Zé Bota

We visited this restaurant for dinner with another couple and had a generally good experience. The staff were friendly, and the atmosphere was decent. For appetizers, we tried the octopus salad and a dish with bread, goat cheese, and figs—both were enjoyable. For mains, I had the sea bass with mushroom risotto, which was quite good. My partner ordered the fried octopus but found that the frying overpowered the natural flavor of the octopus, which wasn’t to his taste. Overall, while not everything was a standout, it was still a good dining experience with some well-prepared dishes.

Excellent service, the best octopus I’ve ever had! The wine selection was outstanding and perfectly complemented the meal, and they even offered free refills of our glasses of wine! The staff is very friendly. Highly recommend!

Small place with seating inside on a small alley street. Only 2 seatings a night it seems. We got a 9 pm reservation. We ordered the quail eggs in green sauce which were excellent...best green sauce in Portugal so far. The fried shrimp is great with the sweet and sour dipping sauce. As well as the traditional sausage with gardenia....real nice. We had the baked cod in corn bread and the Iberian black pork dinners. The cod was cooked perfectly and the pork as well, with a slight smokey , juicy yet tender feel. Very nice. Very nice meal all around...i would definitely recommend it to anyone when in Porto.

Probably our best overall meal in Portugal. Service was excellent, wine and food recommendations spot on. The veal was amazing, the black Iberian pork so full of flavour, and the Banoffee pie classically delicious

Restaurant was excellent- the food was very good and the host was very kind - would definitely go back

Delicious food! We had the fish with risotto and the veal with vegetables. The owners were very friendly and recommended a great bottle of wine for our meal. Classy atmosphere, and good prices for the quality.

Excellent food from prime ingredients. Attentive service. Fabulous wine list. Not to be missed when you are in Porto. The owner manager can be a bit persnickety but the food and service are worth overlooking his shortcomings as a host.

Save your time and money, aviod! We went there via the recommendation of the place we are staying. The first impression was OK when we got there. Service staff seemed busy but was OK. The wine was fine, and so we're the starters. The 2 stars are for those starters. We didn't ask for bread, but they left some at the table, which we assumed were complimentary but not, euro 3.5. We ordered Sea Rice for main. It is a local thing, and you see it on restaurants' menu all over town. This is a traditional restaurant, so we thought to give it a go. The waiter delivered it as soon as we finished starters. I was surprised but thought its fine since they had prepared it earlier. Opened it, I can see the prawns were cooked from frozen ones, not fresh. They didn't bother to remove the intestine either. The portion was too big, easily to feed 4 rather than 2. It didn't taste fantastic or bad. Just blend. But it's GRITTY. When I told the service staff that, i was told that i thought it was gritty. The other waiter was visibly grumpy when we asked for bills. The service had been fast but not in an attentive way, more in a hurry you up way. And it finished off with a grumpy face, not ideal. We did not stay for dessert. Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses.

Well O have just to say....amazing! Everything on the menù is delicious, nice and friendly staff and cozy place! Recommend every single thing, especially the cod fish

Our hotel recommended this restaurant. It's in an alley so unless you knew about it, you would never find it. We were a party of 6 with 7 pm reservations. After being seated , we sat for a good 15-20 minutes before someone came to our table ....we were the only customers. She took our drink and appetizer orders. Good wine list. Salads and a shrimp appetizer were good. One in our group had octopus and he said it was good. One had salmon, alright. Another 2 shared a steak and enjoyed it. My self, and another in our group had the cod. It was terrible. We could not eat it because of the bones, and the fact that it was dry and chewy. They put a breading on it and bake it and it was dried out. We should have said something. Anyway, the service was slow and food was nothing special. There are only 2 people working this restaurant. There are too many other restaurants to explore.

Our tour guide recommended this place and it certainly did not disappoint. Portions are huge. Highly recommend the grilled octopus and cod. Too stuffed to look at dessert.

Zé Bota was recommended to me by a friend who had visited Porto just weeks before my trip. I visited Lisbon, Porto and the Douro Valley. I can say without a doubt that dinner at Zé Both was the best dinner of the trip. I obviously had cod many many times throughout my visit to Portugal, but the Bacalhau à Zé Bota was the best by far. I would have visited the restaurant twice if we'd been in Porto longer. This dish is a MUST TRY! The friend corn bread and roasted onions are to die for.

Just AMAZING! The service, the food and the ambience! Try their grilled octopus, medallions and pork shank. Don't forget to order cheese and marmalade to accompany Porto wine.

