The host was very nice, but the bar staff/waiter seemed to be annoyed of any requests and didn't proactively check on anything. No "hey would you like another drink?" Or "how is your food?" ..or anything. He spent most of his time washing dishes and I'm general gave off an unpleasant vibe. The presentation of the dishes was quite good, though. Oysters weren't served with anything aside from lemon (not sure if Horseradish is a thing inn Portugal, but it should be.) The soup had an unappealing color, but was pretty good. The shrimp risotto was a letdown, though--it was rather boring/bland. Prices were a bit on the high side, but it was popular, and I was expecting to be wowed by the food, but left let down. read more

So freakin good, we were able to slide in but the watched several groups after us get turned away. So make reservations! The pork cheek is the best thing we have eaten in Portugal and the salmon ceviche is also amazing. Staff is super friendly and the manager lady went above and beyond for us. Definitely recommend it to anyone in Porto read more

We came up asking for a table and were turned away immediately saying no room for us. Then we sat in the bench right across from the entrance to try and figure out where to go next and watched the owner let everyone else in who wasn't American. Some didn't have a reservation and she found a way or said to come back at a certain time. We were clean and put together and polite. That was really ugly behavior on the woman's part. Shame. read more

This place is highly overrated and is frequented by tourists. It is very busy, and there was a line even before the doors opened. All of the food and drinks were mediocre and uninnovative. This was our first meal in Portugal and we were happy the rest of them were much better! read more

Great ambience, food and staff! My favorite dishes were the ceviche, carpaccio, and toast. The ceviche was very unique because they added sweet potato chips on top! Overall, a great meal! read more

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So good! Highly recommend the potato tortilla, which is a somewhat like a cross between scallop potatoes and a creamy potato omelette, with a lot of browned onions and olive oil. The best of all was the peanut foam!! I got the kid's menu sized peanut foam dessert and it was bigger than expected, but more importantly--delicious! Shrimp risotto was decent, very rich, but not the most flavourful I've had. A lot of people seem to love this risotto though and I'm more biased to stronger flavours, and less of a pasta/risotto person. read more

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Due to construction we failed to find this place on our first night. We traveled back hell bent on locating and glad we did. Not awesome from the outside, but once you enter everything changes. Great staff, great food and great drinks. Get there at open or make reservations to avoid lines. read more

We didn't know it was a very popular place for dinner and didn't make reservations. First, make reservations! They squeezed us in after waiting almost 2 hours...worth the wait! We had the prawns, steak and cod with mashed potatoes. All were fabulous. We got a chocolate dessert it was fantastic! Service was awesome too. Most of the staff speak english and have a good sense of humor. Ambiance was noisy but could hear your table, they didnt rush you...we strongly suggest Tapabento! We loved it! Next time we'll make reservations ;) read more

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Tapabento has a line out the door for good reason (make a reservation). The food was delicious, the service was excellent and friendly, and the setting was old world meets modern. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone coming to Porto. read more

Food was absolutely scrumptious, everything we had was delicious. We had the tuna tartar pinchos, the salmon ceviche with sweet potato chips, the tortilla de patata, the beef carpaccio and the oxtail dumplings. Perfection. And in top of that the owner will do whatever is in her hands to make your experience the best there is. Amazing! read more

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Delicious food and definitely worth the wait! We didn't have reservations so waited about 20 minutes and we were lucky they were able to seat us at around 2 pm (they close for lunch at 3). We ordered the oxtail dumplings and fried rice, which were both very tasty though the star of our meal was the pork cheek, so tender and flavorful! On top of this, service was fantastic (thanks Gaurav!) and the hostess, a lovely lady that made you feel at home. I'm sure even those who unfortunately were turned away would return to try again given her graciousness. 5 stars across the board and will return when arriving at Sao Bento! read more

Tapabento - Outside - Portuguese Near Me - Porto, 13

Amazing food and excellent service. A must try when in Porto! The owner was so gracious and got us in without a reservation quickly. We will definitely come back! read more

