Restaurante A Cabana — Restaurant in Esposende

Portugal is an amazing country to have marisco and there are plenty of marisquerias all over the country. So what makes this place special?

The place is situated around 40kms away from the city of Porto, is always queued and has fantastic service.

The waiter doesn't ask you what you want, he recommends you what you should have. A very nice way to redirect someone to the specials. You are welcomed in this small, not so spacious yet lively restaurant with a serving of shrimps and a serving of bread and black olives.

We ordered the octopus with olive oil for starters and it was fantastic, comes in small plates topped with cilantro. We also ordered blood sausage.

I went a step ahead to ask for a piri piri sauce and the waiter made me try a spicy one. Just one drop, BLEW MY MIND! Arroz de marisco has ample portions of shrimps, crab, mussels. This dish is different than a Spanish paella 🥘 in terms of texture and the type of rice used. The former is more soupy and has more vivid flavors due to the fish broth and cilantro used. The green wine is the recommendation to go with it.

A place worth the drive away from the city, the courtesy of the staff is out of the world. They do not treat you as a foreigner but as someone they know for long time. Service is super fast and prices are not that expensive; all of this for €35 per person approx....

A very popular beach restaurant and for good reason. The meal was really good and the local is cool. So, if you go, expect to stand in the street for a while as the seating area is not very large. The staff helps address this by having guests look through the menu and order the bulk of your meal before being seated. The staff are a lot of fun and will be entertaining which helps with the close quarters.

The tables are arranged as 4 tops on the sides and 4x4 or long 8x8 family style in the middle. They change this arrangement up often but if you are a two top expect to share your table if its really busy.

A Cabana is a fun place for a lunch or dinner, but it is not an intimate date place. It is a great choice for a fun meal with a group or if you are feeling social. We ended up sharing or plates with the couple sitting next to us, complete strangers but fast friends.

PS: There are good options for a reasonable priced meal but it can get expensive quicly. Many of the plates are by the kilo, just be sure to tell them your...

Located in a nice little fishing town, this, and the other seafood restaurants, are a draw due to freshness.

I was also told they are less expensive than places in Viana.

I have found this to be a recurrent pattern.

The food prep was no fresher or cheaper than the well known fish houses in Viana.

A half house salad, a small bottle of water, couvert of 6 shrimp and 1/2 of a robalo (sea bass) was 30 Euros.

This is no cheaper than the most expensive restaurant in Viana.

The food prep was good, but this is fish places on a grill. Thats hard to screw up.

Service was only ok. Dishes are served with a side of sauteed cabbage and boiled/roasted potatoes.

I asked for NO POTATOES.

Of course potatoes were brought. I pointed to them and said NO POTATOES PLEASE. Everything was taken away. Apparently no potatoes means no anything, including the cabbage.

The fish and salad were on Par with all my other fish experiences, no less expensive and low average to average service.

The food was good if...