Taberninha do Manel

Great place to visit in Porto. The location is right next to the river and the bridge. They don’t take reservations. We wanted to sit outside so the waiting time was 15 minutes. The food here is amazing. My favorite Francesinha in Porto the sauce was really good. The octopus was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Try the dessert here. It’s so delicious.

Wonderful way to spend our first night in Porto. Beautiful location on the river with kind and attentive service. But the star of the show was the food! I came with a group of six and we all ordered a variety of dishes to share. Some of the standouts were the stuffed bread with cheese, pepper and onions, the seafood casserole, and of course the Mediterranean octopus!

Very nice place. Food was great. Wine sampler may be a bit overpriced and tiny, perhaps it is just for one person. Account took ages, we had to go to the cashier to be able to pay.

Wonderful experience!!! Nice quality food. Menu with large variety of very tasty food. Prices are OK average 20 euro per person. Very well mannered and friendly staff. Although overcrowded service was fast. I will come back. I recommend !!!

The food is good, i can especially recommend the local clams bulhao pato style (EVOO, garlic and cilantro). We also tried both Francesinha (one with roasted pork and one with steak) and one fried egg on top. They accidently served us 2 french fries, which they took back and added 2 more fried eggs (4 in total). We only found out when we paid that we have to pay for all 4 eggs and that splitting the Francesinha costs extra.

During our visit to Porto in 2019, we stumbled upon Taberninha do Manel in Vila Nova de Gaia on a rainy day. Despite waiting for an hour to get inside, we were intrigued as Lia had received a recommendation from a Brazilian living in Portugal. And let me tell you, the wait was absolutely worth it! We were treated to a delightful array of Portuguese dishes, each bursting with flavor. The Porto wine tasting was a highlight, and the desserts were simply heavenly. Situated along the banks of the Rio Douro, the restaurant boasts a fantastic location, offering stunning views—though we found the cozy and fun interior decoration equally charming. The service was friendly and quick once we were seated, and overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our experience at Taberninha do Manel. Highly recommended for anyone looking to savor authentic Portuguese cuisine in a delightful setting.

The food and service were fantastic. Staff was friendly, attentive, and professional. Highly recommend the grilled charizo with artisanal breads and olives to start. I also recommend the Francesinha. If in Porto you have to try it at least once. The fish of the day was also excellent.

First of all, Nicolas provided us with a great service and recommended us a great wine - Quinta Seara D’Orleans 2021 $26. Nice Chorizo. The Pica-Pau Manel is just ok for a dish that carries the Manel signature. The Octopus was tender and tasty. Lombo de Bacalhau came with way too many bones for a loin. Great view of the sunset.

One of the best meals I've had in a while. The octopus was incredible, and the seafood rice casserole was full of tasty shrimp, mussels, and clams. What a great way to spend our first night in Porto!

I enjoyed my visit to Taberninha do Manel! It is in a prime location in Gaia with a view of the market and the river. I came just before lunchtime and was seated quickly - come early because it fills up quickly! There is indoor and outdoor seating but I wanted to people watch. I ordered a cheese plate with bread and olives which was good but not as good as another spot across the river. I also tried the seafood empanadas which were surprisingly mostly nacho cheese and very tiny bits of shrimp. I was disappointed by this - they should put full size shrimps in it if they can for that seafood flavor!! I wouldn't order again. I would say 5 stars for location. 4 stars for service - there were only a few waiters for the entire restaurant and they seemed overwhelmed serving others so it took some time to flag them down. 3 stars for the food. I would consider coming back to try a full meal though!

This is a great option for local tapas. The food is good, portions are big, and the view of the riverwalk is excellent if you get one of the outdoor tables. My favorite item was the grilled chorizo with bread and olives. The chorizo had a nice char, the bread had a sticky consistency (almost mochi-like), and the olives were garlicky. I also liked the veal cheeks in port and vegetable a bras. For dessert, we tried a mousse with egg-like custard; it was interesting, but probably not my favorite dessert as it had too much whipped cream (1 star off). The port flight was fun to try, consisting of a white port, rose port, ruby port, and tawny port. My favorite was the white port. This place is good to try a flight if you haven't tried any...unlikely right?

