Mesa com Tradição — Restaurant in Vila Nova de Gaia

We loved this restaurant and returned several times. It serves traditional Portuguese food, and the waiter took time to explain everything to us.

We were welcomed with a port/tonic drink, and offered brandy when our meal was finished. All the food was amazing, with large portion sizes. Good wine, lovely desserts (especially the mousse) — though the dessert selection was not huge, and I am definitely a pudding person. Some dishes need to be reserved in advance—we returned for a cod dish, completely delicious. You do need to order vegetables separately for most dishes (maybe not a feature of traditional food, but when requested, they were delicious. I recommend the spinach which I stole from my sons fish dish.)

Everything seemed clean. The washrooms were well separated from the eating area (several restaurants locally have tables right next to the washrooms, so this has become a point to check!!)

I suggest that you reserve a table here asap, before they...

SPECTACULAR! they deserve 10 stars. Great service with Manuel, great wine suggestion. We had 3 appetizers, my husband ordered so I am not sure of the exact name of the dishes, one is the chicken, the balls are oxtails, the other dish is bacalhau. For the main course we shared a Arroz the Pato which was the best one I had. (And we had many) everything well seasoned. The atmosphere is great, there was enough noise to cover our table conversation but not for us to need the raise our voice. The place was from 8pm to 10pm. I love that nobody is rushing you. You have the table until you are done. We will be back for sure with family. We juts...

If you're reading this, you should go here. The food is genuinely some of the best I've had in years. Me and my family came here for three separate evening dinners on our holiday because it was amazing for a relatively good price. The chef is extremely talented making home cooked simple dishes explode when flavour in your mouth. The crab cake starters are exceptional as is the pork knuckle main dish. The service is also very very friendly and attentive and professional. Will happily walk us through the Portuguese menu translating for us and giving us free homemade drinks both before and after the meal. Easiest five...