Douro — Restaurant in Portland

Portuguese food in Maine? We were skeptical, but Douro delivered and just exceeded my expectations in every way.

First off, I want to give a shoutout to the staff. We were running late for our reservation due to some unexpected delays, and we called them and they were so accommodating. From the moment we stepped inside, as others have mentioned, we felt like we were in a bustling Portuguese/Spanish taverna.

The restaurant is beautiful inside, and relatively compact (which I think leads to the lively and bustling atmosphere). The tiles and decor are reminiscent of Portugal, although our server told us that the menu is also influenced by Spanish cuisine (note that Spanish influence is more subtle; the place is definitely more Portuguese fare than anything else). We sat at this bar-like area near the kitchen, where we had a partial view of all the action. At first, I thought it would be tight and uncomfortable, but it worked just fine.

We started our night with the vermouth service, a $14/pp (2 people minimum) vermouth experience that I cannot recommend enough. We got two glasses filled with their house vermouth + a small carafe with more (it was delicious), frozen grapes, lemon, sparkling water, Spanish potato chips, and the most delicious olives. It was enough to make two vermouth-based drinks. If you're into vermouth, this is a must.

We were impressed by the extensive menu and, in retrospect, ordered too much food from the excitement (there was no room for dessert, sadly). The menu included many small, shareable dishes (as expected) and local seafood, but also offered sizable mains. The “small plates” portions ended up being bigger than expected (nice surprise!). We loved everything. The green eggs and ham were a hit, as was the Gildas. The pork belly (pork pica Pau) was delicious. We definitely had too much salt between the gem lettuce and the salt cod croquettes; the latter was on the saltier side but still delicious.

My husband’s ribeye was good, albeit “not out of this world” according to him, but my half-chicken with spicy marinade and honey was one of the best chicken dishes I’ve had this year.

All in all, I think Douro will be a hit in Portland. I’m definitely looking forward to...

Yes, this is a Portuguese “inspired” restaurant so don’t disappoint yourself thinking this is a Portuguese restaurant as it is not. I am Portuguese so I went in very excited. I loved the decor, which definitely has a Portuguese vibe. The music was not so great as I would have liked maybe a little Fado music intertwined with their modern music. Service was top notch and extremely attentive. It was right up there with white glove service. You have multiple workers ready to help you at any moment. Presentation of the dishes was outstanding. They really are passionate about the process. I LOVED the (what I assume) to be one of the chefs coming out to explain the dishes we had such as the mussels, canned appetizer, and the star of the evening The Cataplana. The Cataplana served for 2 people, I would say, with not a huge appetite as the portions weren’t all that big but it was perfect for how hungry we were. The smoked mussel appetizer was absolutely unbelievable. All of our meals were extremely tasty. I feel you can’t go wrong with any dish. The piri piri chicken was the most moist chicken that I’ve had in my lifetime. It was a large portion that we actually took home leftovers. The Poncha carafe was lovely and you can’t go 2 feet in Madeira without ordering a Poncha. It is the traditional drink. For dessert we had a Pastal de nata (means single). On the menu it says pasteis, which is multiple but you only get one. It was good not great and overly priced at $9 when the same thing for brunch is $7. We enjoyed ourself so much, we went back for brunch the next day and I highly recommend Brunch as well. I’m thinking it was my favorite. I had the egg sandwich served in a Portuguese muffin. A MUST try. We had the bifana, which is far from a traditional bifana and more like a Cuban sandwich. Traditional bifana would be on a bulky Portuguese roll w marinated slices of pork. It was more like pulled pork and had pickles and mustard and served on the Portuguese muffin. It was so delicious we ordered one to go. My daughter loved her torrijas carmelizadas. Paid parking and right in the water next to the...

What a wonderful addition to Portland. We just got home and the four of us are amazed at how delicious it was. The chicken croquettes were just like Spain. Patatas Bravas were crispy and delicious aoli. For dinner I had the pork which was the best I’ve ever had. Sliced like duck breast, extremely tender and wonderful taste. My wife and cousin had the chicken and it was just as wonderful. My friend had the halibut and loved it. The service was warm and friendly, Lydia, Chris and Andrew all superb. Best of all it did not have any Portland attitude. The space is very beautiful as well. I almost forgot, they make a perfect Aperol...