Cais de Gaia is a wonderful Promenade. Nice views, lots of tasting rooms and lots of restaurants. We had lunch here and it was really delicious. Took a table outside where our Bulldog was welcome as well. Had some bread and goats butter for starters. Also some very good olives. The Polvo Assado (grilled octopus) and baked Bacalhau casserole for mains. Both excellent dishes. Octopus was grilled to perfection, fresh, tender. Really nice meals. Had a bottle of good white wine with the meal. After the meal we went for two flights of Porto. The "Pack Taberninha" for 18 Euros and the "Pack Porto Prestige" for 28 Euros. There is also the "Pack Port 120 Years" which is all Tawny Port. Good Port, but since we know Tawny well, we didn't go for that one. Our two flights were wonderful. A real discovery was the 10 and 20 Year old White Porto "Dona Antonia" from "Ferreira". Divine. Also the "Ruby Reserve Organic" from "Fonseca" was excellent. A young Porto, somwhere between a heavy wine and Porto. Great for some warmer days I'd say. We had a great time here. Staff was amazing. Friendly, helpful. Made us feel very welcome. A nice place to get some good meals. Or to have some Porto and/or wine.

Great spot to watch the sun set over Porto. Near the Luis I bridge and the winery. We did two different Port flights plus bread + butter and olives. A lovely "sit".

Authentic Portuguese dishes. Must try the empanadas - and don't think twice about the seafood one, our favorite so much we came back a second time for them! We also tried the famous Franchescina sandwich. Have to try one.. can say we did . All in all delicious and the staff super friendly.!

Food, ambiance, and service were great. Wonderful experience overall during my visit back to Porto. Portugal after so many years.

I stopped here after wine tasting on a Saturday afternoon. They have a perfect outdoor patio that faces the Douro River. It's definitely very busy but perfect place to grab a traditional meal and people watch on a weekend. I ordered the Bolinhos de bacalhau, a soft cheese and the traditional chorizo. All items were great and large portions, so good for sharing. The only minor inconvenience is that the service is a little slower but if you are not in a rush, it's a great place to leisurely enjoy food and a glass (or bottle) of wine.

After a nice walk across the Dom Luis bridge, we found this restaurant right by the river. They had a decent amount of outdoor seating, which I highly recommend for dinner during sunset. We got the Empanadilla de Cerdo Iberico y Queso de Serra de Estrella as a starter. It still took a while for these to come out, but they were great. Nice crispy outside and the filling was delicious. For entrees we ordered the Bife de Lombo de Boi and Francesinha. We thought both dishes were good and very filling. The experience was really made by the fact that we were dining by the water while the sun set, with people out and about and boats passing by. It was definitely one of those once in a lifetime moments.

Fantastic food and service. Breathtaking view of Porto. I had Bacalhau de nata and Porto wine. DELICIOUS!

When in Porto... Tapas galore and so delicious. Too many to choose from but had to add this for folks who are interested. Pictures doesn't do it justice.

Pro-tip: Sit outside beginning at 6pm, for both daytime, sunset, and twilight views. Service: 5* Price: 4* Taste: 5* Ambience: 5* Based upon Yelp reviews, we stopped here. This place gets very busy, so plan accordingly. This restaurant is located in the cais de gaia area of Porto. Next to all the Port tasting locations. Below the gondolas. The 4 of each had a meal. The beef and pork stew was delicious. The salad and mussels were also very good. The cod was good. The bacalau cake with potatoes was awesome. The desserts were fantastic. The house red wine was excellent. Service was top notch. We will return.

Best meal we had in Porto! The shrimp with head on was my favorite dish. The seafood empanadas were perfect. The franceschina was nice to try for the first time, but I probably wouldn't order it again. The vinho verde was light and crisp and paired well with the seafood heavy meal.

