I met a few people who told me A Despensa was an absolute must while in Porto. I struggled to get a last minute reservation during my short trip and found the system to be a bit tough, but ultimately I was able to snag one right when the they opened. The wait staff was incredibly professional and knowledgeable. I was told that since I was just one person, they could make me a half size appetizer, which I really appreciated! But unfortunately the few apps I was interested in were not available in half sizes. I ended up going with bread service and the pesto pasta. Both were tasty enough and I left feeling full. I probably didn't order the best, but I didn't find this to be a particularly noteworthy meal food-wise, especially for being on the pricier end. Nice ambiance inside! read more

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Excellent Italian. Tasty little salad with many extras. Then the baked lasagna was first rate - and I've had such tissues across America and Europe. Finally, homemade Nutella ice cream was a special ending for the meal. Friendly staff and good ambience. Would highly recommend it. read more

On time with the reservations. The host was so friendly and he helped us chose just the right amount of food, which was wonderful!

I had read others reviews and we decided to make a reservation. The service was incredible. The owner Daniel was super friendly and made us feel right at home. He gave us great suggestions for our meals. The food was so good. I would definitely not come back to Porto without visiting this restaurant! Probably the best meal of our trip!!! read more

A Despensa - Pasta carbonara, meat lasagna, and Veal scallopini. - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

Our last night in Porto we tried A Despensa. We were seated promptly at our reservation time. I had mushroom and walnut risotto which I've been dreaming about ever since. Superb. My husband had the lasagna which I've h he said was excellent. The service was very good. Definitely worth a visit!! read more

A Despensa - Mushroom walnut risotto - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

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AMAZING. The restaurant has a nice selection of gluten free options. The service was excellent and Shakur was very attentive and helpful. The mushroom risotto was phenomenal. Suggest making reservations as the place does get crowded. It was only me so I was lucky enough to get a table before another reservation showed up. The atmosphere is cozy, intimate and romantic but you do t have to dress fancy. So glad I found this location as I can only eat gluten free food. I would definitely recommend for dinner (they open at 7pm) as I would definitely return. read more

A Despensa - Panna Frutti Rossi - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

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One of our favorite meals in Portugal. We found this place on Yelp and made reservations. We arrived and the dining room was empty. What we didn't know at the time was that the patrons were actually all in a secondary room, not visible from the front. The ambiance was great and most of the tables were full. There was a nice vibe and buzz in the room. We ordered the Tábua Mista and everything on the board was delicious. The Gorgonzola was the standout, for me. My wife found it too strong (more for me). For entrees, she had the lasagna and I opted for the Linguine Alla Carbonara. Both dishes were outstanding. My dish came with a black pepper and black olive ground mixture that was phenomenal. I wish they bottled and sold it! read more

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This place fills up fast. Make reservations. Food is amazing. Cheese plate was huge. Tables are close together, but has an upscale vibe. read more

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Absolutely delicious. The service was amazing. The food was amazing. The ambiance was romantic. Me and my boyfriend loved everything! Highly recommend whenever in Porto. read more

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Oh boy, the night started off rough initially. I had a reservation at 7pm and tried to change it to 7:30pm through their reservation site. I received an email saying they couldn't not confirm a 7:30pm time slot but little did I know submitting the request also canceled my original reservation! No where in the email not confirming the 7:30pm reservation did it say my original reservation would be canceled. So I showed up at 7pm and was surprised to find out i had no table available. Needless to say I was upset. Stefan, the host, was actually quite nice about it, feeling terrible for what happened but ultimately unable to do much about it. He offered for us to wait in case there was a cancelation, but I really didn't feel like waiting for a table after waiting 1.5 hours earlier in the day for a table at lunch somewhere. He also called their sister restaurant to see if they could accommodate us right away. Luckily, after about 20 minutes a party of 6 canceled and we were able to get seated! I wasn't particularly hungry having eaten a later than expected lunch due (see the 1.5 hour wait), but enjoyed the food here. The puff pastry Brie and carbonara were particularly good. The tortellini has smoked paprika and it adds a particular flavor so you need to be sure if that sort of thing is up your alley. The service from every server that looked after our table was excellent. So friendly. I would recommend. But only with a reservation! read more