I had some great meals in Porto, my dinner at Zé Bota was not one of them. I feel that it's possible to have a memorable experience here, especially as evidenced by the near 5 star rating out of 40+ reviews as well as the plethora of wooden plaques adorning their walls with writings from, mainly past diners sharing what an enchanting experience they had here. Maybe that's the key to having a good time at Zé Bota; walk in and be wooed by all the rave reviews of others which somehow plants in your mind that you too are and will have the same type of night. Anyway, the atmosphere does have an intimate setting and the food on some tables looked great. However, I found the service to be a tad rude, especially in the beginning (they seemed to warm up a bit by the time I was finished) and the food, for me at least, was easily forgettable. I ordered a local fish, grilled, which came with salad, potatoes, and some cabbage. Everything was bland and either over cooked (the fish) or under cooked (the potatoes). Like I said, I truly feel it is possible to have a great night here, unfortunately I did not.

Don't listen to the haters. Ze Bota served up some incredibly tasty food and the service was on point. I ordered the pork shank and salad mista. The pork was literally the best pork I've ever had and I'm a pork snob,.literally a pig eating a pig. Guess that makes me a cannibal of sorts. Ambience was intimate, and tucked away in a small alley a stone's throw away from the downtown district. Not to be missed and my best meal in Porto during my trip.

An almost perfect dinner! My pork with beans and rice (with a tiny side salad - a tip of the hat to fresh vegetables) was expertly prepared. My wife's whole sea bream required some work, but was delicious. The staff were helpful and enthusiastic. We even got complementary pouts of Port to cap the meal.

Love it when Yelp helps me find a solid review overseas. The restaurant we had planned on going in the guidebook down by the river was solidly booked during our whole stay in Porto so, oh no! we had to find a good restaurant on our own. After some yelping around the area we found this place. We did not regret it. Down a little alley and away from the tourist parts of town, this place was among the best dinners we had on our whole two week jaunt in Portugal. They started us out with quail eggs, a cheese plate and some sort of tuna dip (despite what some other reviews say, these were not free... but they were good). Really great start. And i love getting food quick. After this, we had our mains of the veal with mushroom sauce per some other reviews and... well I don't remember what the wife got, maybe on account of the entire bottle of delicious and cheap Vinho Verde I had had by this point. But i digress... This place was very reasonably priced and very tasty. Not only worth a trip if you are in the area, but worth a walk across town to dine here.

we went there the first night that we arrived at Porto. Everything is excellent, the atmosphere is great, music is agreeable, on the table stick messages left by the guests. We ordered a ze bota's steak, which is the best steak we've ever tried in our life. And in one day, we will go there again! Can't forget it!

Let me start out by saying, thanks yelp! No one could possibly find this place without proper notice. You would never find it by just walking by. It's down a dead end alley that looks like it should contain dumpsters. But believe me, this may have been the best meal I've had in Europe in 10 days! Are you kidding me?? Amazing!! We walked in (based on yelp reviews) before they were open. The owner told us it would be 20 minutes or so, so please come back then. We were welcome to wait there with a drink but we opted to walk around. When we came back, there were several people there already but he had placed a "reserved" sign on a cute table for 2 and pointed us towards it with a smile. Bang. Good start!! As we sat down, 4 things were placed in front of us - a bread basket of delightful artisan bread, a tuna based dip with crackers, a plate of 6 hard boiled quail eggs in olive oil, onions, and basil, and a large plate of Iberian ham and cheese. All COMPLIMENTARY. Everyone gets this!! Who does that?? All were outstanding! We ordered the house red wine in a half liter bottle and it was to die for! They have an amazing wine collection and you can really enjoy yourself here with the wine choices!! We ordered from the English portion of the menu (helpful!) and chose the beef medallions in mustard sauce and the veal steaks with mushrooms. I cannot even begin to describe the tastes. The beef was cooked to perfection, tender, juicy, well trimmed, and off the chart delightful. And the "mustard" sauce didn't taste like mustard but had an incredible flavor that I've been dreaming about since! Wow. And the veal? Tender with the most amazing gravy! Your taste buds jump to attention at the first bite!! It's that good. Our bill total? 35 euro. Unbelievable. The British couple next to us had room for dessert and ordered the watercress cake. I didn't know there was such a thing! The only thing they said to us during the entire meal was "get this cake! No matter what you do!" We didn't but it looked so good!! Service was impeccable. The atmosphere is delightful, like a wine vault with wooden wine box sections adorning the wall. The presentation was a masterpiece of visual and aromatic enticements. I can see no reason to not suggest you get here right away!!! Oh, and one more thing. A line developed to get in as we had our meal. The owner, acknowledging the patience of the awaiting clientele, brought out glasses of port to those waiting in line. Another example of how attention to detail matters. So, no matter where in Porto you find yourself, make sure to get here. Do it!!!

