PapaVinhos — Restaurant in Porto

I couldn't have asked for an experience that better captured the spirit and charm of the city of Porto than the one I had at Papavinhos.

As I had failed to make reservations, I arrived to the restaurant promptly at noon--and was thankfully seated immediately. Within half an hour or so, the restaurant, which isn't large to begin with, was packed. So, learn from my mistakes, and book ahead of time, or don't, and be the most eager of beavers and arrive a slight bit before the doors are set to open.

The restaurant itself was quaint, and the tablecloth, colorful. How is that at all relevant? It's not--it was just a detail I found particularly endearing. But let's get down to the nitty-gritty--the food. I ordered the grilled octopus in garlic oil (6Euros) appetizer and the grilled sea bass (10Euros) entree. And? Everything was delicious. The food was unpretentious, simple, and honest (at a ridiculously reasonable price!). The octopus was beautifully tender, and bathed in the most decadent pool of garlic oil. Needless to say, I made great use of the accompanying bread basket... As for the sea bass--the dish came with a small salad of red cabbage, lettuce, and carrots, as well as an excessive amount of garlic roasted potatoes. "Excessive", however, may be the wrong choice of word, because can you truly ever have too many garlic roasted potatoes? One hundred percent rhetorical question here, but if you're looking for an answer, the correct one is--no. In homage to the sea bass, the fish was not drowned in sauces or herbs and spices, but rather simply grilled. The simplicity of the dish worked beautifully as the sea bass itself was so fresh--it was as good as grilled fish could possibly get.

If you're looking for some honest Portuguese cuisine, look no further. Great service. Great food. Served up in a warm and welcoming environment. If this little gem doesn't scream "Porto" to you, I'm not quite...

Food was fine, nothing to get excited about. There was a large group in the upstairs section so waited 30 minutes to be given menus and another 10 minutes before our order was taken. Some may have left before this but we decided to stay and hopefully enjoy some great food, sadly not the case. We ordered a starter of tomato and cheese salad followed by grilled sea bass, which came with boiled potatoes and a salad. I say salad but it was a few torn leaves of iceberg lettuce, a pile of grated carrot and a pile of shredded red cabbage, not mixed but in neat little piles. We also ordered a bottle of 2021 Alvarinho. The fish was cooked well,but that's the minimum you'd expect in a restaurant. A salad of piles of vegetables, well it's not a salad is it, it's piles of vegetables. Boiled potatoes are boiled potatoes btw no salt and pepper on the tables and no opportunity to ask as service was so rushed. Overall, would I go back - No, would I recommend it - No. Don't believe the hype there is nothing necessarily wrong with Papavinhos but then again there is nothing right...

Food was authentic and seafood was fresh! The server spoke fluent English as he lived in the UK for several years. It was a lovely place tucked further out from the city centre.

We arrived for dinner at 7pm and there was no queue. However, the restaurant quickly filled up in the next 30 minutes.

Gave 4 stars as the dishes were lovely but the price we were charged for was €1 more per dish than on the menu. So take note of this.

Ambience on the upper floor could be improved with some upgrades to the ceiling, walls and lights. The lighting was dim and cool, not the most inviting. We asked about moving to the ground floor where you’ll see warm lighting and lovely table setups, but were told that they were not suitable for dining and more for drinks, etc. Perhaps the upstairs seating would be better in the day for a lovely view of the...