Very busy, and now I know why. I stopped for coffee and beef empanadas. The best empanadas ever. Light, fluffy, and full of flavor. All with an outstanding view of the harbor.

My dad was on a mission to find *THE* octopus dish he's been seeing pictures of while in Porto, and somehow our google map restaurant search led us here. We should have known by its waterfront, touristy hot-spot location that this wasn't it, fam, but alas. Our experience started out great, as the waitress helped us find an A+ parking spot during our dinner, and a warm, outdoor table where we could keep an eye out on the car just in case. Unfortunately, that's where the good ended. We ordered the Mediterranean Octopus w/ Green Sauce, Manel's Pica-Pau (Portuguese Meat Stew), Seafood Rice, and sangria made with port wine. Our waitress also confirmed she'd bring us some bread along with our meal, which we were fine with. The dishes came out very slowly, one dish at a time. The octopus was very unfresh and fishy, and if you order the octopus from the Petiscos & Tapas section, the octopus comes chopped up vs. whole. This was very much NOT what my dad was anticipating, and a let down. The Manel's Pica-Pau (Portuguese Meat Stew) was fine, but at this point we still hadn't received any bread (nor were we able to flag down our waitress), which was disappointing given it would have gone well with the stew. Lastly, when it had been so long that we thought our seafood rice didn't make it into the kitchen, it finally came out, and it was a bit bland and pretty small for the price. Ultimately, the only good thing on our table from this meal was our sangria. Between the extremely disjointed service, mediocre food, and strange pacing, this was definitely a big miss.

We really enjoy the time here, the sangria was really good, the cod and potatoes dish was good but it's very filling, if you have apperirizers you can share the dish. If you arrive by 7 you won't have to wait long.

Excellent restaurant to visit in Porto. Yummy cheeses and tapas! Try the shrimp and don't forget the bread to dip in the delicious sauce

Simply amazing authentic Portuguese food with ama amazing view of Porto from the riverfront. The award winning sheeps milk and honey with bread was to die for. The pic o pao stew was so tender and flavorful. Can't recommend enough. Go here rather than the touristy spots on other side of river

What hype? Absolutely worth the wait on a random weekday night! Situated right outside the Calem wine cellars, this spot has the perfect location to welcome those looking for a filling meal post-wine tour, and we were no different. There were ~10 parties ahead of us in line and the wait was roughly 30 minutes or so, but definitely worth it. The seafood rice featured incredibly rich and delicious flavors, but the star of the show by far was the octopus. Going down as the best octopus I've eaten in my life (so far), the flavors were out of this world! The meat tasted like...meat, not seafood while remaining tender and juicy. Washing everything down with a porto sangria made for a really memorable night on the riverfront in Porto!

Service was impeccable. Offered great suggestions. Wine list exceptional and the food was fresh and tasty. I had a beet salad and friend had mixed salad. Then I had the shrimp and he had the baked cod. We didn't have a good dinner the night before somewhere else and this definitely made up for it!

We loved the location and everything we tried! I had the broken eggs and cochinillo empanadas.

Awesome location with attentive staffs. Beautiful view of Porto waterfront. I enjoyed the francesinha with the beer.

I don't understand how this place has good reviews. The service is not good. Tapas orders come out very slowly and bread we ordered never showed up. The seafood empanada had exactly one shrimp, nothing else and just flavorless cheese. The meat stew was loaded with mystery meat I can only describe as hot dogs. Don't waste your time at this tourist trap

We came by here for dinner after a long day exploring Porto, but sadly we didn't have as great an experience here as the other reviews did. Getting seated took a ~45 min wait but the restaurant is located right next to the river with lots of attractions nearby, so not an issue. For food, I got the Portugese meat stew and my friend got a salad. The meat stew was a lot of meat and very little stew, as you can see from the picture, and was way too salty for me. I didn't appreciate the waiter telling me I had to finish eating it. My friend's salad was OK, but note that there aren't many decent vegetarian options available. For dessert, we started off with a chocolate pudding-like dessert that was really sweet, which didn't pair well with the very sweet Ruby port that the waiter recommended. After a bite each of the chocolate, we requested a different dessert - this time, the coconut panna cotta, which was not bad. When the bill came, they charged us for both desserts even though we barely tried the first dessert (which I do understand, customer isn't always right sometimes lol). Willing to believe we just had a one-off bad experience, but service was generally off, and there's also plenty of other restaurants in the area to try!

