Taberna São Pedro — Restaurant in Vila Nova de Gaia

Sharing our experience from 10th June 2025, acknowledging great food being brought down by very poor service. We’re an easy-going Irish couple who normally don’t tend to write negative reviews but after a few days of contemplating, we decided to share our experience.

Firstly, it’s important to note that we arrived at 21.46 (16 minutes after our 21.30 reservation). We had mixed up a previous night’s booking, thinking we were a minute after our time slot. Upon arrival, we were informed that the restaurant was closing, and despite a 15-minute grace period, we wouldn’t be allowed to enter despite remembering that there were options as late as 22.00 when we made the booking.

Thankfully, after a brief conversation where we expressed our apologies and explained how we mixed up the times, the gentleman at the entrance welcomed us in with an eye-roll (which we accepted as understandable given our tardiness).

Hoping for a fresh start from here, we were met with a young waiter, who was annoyed to see us to say the least & began to rush us from the moment we sat down. After an initial “5-minute limit” to decide upon & order our food, this soon became 30 seconds, with the same aggravated waiter pushing us to rush our decision. Limiting the menu choices based on cook time, we hastily made our decision, beginning to question how welcome we were.

We settled in a bit, and within 10 minutes our food & wine had arrived. It had to be said that the food itself was fantastic; the produce was so fresh and being cooked perfectly on the grill gave it fantastic flavours.

Our enjoyment was short-lived, as our plates were grabbed prematurely (whilst 3 other tables mid-meal were left unbothered), despite food still present on each of the plates and no signal we were almost done.

The main culprit was a tall, skinny young man with sleeve tattoos, who we overheard speaking about us in Portuguese to his colleagues in search of some cheap laughs (we’ve been learning Portuguese for the last 6 months in preparation for our move to Lisbon, so could understand the slurs pretty well).

It being our last night of a short stint in Porto, we were really looking forward to this last meal. It’s such a pity that such a small mishap (admittedly on our part) was made out to be such a huge ordeal, absolutely ruining our experience. Hats off to the kitchen staff and some of the other waiters, who are unfortunately being severely let down by...

Must visit restaurant in Afurada area specially if you want the true local experience.

We made a reservation - it is advised as this place can get crowded, even in the winter. First thing you'll notice as it's common around the area is the grills on the sidewalk with all the fresh fish available to grill, this restaurant's specialty. Inside you'll find a very typical coastal Portuguese restaurant with tiles and naval motifs. The tables are large but they're very close together, sometimes even getting in the way of the waiters. They're all very nice and helpful and will help you choose from the menu if you're having trouble deciding which sea delicacy you want.

Some entree's are already available at the table, like octopus, corn bread and "pataniscas", a fried egg and cod mixture that's amazing, we even had to order again because the first batch disappeared quickly.

The main dishes were perfectly grilled and the sides (baked and boiled potatoes) can be ordered again and again with no extra cost.

Dessert selection was also good.

4 star review just because the tables were really close together and I find that if there was a little bit more space it could be nicer, but I...

Tucked away, and off the main concourse from the ‘touristy’ area of Porto, I encountered this gem of a dining experience. From one block away you sense the aroma of grilled seafood in the air. The outside barbecue set up truely gave a very ‘at home’ feel. European seating arrangement being alfresco on a lovely Autumn afternoon.

The food! To begin my waiter (very good English by the young man and lady, saved me the embarrassment of having to attempt Portuguese) brought me a starter of Bacalhau fritters and a delicious white wine from the Douro Valley region. Since i was dining alone i ordered 2x 1/2 portions to get some variety (thanks to my waiter for suggesting against getting a 3rd. I was definitely ordering with my eyes) I got served the whole Sardines’ (house special) and the whole baby squid. Im a strong believer in the best foods are done simply so that the quality of the item can shine. Seasoned with salt&pepper and grilled to perfection on the charcoal these dishes hit the spot. Incredible flavours I recommend Taberna São Pedro to anyone looking for a genuine Portuguese...