You will be ecstatic you went to this restaurant! Not the easiest street to find but, totally worth searching for it. The owners have customer service at the forefront constantly & it's truly appreciated! We weren't aware they didn't open until 8pm & arrived 20 minutes early. The owner offered us wine to wait or an option to return. We chose the latter. When we came back, there was a Reserved sign on our table. We sat & had several starters placed in front of us instantly. Awesome! The food was spectacular! The starters were all amazing - marinated quail eggs, olives, tuna mousse & crusty bread. Yum! My veal steak & mushroom entrée was one of the best dishes of our entire Spain & Portugal vacation. My husband ordered beef medallions with mustard sauce - it was a toss up which of us had the better dish. Lots of sharing that night! The carafe of house red wine was probably delivered in a big barrel from the Duoro Valley right up the river. Perfection! A line out into the street had formed by the end of our meal. The owner was passing out glasses of wine & walking out refilling them to make everyone's wait pleasant. Like I said, customer service to the max! Well done!!!!

Omg this food was delicious! Very authentic, the serving sizes were great and the wine was everything- we did have to wait a little while to be seated but it was worth it

I was amazed at the rude attitude of the hostess, I'm vegetarian and they had no choices in main course. However, she still wanted me to order a main course and not just appetizers! Amazing, my friends felt like walking out at the moment. Food was decent but I won't go for the attitude of the staff (which is actually validated by multiple reviews)

Food was ok, Staff ok too everything ok. Or maybe the price was high don't recall, for me not a place to go back or recommend.

We thought the food was excellent at this restaurant. The cod dishes were extremely fresh, well-seasoned, and presented nicely. Really well-executed octopus salad which is almost 100% octopus! Large portion sizes as is typical for Portugal as well as fair prices. Even the dessert they had remaining that night of a mango mousse was fantastic and one could tell that it was house made. The only drawback is that if you don't have reservations like us be prepared to wait a very long time as it's a small place.

Amazing amazing amazing!!! Came here for dinner with my husband and we got the ze bota steak and the steak medallion! The meat is so so tender and juicy. It just melts in your mouth.. oh my goodness, a dinner I'll never forget. We also got garlic bread and olives as starters and to cap the night, we ate raspberry cheesecake for dessert! That cake, oh my, was so fluffy and airy I wasn't sure if it was even cheesecake. Unbelievable restaurant. One downside and only one - there's a wait. We waited on a Saturday night for about an hour and half, but it was worth it!

A great place, we really loved it here. Nice food, even though we had our first encounter with the Portuguese habit of putting all kinds of stuff on your table and then charging you ridiculous prices if you eat it (to be fair, the appetizers, tuna paté, quail eggs, cheese and ham, were stellar!) My beef in madeira sauce was excellent and the 'Meia de Secretos' Margaux picked as well. Finally, we were immortalized on a piece of wine-box on the restaurants wall!

We found this place thanks to Yelp and it did not disappoint! We had lunch here two days in a row, it was just that good! The lunch specials are the best deal. You get soup with a main course, for roughly 7.50 euros.

Booked a table here for two, however the staff were a little rude on the phone, I took it as them being busy. When we turned up they didn't have our table ready or even my name written down in the schedule list. Instead of apologising they told us to "get out and wait outside" a couple of times as we were in disbelief at what they had said. The weather was cold and they were making us wait outside the restaurant, no apology for their mistake. Safe to say we did not eat here. Overall: Very rude staff

This is not an easy place to find, but worth it. Definitely use your GPS. They start you with quails eggs, cheese, bread, and the usual cured meats. Awesome selection of Douro and other Portuguese wines. I had the cod and my friend had the steak. Everything was nicely prepared. Service is a little different in Europe than the US, but they were the correct amount of attentive. If you are in Porto, this place is worth finding.

One of the most memorable meals we had in Porto. We had lots of pig things; I got 'secretes' (a really delicious, almost marbled pork belly cut) and she got what I remember as a Portuguese style, nicely braised, fall off the bone, marrow inside, pork knuckle. My glass of red wine kept getting refilled for free -- I could do nothing else but give surprised/confused/appreciative looks towards the waitstaff. And at the end, we got to leave a message in their 'guestbook' - basically wrote in a cut piece of wood from a wine case, they took a Polaroid and stuck it on, then glued the whole piece to the wall. It was fun to read others' comments as well. We also ordered digestifs of Port and Aguardiente Vinica and they really filled our glasses up. We barely crawled up the hill back to our place afterward, so laden were we with pork, wine, and liquor!

