Porto

[ramnes]

Yeah, Porto wine is very common as an apéritif in France, but I still have to taste the Moscatel de Setúbal. I already heard about it and it seems very tasty, so I'm not going to forget that one!

Do you guys know some good places where I can eat local food and drink good wines, that's not a big tourist trap?

Also, is there any Portuguese wine that I should try, but which is "normal" (not 20° wine)? Is there a name to qualify those "normal" wines in opposition to apéritifs?

And yeah, Prelim, give me some good names.

[lolpes]

You should definitely try "Francesinha" although as for the where you should eat it, you are better of asking @rddm for that info

Well it really depends on the place you chose have your meal, so probably a good safe bet is to ask for a "monocasta" wine, which is made with only 1 type of grapes (normally indicator of a good harvest). Normally these are a bit more expensive, but not always.

[Prelim]

I usually drink Moscatel de Setubal in cofees/bars when I go out with friends, it's also still my "daily driver" when I go out play pool (snooker) twice a week or so
Normal bottles of Moscatel cost less than 10€ (Quinta da Bacalhoa, José Maria da Fonseca or Ermelinda Freitas - I prefer the Bacalhoa). You can try and also purchase the Moscatel de Setubal "Roxo" (high end of Mostatel de Setúbal wines), I already bought it several times for birthday/christmas gifts, as its still cheap and VERY VERY good. You can find it in hypermarkets (such Pingo Doce and Continente) for about 20€.



I'm not from Porto, so I don't know the best restaurant places in there... maybe @rddm can help with this one!

As for the regular wines (meal wines as we refer), I can point several red and white wines. Here's some very good ones that don't steel wallets (my personal favs on bold):

Red:
- Chaminé (~5€), EA (~5€), etc
- Esporão reserva (~15€)
- Cartuxa (~15€) or Cartuxa Reserva (~25€)


Whites
- Alvarinho Deu La Deu (~5€)
- Palácio da Brejoeira Almarinho (~15€)
- Pêra Manca (~25€)

of course that for richer guys, there are some other wines... they can go from a red Incógnito (~70€) to a Pêra Manca tinto (~300€) lol

btw @lolpes,
I really hate "francesinhas"... I call it the fat kamikaze (all that fat dip, the cheese etc braghhh). There's plenty of good portuguese food to try, instead of it.
Also, "monocasta" wines aren't necessarily expensive or even indicator of good wines!!

[Zaphir]

@prelim

"Beer" in mind...
(lol nvm, I'll show myself the way out now...)

[rddm]

You will stay in downtown @ramnes?
If you want to try our famous sandwich, Francesinha, I suggest Café Santiago. Is not a big sandwich but is the most famous place that isn't a trap. The place is in front of Porto coliseum. In downtown you can eat in a lot of places and prices are quite nice. Francesinha will round 10-12€ with a beer.

[DanielT]

I have to visit Portugal one day

[Prelim]

I'll be your touring guide gladly

[DanielT]

I'll be your touring guide gladly

It's a deal I love the sea, good food and good wine, and Portugal has everything

[Prelim]

also my kind of thing... great seafood, grilled fish, good wine and lots of sun and salty water!

[DanielT]

also my kind of thing... great seafood, grilled fish, good wine and lots of sun and salty water!

Stop talking about that !! Can't wait the summer

[Prelim]

hehe

just to tease a bit... my fav spot: "Berlengas", best diving water in the country (excluding Azores)

[lolpes]

That look awesome Prelim! I never went there too, so I would be in on that tour guide too hehe

Also for great seafood we also have Cascais near my home (bit expensive for what you get), and Ericeira which I went to recently before going to Ireland, and has some great restaurants!

[Prelim]

indeed, good fish in Cascais but for richer fellows... I've came to the conclusion that you end up having a better time, better food and far cheaper outside the cosmopolitan areas (Lisboa and Porto), that's why I love my place Oeste/Estremadura and also some Algarve spots

There are some Alentejo areas (Costa vicentina) that I would like to explore as well, since they have great beaches, it's very quiet, cheap and have almost no tourism.

[ramnes]

rddm, I should stay in Porto or around since our Airbnb is there. But wow Prelim, that place looks awesome! A bit too far from Porto, though.

Thanks Prelim and rddm for all those tips, I going to try everything you said and report back here!

[Prelim]

np, feel free the take some doubts if they arise!

