O Caraças — Restaurant in Porto

One of our guest house host's recommendation was this little place just down the street owned by a mother and two daughters and it was called O Caraças. There are usually just two things on the menu - meat or fish and varying types of desserts. I was instantly charmed about the idea of this place and we just had to visit.

We had both the meat and the fish. The meat turned out to be a giant piece of steak, grilled to perfection served with a salad, rice and homemade crisps. And the fish was a whole grilled fish served with potatoes and salad. It was the type of food that I love - fresh ingredients cooked with care and skill. We polished both plates.

As dessert we chose cheese with pumpkin jam that was sweet and nutty. The cook (I presume the mother) came out time to time to check on the patrons. She also offered some new dessert made from sweet potato (that was delicious and tasted like Christmas) and she showed every table a giant sweet potato. 😀 I dare say I haven't had such a warm and fun dinner in a restaurant in a...

Beautiful view of parts of the river and the city, from the back terrace of what probably was a private home. The terrace has 10 tables that fill fast, so come early!

Family owned and operated, O Caraças has several interesting quirks:

Only two dishes per meal—no other choices. When we had dinner here, the two choices were a veal stew with salad, or breaded and fried octopus with rice. We had the octopus with rice, and it was delicious. It certainly felt like a home cooked meal.

Only cash, no credit cards. We didn’t know that before attempting to pay. Fortunately, we had enough cash. By the way, don’t pay at your table, but rather at the bar, on your way out.

The two waitresses are sisters. Funny, attentive, quirky hard workers, walking up and down from the main building to the terrace.

No vegetarian options!

Absolutely recommended and...

That's a lovely family restaurant with its very atmospheric interior. I think it's popular for I saw many people when I had my dinner there. The staff is really patient, polite and helpful. There's no strict menu, they serve other dishes every day in an affordable price. Moreover, you can try their red wine and it's delicious for a price of 6€ per litre. I had a beefsteak with rice, salad and crisps which confused me at first, but these crisps are homemade and hot when served which makes them tasty. Speaking of the beefsteak, it was delectable and medium rare. One portion can make one full. My family ordered fish and they also liked the food. There's also a terrace on the back of the restaurant and if you ask the staff you can go there to have a look at Porto from an interesting point of view. If you want to eat some local food, here's an...