Taberna dos Fernandes — Restaurant in Porto

This is a new family independent restaurant, opened the 1st of June 2023, yes, I know… only 22 days ago right? Located in the” Ribeira do Porto” in Porto, Portugal.

NOTE OF CAUTION: I am not a food expert, I have a BCs degree in Petroleum Engineering , I became a Drilling Engineer, retired a couple of years ago due to a critical illness that shape not only my mind but all the people around me including my husband and two children.

In my personal opinion, this restaurant deserves ALL the Michelin Stars or what ever that means… I have no clue about the criteria used to get a Michelin Star, but I know that as a CUSTOMER, I want the best experience for me and my family or friends. I want truly happy faces, truly excellent food, delivered to my table with love and passion and with fair prices, where hopefully the majority could afford it..

This is a small business owned by Jorge, Hugo and OMG I forgot your name! Hugo’s mum.

It was a lovely summer evening… after I spend the afternoon in the room hotel because I was so tired die to my critical illness, my husband and my friends picked me up from the small hotel where we were staying for one, one night only.!.

After taking the Tuk-Tuk tour with Pedro around the main places in Porto with six people (me included) and Francisco a Portugues young lad from Lisbon, who is friend of one of my best friends son, who teaches us a little bit of Portugues history of the XV to XVI while Pedro was cycling us around main places in Porto. We were very hungry and tried to find a restaurant for 7 people to eat a little something very quickly, because Francisco had to return to Porto that night.

We all walked trying to find a restaurant in front of the river… unfortunately our options were limited both because we in a hurry a we were 7, and hungry too! So it was, if you liked the “Perfect Storm”..

Francisco, once again managed to surprised me for the third time in less than an hour: “Let’s go somewhere else he said… here in front of the river you will find a lovely view but in the other hand the majority of the restaurants are for mainly tourists…”

I saw my best friend from almost 30 years and we though at the same time without saying a word, well, Francisco might be right, lets move a bit far from here… we decided to walk up away from the river… and literally after 2 minutes walk, we look right and found a very little street full of colour banderines. Just a few metres into that street on our left, my friend found a couple eating in a table for 2, strategically looking at the little street and in front to what looked to me like a very nice little restaurant too.

My friend attention was captured by this young German couple… the restaurant was very little… all the tables were empty except the table for 2 at the entrance. I saw my friend talking to the couple, I heard some noise… I was intrigued by the restaurant in front of the couple, looked to me a bit more interesting.. but we’ve got too many boxes to feel:

We were in a hurry because of Francisco my new young friend… he does not know that yet but he will illustrate me and hopefully my children Camilo and Santiago about Portuguese history totally unknown for me until then;

As I already mentioned, we were 7 an therefore we need a big table;

We were hungry and finally,

We wanted a lovely restaurant, lovely service, and great quality food.

My friend and the German couple finally coughed my very volatile brain attention. I walked and get in front of them and I asked about the food… and to my surprise they both answered like singing in a very synchronised chorus that has been practice for ages “yes, the food it is delicious, you will not regret it! I looked closely with a suspicious looked and asked them, well, well, well.. what did you order? They replied two different dishes whether I am correct.

I looked back to the restaurant in front of me, in front of them… I was there thinking twice..is this a right decision ? Should we select the restaurant in...

We had dinner there on the first day of our short stay in Porto and it really set the scene for the rest of our trip, in a positive way obviously, hence the 5 star review:) The place is small, takes no reservations, so it's best to arrive 20-40 mins before they open to get a place in the queue, so that you are among the lucky first round of customers that they let in when they open ( I think the capacity is around 12 or so). If you miss the first round you might need to wait for 1-1.5 hours until the first shift gets out :) it was an interesting experience for us queueing for the restaurant in a narrow street with a bunch of other curious tourists ( a glass of wine from the wine bar just opposite to the Taberna helped with the waiting :) ) , but as far as I understand not at all uncommon for Porto and especially this part of town and these smaller traditional Tabernas. Anyway, the place is small, but very cosy, service was great - very attentive, friendly, we really felt welcomed and comfortable. The menu focuses on traditional Portuguese cuisine - we had the cod and octopus, and a few starters plus some house wine - everything we tried was really good. I hate eating average, bland food in touristic places that just take advantage of the location and couldn't care less about the ' use-once and dispose' tourist customers, and was genuinely surprised and satisfied with everything in this place in the heart of Ribeira which is a tourist hot spot - food, service, drinks, ambience. The only thing I regret that we were so hungry that we didn't take any pictures of the food and the place itself :) So to cut it short - I think a must visit when in Porto,...

We had no idea that the restaurant we were about to have a long, boozy lunch in was a Michelin star level establishment disguised as a typical taberna. The restaurant is in the heart of the Ribera district/tourist area, so our expectations were set accordingly, and incorrectly. The atmosphere is very unique, with a beautifully lit ceiling that resembles the hull of an inverted boat. My husband and I split fried sardines and an octopus salad to start. The sardines were deliciously delicate and the octopus almost melted in your mouth. The octopus was immersed in a finely diced, pico de gallo-like sauce that was bright and refreshing. For the mains, my husband had the prawns and I had the fish of the day, a grilled sea bream. The server was a true artisan who filleted my fish impeccably. The fish was served with potatoes and sautéed vegetables that were seasoned to perfection. The fish was moist, delicate, and so wonderfully flavored with what I can only imagine was lemon, garlic, olive oil and salt. We were blown away. The prawns were the best we’d had in Portugal. It was our last day in Porto, but had we been here on our first day, we would have come back again and again. The lovely family that runs all aspects of the restaurant (chef and servers) are experts in their craft of hospitality and cooking. We are extremely grateful and lucky to have...