Long Weekend in Porto

A Long Weekend in Porto: Natural Wine, Steep Hills, and Serious Eats
At a breezy two-and-a-half-hour flight from London, Porto is essentially begging you to book that long weekend. To make matters sweeter, Porto Airport (OPO) is delightfully close to the city center—meaning a £15 Uber had me at my Airbnb door before post-flight fatigue could even set in (a rare, beautiful miracle for European travel). Four nights proved to be the absolute sweet spot for eating my way through this gastronomic paradise, including an unmissable day trip out to the Douro Valley (more on that train journey in an upcoming post!). Once in town, the only wheels you’ll need are your own two feet—just consider this your official warning that Porto’s hills will give your calves a serious workout.

Porto is famous for its Port wine lodges, blue-tiled azulejo architecture, and iconic iron bridges spanning the Douro River. While I sadly didn’t have time to cross the Dom Luís I Bridge to tour the historic Port houses in Gaia, I ended up discovering just how varied and criminally underrated the rest of Portuguese wine is—largely thanks to a few stellar visits to Cave Bombarda.

Market Bites: Mercado do Bolhão & Casa das Ostras
If you want to immerse yourself in Porto’s culinary energy, head straight to Mercado do Bolhão. This iconic market is an absolute sensory overload in the best way possible—a bustling, vibrant hubbub filled with vendor stalls slinging local cheeses, cured meats, fresh produce, and plenty of wine.

Among the myriad food and drink options, Casa das Ostras was an absolute highlight. Perching nearby with a plate of fresh, beautifully briny oysters and a crisp glass of wine while soaking up the lively hum of the market around you is easily one of the most enjoyable afternoon pitstops you can make in the city.

Cedofeita: Coffee, Boutiques & Low-Intervention Wine
If you do one thing in Porto, spend a day exploring Cedofeita, the city’s trendy arts and creative quarter. Start your morning at Hakko for some fantastic coffee and breakfast, enjoyed while listening to whatever vinyl they’re spinning that morning. I had a wonderful French toast steeped in a lemon, cardamom, and olive oil sauce alongside a Kenyan pour-over. The only points deducted were for serving the coffee in one of those handleless, wide-brimmed bowls—not only are they a pain to drink out of, but they lose heat faster than you can obnoxiously take a photo of your food.

After breakfast, browse inside the bohemian Centro Comercial Bombarda arcade’s boutique shops with their strong focus on local artisans—especially SCAR-ID, where I had to exercise serious financial restraint to avoid buying up the entire store.

Once the clock strikes an acceptable hour for daytime drinking, head over to Cave Bombarda, easily my top recommendation in Porto. For €20, you can enjoy a flight of 5 (or more) glasses. If you’re as charming as I am, your pours come with an in-depth breakdown of the bottles and an impromptu Portuguese geography lesson—proving there is so much more to the country’s wine scene than just Port and Vinho Verde (pro tip: don’t bring up Chin Chin to any serious wine lover here).

The Breakfast Benchmark: Protest & von&vonnie
Every now and then on a trip, you find a place that makes you bitterly disappointed it isn’t your neighbourhood local. Enter: breakfast at Protest. The space is minimalist yet welcoming, and while the dining room was filled exclusively with fellow Brits working off the same blog recommendation, the kitchen earned every bit of hype. I opted for the Turkish breakfast—a feast so massive it swallowed two-thirds of the table. The feeling when it all landed was like raiding your fridge immediately after an epic grocery shop, pulling out all the prime ingredients, and indulging in a top-tier grazing session. Washed down with an impeccably made Freddo espresso, it was the ideal power breakfast: wonderfully satisfying, without leaving me weighed down for a day on my feet.

Another gem worth seeking out is von&vonnie, an oozingly cool coffee-shop-meets-wine-bar tucked away in Eastern Porto. While a bit out of the main tourist centre, it’s well worth the detour. They serve beautifully crafted coffee and food—I only wish I could have justified ordering a 10:00 AM glass of natural wine alongside my espresso tonic and shakshuka.

The Dinner Debrief: Hits, Misses, and Solo Dining
The Disappointment: Cozinha das Flores
If you’re anything like me, you meticulously scour the internet for food and drink recommendations out of an intense case of FOMGE (Fear Of Missing Good Eats). When a hyped meal misses the mark, it feels like a genuinely wasted opportunity. Sadly, Cozinha das Flores—a spot I saw recommended everywhere—turned out to be a total letdown.

To start, I have a firm rule about fine dining: crying children and high-end tasting experiences simply do not mix. Next came the spatial geometry. The tables were set ridiculously close together—having to physically slide an entire table over just so a neighboring diner can squeeze out is hardly the height of hospitality, and nobody wants someone else’s rump hovering inches from their wine glass, threatening a row of gorgeous Gabriel-Glas stems.

Distractions aside, the food was unremarkable. I opted for the €35 three-course lunch menu with wine pairings; while the dessert wine shone, the rest of the pours were fairly uninspiring. Add in dirty cutlery left on the table between courses and watching neighbouring tables receive petit fours that never landed at my spot, and the experience felt far more lazy than refined. It’s easy to see why Michelin has kept them at ‘recommended’ status rather than awarding a star.

The Hit: Genuino
My main dinner recommendation goes to Genuino, back in Cedofeita. They did trigger one of my personal pet peeves—announcing that “the menu is designed for sharing” when I am quite clearly sitting there alone—but the food and wine quickly made up for it. I am always overjoyed to see Jura available by the glass (and appreciated the staff checking I knew what I was in for flavour-wise), and the smoked beef tongue was easily the standout dish of the night. It even managed to make me forget my burning hatred for backless bar stools during a multi-course meal.

Honourable Mention: Funq
While I didn’t get a chance to eat a full meal at Funq—I was just squeezing in a farewell glass of natural wine before collecting my luggage (thanks, Bounce app!)—I did spot a magnificent grilled cheese coming out of the kitchen. Grab a stool at the bar, order a glass, and have a chat with the team.

The Mixed Bag: Borboleta
I really wanted to love Borboleta. Their leafy courtyard is absolute magic, and the resident rogue cats add plenty of charm, but the service left a lot to be desired for a solo diner. It felt as though no one particularly wanted to attend to the lone woman in the corner, leading to painfully slow pacing—except when my main course was abruptly dumped on the table while I was less than halfway through my starter.

To top it off, the starter featured the boniest sardines known to man, my drinks were brought out on top of each other without checking if I was ready, my dessert was paired with a wine no one bothered to explain, and the parents at a nearby table let their kids hurl rocks across the courtyard unchecked. A shame, because the setting has so much potential.

Final Thoughts
Overall, I adored Porto. The sheer walkability of the city is its greatest charm; I felt completely safe wandering its steep, cobbled streets late into the evening, with none of the underlying edge you find in larger European capitals.

My only real regret? Not packing an extra suitcase exclusively to bring home a dozen more pastéis de nata—and perhaps a few more bottles of Palhete, the vibrant Portuguese red-and-white field blends I fell completely in love with. I suppose I’ll have to return and visit the Port Houses and a larger bag to fill.