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We've compiled the best of the best in Northern Portugal - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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.
An 1820s manor turned 11-room inn, Falcão de Mendonça's restaurant has warm service and surprisingly reasonable prices. On the menu is Portuguese fare with a few interesting additions, like shrimp-stuffed bacalhau, rabbit stew, and prawns with garlic mushrooms. You can take your meal beside the outdoor pool, and there's a billiards table to amuse the kids while you linger over your meal—but they're sure to run back to the table for a dessert of crêpes topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce, or crema catalana (the cinnamon-scented Iberian version of crème brûlée).
The popular, no-frills sister eatery to Taverna de Matilde, Arco Iris serves big portions of home-style fare such as jabalí (wild boar) stew, roast lamb, and grilled cod. There's a short list of inexpensive regional wines. If you have any room left at the end of your meal, try the almond mousse.
With tables nestled inside oversized wine barrels, Terra de Montanha has an interior design that's as memorable as the food. Try excellent specials such as bacalhau with onion escabeche and mayonnaise or a well-flavored meat dish such as the house veal, which is seasoned, grilled, and then roasted with potatoes before being served with sautéed vegetables. The kitchen stays open late here—dinner is served almost until midnight on weekends.