Beans with huge mushrooms are tasty. The francesinnesca sandwich too Smokey, & Not as good as Lisbon On the water dining but too breezy and cold so inside.

Wrapping up my time in Porto, my final dinner of the trip had me at Taberninha do Manel. Service was a little off. It was just difficult getting things started but once someone finally spotted me and saw that I still had a menu, it was all perfect from there. I had two plates for dinner. The octopus was excellent. The dish is served cold and has plenty of grilled octopus in a flavorful sauce. The cubed pork was served hot and was also tasty though bathing in oil. I took much of the great bread from the pork plate for the octopus sauce. Port wine on the menu here and several different varieties. I had two and they were great. Not a very expensive meal at all. [Review 9918 overall, 1496 of 2018.]

The waiters aren't very nice. We asked for recommendations and they just told us it's all Portuguese food. Obviously??? Then he walked away immediately to help another table. When 3 British girls came in, he gave them a whole introduction to the menu, telling them he will help them if they have any questions, again something he did not do for us. He also never came to check on us as well after giving us our food. The food is also not impressive, nothing special, but the biggest issue was the service that was preferential and clearly racist.

The food was very average. My main problem was they served me my wine in a chiped small cioffee cup. Other people got their wine in wine glasses as i should have. It wasn't just a small coffee cup it had 3 chips in it. I asked the waiter out of curiosity why it was served this way and he said it was becsuse o ordered a house wine. So i guess that means i didn't spend enough to warent a wine glass. My husband and i are fortunate to be able to travel a coiple of times a year and i hsve never been served wine im anything but a wine glass

We had two very nice meals there. We had the seafood & pork empanadas, the shrimp in garlic sauce appetizer & the mussels. The bread is fantastic and desserts were very interesting. The port wine cocktails were delicious.

Stumbled upon this place by accident and, man, what a happy accident it was! All around great! Great food. Great service. Great location. Also, the best porto tonico around!

On my last full day in Porto, I did a bit of wine tasting across the way and then found this place for an early dinner and man, it was tasty!! I had a difficult time getting seated initially - the lady working outside pretty much just ignored me, so I walked inside and the men there were helpful at getting me situated. The waiter who helped me lived in New York for some time, and thankfully a lot of people do speak some English, so I was able to get some recommendations and have a little chat. I chose the francesinha with the fried egg and fries, a white port mixed drink, and then ended up getting this marshmallow fluff egg custard type dessert that was divine. It's a bit of a heavier meal but it really hit the spot. I highly recommend!

A good place to grab a bite along the Duoro river walk. Good service but prices were a bit more expensive than it would be if you were further away from the scenic touristy areas. All in all a good lunch experience - I ordered some wine and their bacalhau was delicious!

Magnificent little rustic restaurant in Porto, you come here for the awesome food and a wonderful local experience. We spent 2 hours savoring delicious comfort food, socializing with our server Phillipe, and towards the end the owner Andre stopped by and reminisced with us about his years living in the US. Overall this was one of the most memorable meals we've had while visiting another country.

We had a quick lunch after the Calem wine cellar tour! Really good food. Prives were ok and the staff was nice. Allthought ought it is a very touristy place the food is really great! We had cheese, olives, bread and a very Portuguese dish with a sauce of beer... totally worth a try with self made fries.

The service here is pretty chill. I like the vibes here bc they don't pressure you into ordering and make you feel welcomed! We are all people and they know that. Unlike other places that try to rip tourists off. Thank you for the awesome food and patronage!

