkable house wine.

Tucked modestly behind a parking garage—follow the arrows to the two modern, air-conditioned dining rooms—this popular local staple prides itself on cooking bacalhau myriad ways, but according to locals the onion-rich house version is the best in the world. The changing menu invariably also features grilled fish and dishes such as filetes de polvo (octopus fritters), roast kid or, on Saturdays, rojões com papas de sarrabulho (pork medallions with corn meal flavored with blood). Most dishes are also available as a meia dose, for one person. For dessert, try the pavê, a Brazilian take on tiramisu, or coroas do rei, traditional pão de ló sponge cake but topped with meringue.