Soooo good. Sooo worth the hype. Get a reservation and enjoy! This was by far the best meal we had in Portugal (Lisbon and Porto). Been to Tuscany and Rome multiple times, lived in NYC for more and this is as good or better than any pasta anywhere I've had! We loved it so much we tried to come back a second time! Food is fantastic, and for the quality very inexpensive. Beef carpaccio was magical, lasagne so complex and the ravioli was superb. Everything we ordered was great. This is a must go. Get the Tiramisu for dessert! read more

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It is a quaint restaurant with outstanding food. It was one of our favorite experiences in Porto. The manager recommended a dry red wine from Portugal. The bruschetta was unique in that each piece had a different topping. We also had the mushroom risotto and eggplant parmigiana. It was all very, very good! read more

A Despensa - Bruschetta and Portugal red wine. - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

The last night in Porto and in Lisbon, we wanted to mix things up and found this highly rated Italian spot. This ended up, probably being one of my favorite restaurant that we went to an hour when we check in Portugal. Restaurant had a super cozy feel with warm lighting but also felt spacious at the same time. The kiddos on one side of the dining area made the space feel bigger than it was. The open bar on display was also gorgeous and modern. We got: Bruschette Miste - This came with five pieces of toast with different types of toppings. They were all delicious. The bread also somehow stayed crispy on the bottom, despite being topped to the max. Burrata - This was marvelous. The product came in a bed of arugula with some lightly cooked tomatoes, cherry tomatoes. The Barada was like creamy, fresh and delicious, perfectly seasoned. This was also huge by the way - probably 6 inches across. We split this between 2 people but I think this would be best split with ~3-4. Carbonara - Delicious! Creamy, with a good ratio of crispy, smokey bacon. Pesto - This was a pleasant surprise - the pesto was very nutty and flavorful and the sauce clung onto the noodles nicely. Tiramisu - One of the best I've had - fresh, fluffy, and not too sweet. I'd definitely get this again! It was on the smaller side, so recommend sharing between 1-2 people. We finished this off with some limoncello (lemon liquor) on the house! read more

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A must-visit if you're in Porto. Make sure to make a reservation. It's so worth it. The Veal Marsala was the best I've ever had. Not the typical Marsala pounded flat. Served cubed and the texture is a buttery wonderful taste. Everyone else's dinner, which of course I had to taste, was fantastic too. The Veal Vitello which was more of a rare preparation of the veal was delicious. The special gnocchi was prepared in a velvety cream sauce with mushrooms. There was a fabulous smokey taste. The eggplant parmigiana which was prepared in the standard fashion was very tasty as well. Moving on to dessert - the homemade ice cream was out of this world and although the standard Italian dessert, the tiramisu was way above standard. We didn't have anyvstarters because we are lunch and weren't as hungry looked delicious on everyone elses's tables. Overall, must visit!!! read more

A Despensa - Veal Marsala - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

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Just had our last meal in Porto. we've been in Portugal for a week - this was an amazing dinner. So fresh - so blended with the tastes. Started with the Burrata appetizer - amazing! easy to share. and then had two mains. Lasagna ( could feed three!) and Penne with Truffle Cream. Oh my. Great wine, excellent service - terrific price point for the quality. Thank you!!! read more

The restaurant is very cute. Service was very good! Plenty of vegetarian options. Restaurant was very full when we arrived. We were only able to get reservation for 9:30, and they were still very busy. We had the baked cheese, the croquetes and a truffle pasta. I like my pasta Al dente but this one was a little under cooked and a lil harder than supposed to be. For dessert we had a chocolate cake that was good but the wine we order to pair never came. They removed from our bill when we informed them. Overall we had a very good experience. read more

The ambiance at this restaurant is so wonderful and the service is even better! Everyone here was so welcoming and friendly. Dietary preferences were asked about right away and my gluten free allergy was kept in mind throughout each course. I got one of the specials of the week and it was delicious!! Definitely recommend. read more