Btw, I also forgot to mention one thing regarding the Moscatel wine. As moscatel is a grape variety and since you're going to Porto, you may see "Moscatel do Douro" or "Moscatel de Favaios" available on stores as well. Douro/Favaios moscatel (North) is far worse than Setúbal region (South) in my opinion... Moscatel de Setúbal is still the REAL THING and have a more round, aromatic and sweeter taste

[rddm]

@ramnes do you know what location (inside Porto district) you will stay?

[ramnes]

Thanks Prelim for the warning. It's quite obvious, but still better told.

Yes rddm, we'll stay near the Universidade de Porto.

[Zaphir]

also my kind of thing... great seafood, grilled fish, good wine and lots of sun and salty water!

You forgot the ladies. The portuguese women are muy caliente.

If any of you ever plans to spend a week or two in a beach area in the Summer then I can recommend Vilamoura. The beach is very good and calm (the water is usually "hot") and there's plently of places to go out at night.
Plus, if you have kids there's a nice waterpark nearby ("Aqua Show") in Quarteira which is pretty much next to Vilamoura.

It's one of the best places in Algarve to go on holidays imo.

[Prelim]

Vilamoura = largest tourism place on Algarve ever!! lol
quite fine for spending an evening walking on the marine or going out to the Casino, but worst place to take a quiet beach vacations imho!

if you want the REAL Algarve, then you should start with Tavira region (great beaches) and Ria Formosa main islands (Armona, Fuzeta and Culatra)

[rddm]

@ramnes the university are distributed in a lot of departments and they are spread all around the city.
Anyway if you are in Campo Alegre you have a beautiful view to the Douro river and you are close to the wines cellars.
If you are close to the são João Hospital, you have the metropolitan almost in the front and if you pay 1,2€ you can go to the downtown where you can see Clerigo's Tower, Ribeira, Douro's riverside, many squares, etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCI5JeL8rSc

Check this video from Kirill, almost all places are in downtown.

[ramnes]

Woops! We'll be close to the Praça de Lisboa.

[rddm]

You will be in down-town then and in the middle of the party ehehhe.
You have a coffee shop like starbucks 2minutes on foot. 5min you have 2 routes with a lot of bars and discos. If you want a good music night, try Plano B is the favourite of tourists and Erasmus people.
The Universidade do Porto is the old one is very beautiful and café piolho is the most known spot where you can eat (don't know if is good, never tried; just the Superbock).
Prices in that city are quite nice. People always go to that part because is cheap and have a lot of spaces. You can buy a beer 33cl for 1€, 20cl for 0,5€.



This is the spot (in front of Coliseu do Porto) for the sandwitch, Francesinha. Name is Café Santiago, also visit Majestic Café. You can see some photos of that spot on google.
Bolhão is the local market and stores. Aliados is the most beautiful square in all Porto. São Bento station is incredible beautiful

[Prelim]

Majestic Café definitely worth a visit! (I would like to go there as well)

[Zaphir]

@ramnes the university are distributed in a lot of departments and they are spread all around the city.
Anyway if you are in Campo Alegre you have a beautiful view to the Douro river and you are close to the wines cellars.
If you are close to the são João Hospital, you have the metropolitan almost in the front and if you pay 1,2€ you can go to the downtown where you can see Clerigo's Tower, Ribeira, Douro's riverside, many squares, etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCI5JeL8rSc

Check this video from Kirill, almost all places are in downtown.

Wow, esse vídeo da cidade do Porto está muito fixe, gostei muito da edição. O Porto tem vistas lindíssimas tmb, damn.
E a escolha de música também está fixe.

Gostava imenso de ir ao Porto um dia... já lá estive perto, mas nunca visitei a cidade em si.

[webwit]

This topic became quite insufferable, it had to stop, as it kept making me very thirsty.

So I got myself a little Portuguese (and Brazilian) beer starter kit from an importer. I'll mini-review these this evening.

[miguelbazil]

Hahaha nicely done @webwit, give us some feedback once you've run some... tests

[Prelim]

ahahaha, really nice @webwit!
you need to try also the Sagres Preta and Bohemia in order to compare VS that Superbock Stout

[Spikebolt]

ROFL!

Try them all and then tell us why Stout is the best.

[lolpes]

Awesome @webwit! Do tell us how you like them!

[JotaCe]

Tá visto que precisamos de fazer um meetup aqui no Norte