Our first stop in the beautiful country of Portugal was Porto. Part of every great visit to any country or city for us is finding fabulous food & sharing each others company or with family & friends over a great meal. We always check out restaurant reviews on either Yelp or Google which always helps us locate the best dining spots.

We located a restaurant called Tapabento not far from our little AirBNB apartment. Tapabento had a 5 STAR review from Yelp. That was our choice for our first night in Porto to eat out.

Tucked Away

Tapabento is located away from the main tourist center of Porto and for us, it was down a long, steep set of stairs. Located on a tiny street right across from the train terminal. It was early by European standards for dinner, about 7 PM, but Tapabento was nearly packed.

Your Hostess

A lovely lady with beautiful silver hair (I may be biased) asked if we had a reservation. We did not & she said they were booked even into the late evening. But she said, “Come back tomorrow for lunch.” So we did! And oh my! There is the very good reason for the 5 STAR reviews on Yelp. Tapabento was AMAZING!!

Tapabento is very small at first appearance. It appears as if there isn’t much seating, but there is an upstairs cozy dining area as well that seats at least twice the number of people you will see when you walk in. The kitchen is also very small, but they were busily turning out their beautiful offerings without making us wait.

We had the Wild Tuna Tatakay (seen in feature image), Wild Prawns from Mozambique in Garlic & Algarve Clams and we had two go-arounds it was just that amazing. They have a great selection of wines too.

One thing I know for sure, baby boomers approaching retirement love good food. While traveling if you ask us, eating is always half the fun. We have eaten a lot of great food throughout our travels. Some just stand out and Porto’s Tapabento is one of the standouts.

Make a reservation for sure in the evening, maybe even the day before if you can. If you go for lunch without a reservation, arrive early. We did and managed to be seated right away. By the time we left, the place was packed and people were waiting. Their reputation precedes them.

Travel Artfully Restaurant Review

• Food                         5 Star
• Presentation             5 Star
• Customer Service     5 Star
• Cleanliness               5 Star