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On our first night in Porto we made reservations at this place and it was hands down such a great experience. The staff was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable on their wines. We had the lasagna that was fantastic and had such bold flavors. The Penne Trafuno was amazing and the black truffle was just perfect in flavor in this dish. Please come give this place a try. Well worth it. read more

A Despensa - Lasagna and Pasta Trufano - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

As an Italian and self proclaimed chef, I rate this restaurant 3/5 stars, based off the wine selection (excellent), service (excellent), and food (meh). I mean, honestly, the point of going to a restaurant is the food, which is the grounds of my rating. We shared the burrata, which was as expected, but how can one mess that up? I then had the fusilli al pesto- they should rename it the fusilli al salt due to the disrespectful amount of salt the dish contained. I feel like I may have contracted diabetes after that meal. My partner had the lasagna, which he enjoyed, but then again this is my review. Would I recommend this restaurant? Probably not. However, the service and affordable wine menu drew me here and I can see the appeal for a hungry tourist in Porto. read more

Was really excited to try because of this place's popularity! However, fell a bit short. The burrata came with a tiny bit of arugula and four small tomatoes so we were pretty much eating straight burrata. The tortellini and pasta were good but didn't blow us away. The service was fairly slow; it took 1 hour to receive our food. Overall enjoyed our meal though. read more

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We dined at A Despensa last night, and enjoyed the best dining experience so far during our three weeks in Spain and Portugal. The service was impeccable. The burrata was incredible. My lasagna was perhaps the best I've ever had. My wife loved the scaloppine con marsala. And the tiramisu was outstanding. The ambience was also top notch. read more

We were looking for a place to have dinner after visiting the Livraria Lello and this place came up on Yelp and was very close that we could walk to it. We were there before it opened and those that made reservations had priority, of course. We got in and we ordered the buratta and the chef's specials - penne pasta with eggplant and cherry tomato sauce and the linguine with artichokes and some kind of anchovy sauce. I liked the penne but the sauce was a bit too sweet for me as it almost tasted like homemade ketchup. The linguine with anchovy sauce tasted very fishy for me. The buratta was a nice size portion and is very filling. Service was very good. read more

Fabulous cozy Italian eatery in Porto as good as I've experienced outside of Italy. House salad, flight of five bruschettas and jamon iberico were excellent. Linguine alla amatriciana and with mixed seafood were outstanding. Tiramisu among best I've ever had. Service was friendly, helpful and excellent. Suggested Douro red wine and limoncello shots were awesome. Highly recommended! read more

We had a wonderful meal at A Despensa and highly recommend it. Make sure you make a reservation. The owner is from the Puglia region of Italy and their food is wonderful, the staff are wonderful and it was an all around wonderful meal. Our favorite dishes of the night was lasagna and the truffle linguine on the chefs special menu. Out of this world incredible. Highly recommended! read more

This place was perfection! Best Italian food in Porto. The service was great and the ambiance was just as perfect. However, our waiter started laughing at us when we put in our order saying that we ordered way too much food. At first we laughed with him and thought it was just him joking around, but as the night continued he kept laughing at us and coming to the table making us feel incredibly uncomfortable. Then we heard him talking at the server station about how much food we ordered to another server and that really sent us over the edge... isn't it his job to sell food and make sure his customers are happy and feel comfortable? I would still recommend this restaurant but I would hope that this server with the long hair gets spoken to by management since it is entirely inappropriate to shame a guest or make them feel uncomfortable or bad for the amount of food they order. Shane on him! read more

