Arco e Meio - Portuguese Wine Shop — Restaurant in Vila Nova de Gaia

Staff is very friendly, knowledgeable about their products and helpful. They speak English fluently. You can taste Porto in packs of various sizes. You can combine a pack of 4 and 3 in a pack of 7. This is the option we tried and it sets you back 38 euros. In this pack Port of ages 20 and 40 were included for example. They put the glasses in front of the bottles so you can see what it looks like, so great presentation. They also tell you in which order you best drink them to get the best taste experience. We ordered a cheese plate (very good cheeses, I recommend) and crackers to neutralize the taste between each glass. Wine tasting is also an option but you can't taste in packs, you pay by the glass. Prices range from 1,5 euro to 4 euro per glass. You can pay by credit card or cash. So a good experience for us and I can recommend a visit if you plan a...

October 14, 2023. Saturday. Breakfast.

My wife and I were looking for a spot to eat something before our early tour of the nearby Sandeman port wine cellars. We didn't want to sample five port wines on an empty stomach. Luckily, we stumbled upon this cafe down a nearby alley way.

They had a good selection of breakfast baguettes and lunch sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers. The drink offerings included soda, hot beverages, coffee and adult beverages. I ordered a fresh squeezed orange juice (1.40 euros) and baguette atum e ovo cozido/tuna and hard boiled egg baguette (4 euros). This cafe is old, with real stone walls.

Food came quickly and tasted surprisingly good. Loved the cold, fresh squeezed glass of vitamin C and the baguette came overflowing with tuna and perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs. A large baguette for sure.

Great food in an...

I came in loving all the beautiful furnishings and decor, but was very disappointed upon leaving. The prices are fair, but the white port tasting I had was really nothing special (€9 reflects that). What was really hard to get past was the waiter who served me was not knowledgeable on the wine at all. He said he had worked there for 2 weeks - so quite new - but in a port store with advertised "guided tastings," I would expect some training on new employees before they are left solo at the shop. No other staff were around to answer my questions or explain much about the wine at all.

I had the cheese board which was bland and rubbery, and, upon asking what the cheeses were, I was told "I don't know, sorry."

Across the street there is the Heritage port cave, where I had a lovely and educational tasting with marginally higher prices and...