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Such a good spot in Porto. The restaurant serves up fusion portugues food and has the nicest staff. We didnt have a reservation, but came right at lunch opening and were seated without a problem. The mussles were definitely the stand out dish! Flavored with lemongrass, ginger, citrus, and mint - it was good. Ceviche was killer too - served with sweet potato chips The foie gras was a piece of art! Served with pears and berries and seared perfectly. Dumplings tasted great as well. The presentation was equaly impressive on all the dishes. We looked around at other tables and they were ordering lots of different seafood dishes that looked fantastic. Definitely make some reservations IN ADVANCE and check out this place. read more

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A delightful experience. The food was delicious. The service great and the ambiance cosseting. From reception to departure a warm memory of Porto. Thank you! I highly recommend Tapabento.. Thank you !! read more

I had really high expectations given extraordinary reviews both on yelp and google but I do not think it matches up to that. Perhaps the reviews are more for ambience and experience rather than food. We had potato tortilla, vegetable soup, seafood curry and the mushroom risotto. Food was overall still in the good category but not extraordinary as the reviews make it seem like. I would rate it 4.2/5. Staff is really good and hostess is extremely nice. The place was really cold as doors left open for people lining up outside for tables. read more

Arrived at Porto and decided on taking a chance and showed up without a reservation. Since I was traveling alone, seemed possible that I'd snag a seat. And it was so conveniently located next to the hotel I was staying that I hopped on over. Usually I'd be wary of establishments right next to the train station but thousands of reviews on TripAdvisor can't be that off, right? So glad I went. The hostess was an amazingly welcome lady that greeted me and put me on the waitlist. Only took about 30min and I had my lovely counter seat. The server spoke English and tried, in vain, to dissuade me from ordering the Foie Gras dish and the shrimp. He doesn't understand we Asians can down good food like no tomorrow. For a small little tavern, the complexity of the Foie Gras dish blew me away. The sweet salty combo from the demi glacé sauce, berries in addition to textural elements from the pistachios had me in a tizzy. I almost finished the entire dish before stopping myself to save room for the other entree. Shrimps were lovely and so fresh. I enjoyed it so much and thought ok, that's enough but then I spied my neighbor's dessert. So then of course dessert happened. Seriously it's as if I'm at a Michelin starred restaurant. Presentation and taste were all on point. So good that I made another reservation and came back on my last night in Porto and sat upstairs this time. Make sure you make a reservation. Saw so so many people turned away hoping to wait for a seat on Thursday night that i returned. They booked out the entire evening apparently and if you wait, it's on the hope that someone doesn't show up for their reservation. Even bar seats are reserved and aren't really for walk-ins. Call, they all speak English so it's a cinch to communicate. Enjoy! read more

Had to get into this restaurant prior to leaving Portugal and believe me, the 1 hr 45 min wait was worth it! Traveling solo I did not make a reservation but neither did the 30+ people in line behind me. Make a reservation is the key! I sat at the counter and watched "the machine" at work. The owner or manager was an extremely kind woman offering smiles to all hoping to get in. However, with dinner hours of only 7-10pm, it's a small window of opportunity. Although my meal came promptly there was a mix up with my counter neighbor's order which took awhile to resolve. The food was excellent (I had the steak dinner), ambiance was wonderful and staff made for an extremely memorable dinner. Thank you. read more

Abundant- with trip-advised tourists and, perhaps locals? That oughta be a turnoff for the snobbish 'we want where locals eat', I dunno. But it doesn't matter a whit. Cast it off. The food was great. A hearty fish soup, brimming. An onion crusted filet, delicate and amazing. A welcoming family of hostess and mom and waitstaff. Great vibes, cool bartender. Book ahead. Come hungry. read more

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Oh boy we reserved a week in advance and came with great expectation to this place. We liked the tuna. The seafood bowl was full of clams and no fish in it. We regretted that we didn't order the curry seafood pot with rice instead, cause the bowl was ok. It looked tempting but tasted alright. The cod was big but somehow like all places in Portugal expect the cod to be slightly salty and firm. It was an ok dish but from what we've order the tuna and cod were the best ones. read more