We got this recommendation from friends and the hotel bc we were looking for a veg friendly option and this is the spot. Lots of vegetarian options. Very cute restaurant and we sat in the back room which was nice. We started off with the croquets and burrata and an appetizer. The croquets came with 2 ham and cheese and 2 truffle mushroom. It was nothing exciting but the ham and cheese one was better than the mushroom. The burrata is HUGE and realized at the end when we got our bill that it was the most expensive dish (16 euros). It's a little more creamy in texture then what I am used too but it tasted great. It's served with argula salad and warm cherry tomatoes. It's just an extremely large portion and we were a party of 4. For entrees: black truffle pasta--which was pretty good and you could definitely taste the truffle. I think it would've been better if it had a creamy sauce to it. Spaghetti--unique flavor but was good. Again I just wish it was more saucy but I like my pasta with a lot of sauce. Also was al dente. I like my pasta cooked fully. Penne spicy one--my friend ordered this and just thought it was okay. Eggplant Parmigiana--I ordered this and it was yummy and heavy. It's a huge entree and you have to love cheese. It's a baked entree that has layer of eggplant/sauce/cheese and repeat. Highly recommended for vegetarians! read more

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Best meal we had during our time in Portugal! Delicious Italian fare in a welcoming atmosphere with friendly/attentive service

Make a reservation now. Thank me later. The best Italian food I have had outside of Italy. Absolutely amazing! read more

So I had Italian food in Portugal so I was prepared for anything. I had the veal marsala, because the original dish I ordered, Seafood Risotto, was not available. It's not the same dish as you might expect in North America, it was chunks of veal with only a small amount of sauce but it was delicious. The accompanying potatoes were great too, small fingerling ones with the rounded ends cut off and slightly hollowed out to make room for some light soft cheese that had melted. They were topped off with small almost shoe string potatoes, not sure. The combination however works well for both flavor and texture. The restaurant had to be pretty good because there was a lineup outside waiting to get in so I'm sure other dishes must be good too. My only "complaint" is I wish they had also given me some vegetables but I don't think that is the local way. read more

We were all in search of a nice place to have dinner and many reviews pointed us to A Despensa. This is a dream come true for the Daniel and his wife Elsa. There is serious passion in the meals they prepare. My main course was ox beef which was delicious and a new adventure for me. My wife had a pasta dish with Gorgonzola, pin nuts and cocoa powder sprinkled on top. Sounds odd but, we were giving careful instructions to mix this into the pasta. Outstanding dish! Elsa is the wine steward and selected us a fabulous wine to complement the meal. The service was great, the atmosphere warm, and the food delicious. This is a must try in Porto! P.S. It was hard not to go back a second time but we needed to explore. Thanks s couple for making the the top of our food adventure in Porto. read more

Service was impeccable and the ambiance was amazing. We had the truffle penne as well as the lasagna and the food was outstanding. A hidden gem in Porto and some of the best Italian food we've ever had! read more

This was the highlight of our trip to Portugal, and we received fantastic service there along with great food. We made reservations by emailing the restaurant, which was effortless. The table was ready for us when we got there. They had a good range of appetizers and entrée options. All their food was extremely fresh. We rnded getting four different desserts on top of everything else we had, all of which were absolutely wonderful! Highly recommended. read more

A Despensa - Italian Near Me - Porto, 13

I couldn't have had a worse time. The food is fine but the people who work there are just awful. The owner or manager could quite frankly be the rudest man I've met in my life. I have not left a restaurant more upset in my life. read more

It was trying hard to create an aura of fine dining. Food was mediocre at best, I have had better.

Amazing dinner. Menu provided english and everyone there was friendly and spoke english. Get the burrata! read more

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This place is incredible. We spend à week-end in porto and went there two Times. I don't Know Where to start... the food is incredible (i love italian food and travel a lot... this is definitly my favorite italian restaurant by far). The place is so nice, really cute decoration. We had the chance to meet the owners, they are lovely and passionate with there restaurant (and you can tell by the quality or their product and food). Prices are reasonnable (especialy for this kind MF great food) Do not hesitate, go there and enjoy! read more

Came here with a few co-workers for dinner - I go to Porto at least once a year for work and I will not leave without coming here. Their truffle pasta is to die for!!! Very cute homey place. Also had a cheese dip app that was amazing- This can very easily be ranked one of my favorite restaurants ever. Cannot wait to go back here in December when Im back in Porto! read more

Had dinner last night, very pretty restaurant with good lighting and attentive staff. The steak and wine were delicious. Lovely couple that own it, I recommend! read more