Wow, what an excellent hole-in-the-wall experience! Ze Bota captures everything I love about Portugal: amazing wine, smiling faces, fresh seafood and affordable prices. For me, the tuna pate was the best part of the meal, so be sure to not turn it away! I couldn't find a comparable treat throughout our two-week trip. We also enjoyed the steak medallions, octopus (yum!!), a bottle of wine and the chocolate mousse for about 40€.

This is the best Porto restaurant! We reserved one day in advance for a little birthday dinner for my wife. After nice starters we ordered delicious dorado fish, samon fish and stack of the house: all very very good! We choose our deserts: panne cotta and port. Than the surprise started: a very nice cake for my wife and a rose Spumante from the house: both superb! We wrote our best wishes on the wall. My wife also received flowers: she was completely surprised and satisfied. And this costed no money... Only 68euros for 3! Please find this restaurant and enjoy a fantastic evening !

I'm surprised by any negative reviews about this place because our food was absolutely fabulous. My husband ordered the pork shank and it was THE best pork shank we've ever had (and we are foodies). I had the cod fish in the clay pot and it too was wonderfully delicious. Charming atmosphere and terrific wine as well.

The food is okay but the attitude of staff is very rude. It was very unwelcoming attitude. Would not visit this place again !

The food is okay but the staff attitude is terrible. There is a woman in particular who is rude to the extent that you won't go there again

Wow! Best meal in Portugal so far! We got beef/veal dishes and both were delicious! The staff is friendly and attentive, the wine kept coming, the ambience is relaxed and the dessert (passion fruit) made it perfect!!

Very nice restaurant with a nice service and lovely food! The previous reviews were absolutely right! We didn't mind walking in the rain for 30minutes! We also wrote a comment on a wooden wine box and they took a picture of us and hanged it against the wall! Original and creative!

Ze Bota is an amazing place. I have been to Porto many times. Let it be known that this city has an unbelievable food scene. The "standard" restaurant in here beats 99% of anything you can possibly find in North America (just check Yelp reviews, all 4-5 stars). It's just incredible. But if I had to choose a top dog, Ze Bota is a serious contender. You can find similar quality in other Porto restaurants but not at this price. If you overkill you might pay at most 30Eur per person and that's if you really go for broke, most cases you will spend less than 20Eur. The quality is unbelievable. Whoever supplies their meat knows their business. I've had virtually every entree, appetizer and desert in the menu, it's all amazing. The waiters are funny and lively. Customer service is second to none. Seriously, you simply cannot go wrong here.

Outstanding. Great vegetables soup, quail eggs, black pork meat. Sooooo goooood! Not to mention the Sangria. Exceptional. The entire dinner for two at 35euro.

This restaurant is worth it! First off, make sure you call and reserve tables otherwise you will most likely wait for a while. The food was great and the signature Ze Medallions were amazing, better than many of the prime US steakhouses.

So much meat. Great wine. It is unbelievably cheap for the quality and amount of meat. The chocolate mousse was great and I generally don't like mousse. The waiter was also patient with foreigners.

We found this address with Yelp. We were looking for a place that could accommodate a party of 5 and the people from Ze benta kindly did. There is a nice and welcoming atmosphere, the restaurant is full of notes of and pictures of previous customers (like a real life Yelp!?). We took appetizers, main courses and wine for 20€ / person.