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Didn't get to actually dine here but went twice and was told they were booked for the day.Even went at lunch time and was told they were booked for the night but could have luck if we returned in the evening. The greeter was super friendly. read more

Came here on a recommendation from a friend and was not at all disappointed! Like many have said, I'd echo this was our best meal of our tour around Portugal. The service is fantastic and food is fresh and delicious. Definitely recommend making reservations. They are closed on Monday's. For drinks we had the sangria (really big!) and homemade lemonade. Both delicious. We had the fish stew to start and wowowowow! Complex, fresh, perfectly seasons with chunks of seafood in there. Could eat a few more bowls of this. Secondly we had razor clams. Yum! Garlic. Butter. Herbs. Perfect. Even better is that they take them out for you! No hassle. For the main we shared the seafood curry. This was amazing. Tons of seafood served with a side of rice (needed to sop up as much curry as you can!). Came with mussels, razor clams, clams, monkfish and prawns. I would have ordered some more bread if I wasn't stuffed. To end, I had a small 2cl of 30 yr tawny port. I loved that they offer a small portion like this. Don't need too much to end a perfect meal. I'm definitely coming back here next time in town. Nothing I could complain about. Perfect!! read more

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Arguably the best meal we had in Porto. We tried to make a reservation before leaving the States and received a reply they were booked but might have a chance if we showed up when they opened at noon, or 7pm for the dinner seating. We headed over at noon and there was already a line, but they got us in. Lunch was fantastic! Do what you can to have a meal here before leaving Porto. read more

We did not have a reservation, but they managed to get us in after a 30-minute wait on a Sunday night. Worth it! The food was excellent.

Make a reservation. Damn slow for one bar seat, took an hour and a half and only after where I asked where another restaurant was. Certainly not a 5 star, nor a 4 star even on their best day. More than likely just grade inflation from peeps who don't eat at nicer restaurants. I had the Foie Gras Toast and waaay too many onions in it. I love sautéed and grilled onions but this still had too many onions and smothered the foie gras. The duck with sweet potatoes was uninspired at best. I'd you get it, eat only the duck and broccoli and skip the sweet potatoe purée. Didn't bother with the desert, even though I'm a sweet tooth, I couldn't wait to get out of there read more

Tapabento - Foie Gras Toast - Portuguese Near Me - Porto, 13

As if they need another 5 star review, but I'm giving them one anyway. The only con was the wait time as they had a lot of reserved tables that were empty. Lesson learned: make a reservation. They are used to tourists because they had menus in many languages from Italian to an Asian one. We used English and were able to make sure we picked all the right options. We shared all the dishes. The salmon ceviche. 5/5 it was so tasty and the sauce was perfect with it. They were large chunks of fish and a good portion size. The potato dish was basically potato pie, not sure I've ever had that but YUM. It was just enough cheese and veggies to not be only potatoes and to make it so flavorful, yet still potato-y enough. (yes, made up word) The Bruschetta was also not to miss. I find it hard to mess up this dish, but this one was executed perfectly. I believe we also got a beef toasty of some type and the meat was perfect. Perfect temp, texture, consistency and flavor. Just can't say enough about this place, order a lot and make sure you show up with an empty stomach! read more

Tapabento - Bruschetta, Porto dish and ceviche - Portuguese Near Me - Porto, 13

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Our meal was ok - I was expecting a bit more considering the high reviews. We got the shrimp risotto, salmon ceviche, potato tortilla, and peanut foam dessert. The dessert was probably my favorite thing we ordered. Overall, everything was pretty good, but nothing blew me away. read more

I have to give this place a 5 stars,even it's an hour wait,it's totally worth it.the food and service are both outstanding!!!must try when you are at Porto!! read more

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Excellent food and drinks! Conveniently located at Sao Bento. Highly recommend. Cool atmosphere.

