How to experience the Real Porto
Author Maxim Grigoriev highlights several places off the beaten track.
Maxim Grigoriev is a Swedish author whose novel Europa was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature in 2021. Born in Moscow, raised in Stockholm, and primarily living in Paris now, he has spent time in both and Porto. He considers the Portuguese city to be his spiritual home. As he left a part of him behind after a trip to Porto around a decade ago, he tries to spend at least one week every other month there. His latest novel, Regnet [The Rain], which was published in Swedish in 2022, deals with the increasing level of tourism the city has endured in recent years. You can follow him at @macksg on Instagram.
Afternoon repose and a view
Rooftop Flores
“Each time I return to the city after a longer absence, I make a beeline from the airport to Rooftop Flores, where I plop down my bag and order a glass of port wine and a cheese platter. You go there for the view and the afternoon silence: the astoundingly beautiful church towers of the Old Town, the spires and domed skylights that rise majestically above a shimmering mass of white granite and red roof tiles. Mediterranean seagulls pose in front of this backdrop. You remember why you love this city.”
No frills
Guindalense Futebol Clube
“Porto provided the name for port wine, but beer is the beverage of choice in the city. A small draft beer, known as “um fino”, is typically a Super Bock, and should definitely not cost more than two Euro. You don’t need any frills, just some winter sunshine and a view, like on the small terrace operated by the local sports federation by the Guindais funicular. Along with the students from the nearby college, you can admire the glittering bluish gray river beneath the steel bridge and listen to the public radio blaring from the speakers. Afterward, you can walk down the granite steps to the river and join the stream of tourists.”
Sinful snack
Leitaria da Quinta do Paço
“In Portugal, people do eat several pasteis de nata every day, but the eclairs made by Leitaria da Quinta do Paço are a more sinful snack. In recent years, they’ve introduced a number of different flavors, such as passion fruit and caramel, but the best combination remains “o classico”, an eclair filled with a sweet whipped cream and covered with a chocolate topping. Preferably, along with an espresso or a meia-de-leite, the Portuguese version of cappuccino.”
A traditional lunch
O Astro
“In Porto, people eat simply, heartily, and until they burst. The long-standing nickname for the locals is “os tripeiros” [the gluttons]. The attempt in recent years to transform the city into a culinary Mecca appears to have borne fruit, serving as a vital part of the tourist business, but it hasn’t erased the original Porto: traditional North-Portuguese fare in enormous portions for around 6–10 Euro, including soup, coffee, and beer.
A (slightly) lighter lunch alternative is a bifana, thin pork slices simmered in a sauce of wine, beer, tomato purée, garlic, olive oil, peri-peri, and bay leaves. This is served on white bread and available everywhere, but the best bifanais considered to be served at O Astra by the Campanhã railroad station. You need at least two sandwiches to truly get full, maybe also a caldo verde soup and, naturally, an “um fino” to wash it down. Consume while standing beside the bar.”
Fish in the harbor
Toupeirinho
“You haven’t been in Porto if you haven’t seen hundreds of seagulls circle over the Sāo Bento railroad station or stood in the Ribeira parking lot sucking on a cigarette next to a sleepy fisherman while looking at the night glow from the port wine billboards on the opposite side of the river. It’s also supposed to be important to go to Foz or Matosinhos and watch the sunset over the waters of the Atlantic as they’re patrolled by a NATO warship. Then, you eat fish.
All the spots along the Rua Heróis de França are about the same. The menus change on a daily basis. It’s just a matter of choosing from the catch of the day, which you see on the grill outside the entrances. Toupeirinho is a favorite.”
Nightlife in the city
Café Candelabro
“Back in the city, movida, the nightlife, consists of standing on the street outside a bar with an “um fino” in your hand while you fraternize. The neighborhood around Gallerias de Paris is full of both fancier gin bars and cheaper beer halls. Since I don’t like things that are too upbeat, my personal favorite is O Candelabro. The gorgeous bar also operates an antique store focused on film and the visual arts. The atmosphere is lively, but with a barely perceptible tone of Northern European melancholy and a certain intellectual shyness toward excess extroversion.”
Affordable luxury hotel
Grande Hotel do Porto
“Grande Hotel do Porto, which opened in 1880, hosted the last emperor of Brazil as one of its first guests and several contemporary classic authors like Eça de Queiros. The renowned director Manoel de Oliveira filmed several scenes at the hotel. Today, this historical luxury is served in a low-key, reasonably priced, and elegant manner, which includes newspapers in the lobby.”