I loved Porto so much, and had a near universally great time in Portugal, it pains me to write this, our only bad experience in Porto ... from service to food, this was a colossally horrific experience. The attitude of the hostess and our servers ranged from indifferent to rude to cold. The restaurant walls are pasted with glowing reviews and letter from customers, literally wall to wall glowing accolades for this place. I almost doubted myself, wondering if I was being too hard on them, or if my expectations were too high--but no, truly, they were off their game on the night we were there. Or sadly, maybe this was their real game, and it's a case of the emperor has no clothes. After we were seated, we ordered the olives, garlic bread, and veal medallions in mustard sauce, which were to come with vegetables and potatoes. They brought bread to the table but the slices were much too hard to bite into ... and yes, I have all my real teeth, but seriously this bread was waay past its prime. To insult to injury, when we asked for butter, they said it would be the equivalent of a .40 cent charge for it. We inquired about olive oil to dip the bread in, but were told that they don't have it. Hmm, I guess I have to give them the benefit of doubt? The olives were more than forgettable. Seriously, I cannot remember what they were. The garlic bread was smeared with raw garlic and dripping with oil, greasy to the point I was afraid I couldn't digest it. So now we're waiting for the veal, which finally arrived. Two servers bearing a platter with great pomp and ceremony, somber expressions on their faces. They set the plate in front of us, which were sharing. The veal was disgusting, gamey and tasted off, smeared with some sort of brown sauce ... what was it? Not mustard, not au jus, not gravy, not anything I could detect. To the side of the veal, were a few boiled to death carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, the color no longer green and had turned yellow and wrinkled. Till that moment, I didn't know it was possible to wrinkle a broccoli floret. Almost as an afterthought, the plate had some potato chips, which my husband ate because they were house made and he'll think nothing of eating a bag of chips for dinner. But me? Nope, I'm not eating a sorry excuse for "roasted potatoes." We couldn't eat anything else, and asked for the bill. When they dropped off the bill, they clearly saw that we had barely taken a bite or two of the food, yet didn't bother to ask if anything was wrong, no inquiry, no concern. They didn't care. I thought to myself, "Am I a typical entitled spoiled American?" The one positive thing I can say about this restaurant: I loved the interior: intimate, romantic, quiet, tucked away in an alley, with a cavelike atmosphere, very authentic; come here for a simple snack or a drink, zero expectations. Do NOT come hungry because you will even more famished. I looked around other tables, all of them had a huge bottle of wine, drinking glass after the other. Maybe you must get drunk to choke down the food here? My husband and I don't drink, putting us at a disadvantage? We could taste the food with unclouded consciousness and palate. The Portuguese had been endlessly gracious and kind and sweet, loving even, so our experience here was atypical and an anomaly in Porto. We left the restaurant, more hungry than we had entered; by this time, it was almost midnight and many places were closed. I'm embarrassed to say we went into a McDonalds (the most architecturally grand and beautiful I've ever seen), sat on a high top and shared a BigMac :-)

The other reviewers were absolutely on point! This little place offers a fantastic meal for a fantastic price. The veal with wine sauce is heavenly and only for 11€!! I cleared my plate and so did my date. We had Ana amazing dinner here and couldn't be happier!

Traditional-style food with great flavours and generous portions. You can have a feast with drinks and dessert for a very decent price. Service is very nice and accommodates those of us who speak only English. If you are in Porto I highly recommend Ze Bota. Very high quality food, you will not be disappointed.

Amazing food and service. This is a must not miss if you are in Porto. It reopens for dinner at 1945 and you should either get there right then or make a reservation as the place is very small and intimate. As people who place a lot of our trips success on our dining experiences, we highly recommend!!!

A little bit disapointed regarding all the 5 star ratings. The "secretos belly " is only fat, and the mustard beef has no mustard taste at all even if the meat was tender. Hiwever, the passion fruit cake was Very good ;)

Excellent steak with garlic and beef medallions with mustard sauce. Be prepare to wait a little for a table and do not forget to bring a GPS, this place is not on the main Street.

Excellent food and atmosphere, exceptional service too. Gotta try the "Bacalhau a zé bota" even if you're not a fan of cod fish.

the highlight of our oporto visit... even with the iphone, it was a challenge to find. but it was worth it. great appetizers, a bottle of a red from upriver. and we wrote on its walls. we shall return!

This restaurant was the only place I have visited in Portugal where the people who worked there were downright rude and surly. It was quite a shock.

Very good food, helpful staff. They seated a group of five on a busy evening with only 25 minutes' wait, and proceeded to serve us heavenly Portuguese cuisine. The bacalao was amazing - and went very well with the local vinho verde.

We had lunch here with friends and absolutely loved it! After eating fish for a week straight we all decide to go for meat: beef with mustard sauce, pork shank, and veal chop. All were amazing (fish on other's tables looked great too). Service was attentive and friendly. Other diners seemed like all locals and the atmosphere was cozy and convivial, everything you'd hope to find in a tucked away corner restaurant. Being new to PT wines, I can only say that what we ordered by the point-and-pick method were both great values. Dessert was also the best we have had on our trip. Super charming. Just go!

Very good service and food. We enjoyed a lot!! We ate bacalhau com broa and a bife caçarola, and they were absolutely amazing. We also tasted some desserts like the bolo de agriao and bolo de bolacha. Do not leave Oporto before coming here!