Portugal Guide: Restaurante Casario Porto

Restaurante Casario Porto

Address | R. de Cima do Muro 61, 4050-200 Porto, Portugal

Restaurant Casario Porto is the perfect first meal to enjoy in the city. Located on the upper level of the 16th Century building of the Gran Cruz hotel, by the river, this restaurant offers clear views to Gaia. The charm of Casario is not only found in its stunning setting but also in the thoughtful details of the design and decor of the dining room. Reservations are highly recommended—we saw several would be diners turned away. While you can be seated on the patio with direct views of the Douro, the dining room holds a classic charm.

The service was wonderful, and the meal had a lot of local color and flavor that our whole party really savored. The bread was served with olive oil and butter from the Azores and both—the olive oil and butter—tasted incredible. Our server helped us select a bottle of white Port which paired well with our seafood dishes. You can order the Chef’s menu or a la carte. We had some strong opinions of what we wanted to try so we selected a la cart.

Our favorite dish was the squid and shrimp lollipop. The textures were perfect and it came with an incredible dipping sauce with umami flavors. It’s a secret sauce so I did not get the intel on what was in it, but it was delicious.

Other dishes we ordered included, Fried skate, hazelnut, and celery cream and fennel, fish tartar with avocado and saffron, codfish “Gomes de Sa” style, Pan seared grouper with yellow pepper sauce and roasted veal with Marrare sauce, turnip tops. Everything tasted incredible. The setting, service, and of course, the menu make Restaurante Casario Porto a “must do” in my book.