Guy was super nice to us, the food was good but not that great, especially for the smaller portions & price. Had mussels but 4 out of the 12 were closed. Minging meter 4.5/5

Great meal and great service! Would come back again for sure. Had a nice, leisurely lunch on my last day of my vacation.

Our most favorite restaurant during our three weeks in Spain and Portugal. The staff were friendly, efficient, and spoke English. The baked cod was fresh and cooked to perfection. Every other restaurant we tried cod, couldn't compare! We ate here 3 of our 5 days, because they were closed on our last day. We highly recommend this wonderful place along the river!

Best food of 7 day trip! Lunch here first day, Flame broiled sausage, olives,wine!! The local bread was different than other places, heavy and brown with obvious honey flavor. Came back on last day of trip, Meat Stew was fantastic. Very salty, but I liked it. Chocked full of beef and sausage, while the carrots and olives were more of an after thought. House red wine was delicious. The waiter lived in New York for 12 years and spoke perfect English. He recommended a side of shoe string French fries... great combo with stew! Be aware, takes a while to get a check when you are finished and you may have to wait for a table outside, but inside is like medieval wine cellar, so not a bad alternative.

A nice place to visit, beautiful view. About 20 ports, good tapas (and a lot) we tried the roasted chorizo and stuff bread with cheeses. Portuguese kitchen, tappas, nice view and very clean

Great place to grab lunch before or (like us) after some wine tasting. Would order to share because the portions are big. We loved everything we ordered!

We got the shrimp, cod, octopus, bean stew, salad, chocolate mousse and cheesecake desert. The best thing was the shrimp which was good with the baguette to dip in the sauce. The cod was over cooked and chewy, the octopus was "meh". The chocolate mousse was good. Our server was very nice. Overall was a fine place to eat on the water and for sure get the shrimp.

Wow! What a great place. Best meal we've had on our 2 week trip. Phillipe provided outstanding service. The meat stew and the clams were excellent. Will eat here again on our last night in Porto. Highly recommended.

Very cozy local establishment where you will be sure to enjoy with all your senses. Food is not only tasty and fresh it also substantial. Service is nothing short of phenomenal. Thank you for a great first night experience in Porto!

Wow! Everything we ordered was amazing! I thought the food wasn't gonna be so great since the place it's located in a touristy area but I was wrong! The octopus was delicious as well as the catch of the day and the francesinahs. The service was good too and the waiter gave us some good suggestions on what to order. One of the best meals we've had during our trip in Portugal. We also had dessert and it was amazing. We had the 4 leches dessert and guava and coconut dessert. We also got complimentary Oporto shorts at the end.

We had a great meal in a good ambiance and definitely recommend the following: - Iberian Pig and Serra da Estrela Cheese Empanadas, especially good with some hot sauce and ketchup mix - Cheese board was also excellent, with several award winning selections - Aunt Helena's Stir Fried Pork Cubes (Traditional Pork Dish), were excellent. I preferred this to the Manel's Pica-Pau (Traditional Beef and Sausage Dish)

Feared this was a tourist trap but our host recommended so we had to try. Everything we ordered was excellent. The various charcuterie and cheese plates were delicious. The fried green beans were also tasty. We ended up doing a bunch of apps and it was perfect. Highly recommend dinner here while watching the sun set over the Douro river!

We ate here twice. I had beef empanadas & then seafood empanadas. Also try the chorizo sausage. Staff was great. Hostess ( Palo ) made the experience great.

This place was honestly my favorite restaurant in the whole week we were in Portugal. Came here on a Wednesday around 2pm after a nearby wine tasting. We were able to easily grab a table for two. The ambiance inside is beautiful and intimate. We ordered the cheesy bread (SOOOO good), octopus, tempura green beans, prosciutto salad and two croquettes. It was a perfect amount of food for two people, though of course now, I wish I could eat it all over again. The cheesy bread was probably my favorite, but honestly everything tasted incredible with distinct flavors. Our server was friendly. I wish we could come here again.

Great service, yes we had the server who lived in the US, Newark and Manhattan, in our neck of the woods. We had the clams and prawns and oh the fries , what a treat