Favourite Foods

I'm not a foodie. But I love eating. And I need to eat regularly. Or I get cranky.

So I made sure I took every opportunity to eat while in Porto. It's not hard. There are restaurants everywhere.

For breakfast, I got a few things in the nearby mini-market - so I had green tea, yogurt, blueberries, banana, rice cakes and a square of dark chocolate. A good way to start the day.

Lunches were mostly rushed during the symposium, as we were going from workshop to workshop/sketchwalk. 

Dinners, we had a bit more time. We ate well every day, despite minimum Tripadvisor research in advance!!

DaTerra vegetarian and vegan restaurant, on the ground floor of my building. Noisy, and staff can be a bit stressed at times, but the food was simple and tasty. And it's an all-you-can-eat buffet at lunch and dinner during the week. 

Tram Restaurante, just beside the tram, lovely terrace shaded by a big tree, nice service. Delicious food. Sardines bruschetta starter!

And then I had a main course of octopus and potatoes and salad. A good lunch! Despite my love of octopus, I was able to eat this! It was perfectly cooked. Firm but tender.

I wasn't sure of the name of this place. It's a little restaurant on the little praça just below the Alfândega do Porto, our hub for the Urban Sketchers Symposium. According to Google Maps it's called Casa Mara. The owners were a bit stressed as every chair was taken by hungry sketchers. But the food was lovely, and very good value. We wanted to eat there one evening, but they were closing. Maybe they were sold out. And they feed the local felines, including a beautiful Siamese cat. In this picture, sardines and rice.

This wasn't the best meal of the holiday, but it did the job - chicken, rice and crisps. I was hungry. It filled my tummy. Somewhere near Rua das Flores. A pork restaurant. Friendly and good value. The power kept going off.

Back to DaTerra for a lunch on my own. I needed a break from all the talking. I actually found the food better at lunch. And I had an Eddy Veggie green drink that pepped me up.

Taberna do barqueiro - this became my favourite restaurant in Porto. We wanted dinner in Casa Mara but they were not serving food in the evening, so we went literally across the lane. This turned out to be delicious. I had octopus and rice that evening. Pat had the seafood pasta, which looked divine. With a glass of vinho verde, the perfect end to the day. And good value too.

Back to Taberna do Barqueiro - octopus and salad. I had sardines and salad another lunchtime and it was equally delicious. And on the last day of the symposium the chef brought pastries to Shari Blaukopf and her students, who had been sketching in the lane right behind the taberna.

Not my best picture, but this is Taberna do Barqueiro - the yellow building with the red window frames. Small, but perfect.

For our last night, we found a more upmarket restaurant, Restaurante LSD (don't ask, I have no idea).  On the little praça at the bottom of rua das Flores. There was no room at the terrace, so we ate indoors. Some had fish, others had meat. I went for a vegetarian dish - peas, barley, asparagus and other bits and pieces. It was delicious, and still amazing value.

I couldn't end this post without mentioning pasteis de nata (pastel de nata is the singular, pasteis de nata is the plural). A sweet pastry with custard. Delicious at any time of the day or night! And I was able to buy a box of six at the airport to bring home to my husband!