Extremely interesting menu. Salmon tartare. Oxtail dumplings. Sussana had been here before covid & we all got lucky finding them reopened for our lunch delights. Very great food! read more

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This was my favorite restaurant that we dined at in Portugal! There was a mix up with our reservation so we almost didn't get to eat there though. We had to come back and check on a table. The place gets packed so a reservation is a must! There's also nowhere to wait for your table except for outside. The food was so delicious! We ordered everything lol. Nice atmosphere too. Definitely make a reservation here when you're in Porto, Portugal! read more

Tapabento - Our spread! Steak, prawns, veggie rice, curry dish. Amazing! - Portuguese Near Me - Porto, 13

I usually find great places to east on Yelp and this was no exception. Our waiter guided us to some amazing dishes. If you get Alberto, let him guide your food selections. He was 10 for 10! Potato tortilla was a surprise and the oxtail dumplings were delish. Make a reservation if you don't want to wait 60-90 minutes for a table. If you do have to wait, there's a hostel next door with alcohol. read more

Ok when do I even begin? This entire experience was awesome! Our party of 2 walked in without a reservation and the place was full. The bar staff acknowledged us right away and got the manager to take care of us. Very accommodating and we had a table within 15 minutes. The service from start to finish was phenomenal. Kelly was our server and she was nothing short of amazing!!! She reviewed the menu with us before we ordered. All of the other staff were also incredible. The food was amazing. Please get the garlic shrimp and lick up all the sauce. Kelly brought over some fresh bread so we could soak up the extra garlic sauce, and she also ended off our meal with some port wine. Everything else was absolutely delicious, full of flavour, and came in generous portions. Prices seem a bit expensive, but the food is worth it. The atmosphere is cozy and homey but the food is top notch. Comfortable seating as well. Definitely our favourite meal during our time in Portugal so far. read more

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Oh Porto, you are the jewel of Europe, and TapaBento is one of the things I love best about you. What a delightful place of restoration, to rejuvenate your body and soul, this is a place where food, wine, and social life combine to create an atmosphere that is positively unique and delightful. Be sure to make a reservation as walk-ins get turned away most nights. But most of all, be sure to make time to visit this special place. There's nothing quite like it. read more

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The food at this restaurant was delicious. We ordered the duck, steak, eggplant, and fried rice. All the dishes were tasty and well-balanced, not overly salty. The staff was fast, efficient, and kind without making us feel rushed. It's best to make a reservation since the lines can get long. I didn't have a reservation, but I arrived 20 minutes before they opened and was first in line. I was able to get a table 15 minutes after they opened. Mari was a great waiter! This was my favorite place to eat in Porto. read more

A meal I'll be thinking about for awhile. Every item we ordered was delicious. I literally can't say anything else. It's been 4 months and I'm still thinking about this meal. Enough said. read more

We were so happy with this restaurant! The food was superb, and we loved the decor. The owner greeted us personally and sat us at a table near a window of the train station. It was really lively and the wasn't too long to get in. The fish was extremely fresh and had a wonderful base for dipping bread. Totally worth it! read more

Tapabento - Fish and Seafood Cataplana - Portuguese Near Me - Porto, 13

The food here was fantastic. Probably our best meal in Portugal. We went on the recommendation of a restaurant owner and we were glad we took his advice. We arrived a little after 7:00 PM without a reservation, which we would not recommend doing. The owner was gracious enough to squeeze us in. We ordered the cheese plate, which was delicious. Especially the pumpkin jam. Also had the seafood curry, which we loved. Our daughter enjoyed the steak. Our waitress was fabulous and let us sample several wines prior to making our selection. She was quite attentive. If you go, definitely make a reservation, as many people were lining up only to find out that the restaurant was full. read more

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Terrible experience! We waited for over an hour with high hopes. We had the most hateful waiter and very disappointing food. The bathroom is very creepy and outside in the train station. There was no toilet paper and it is shared for men and women. You also have to use the strange key for the bathroom that locks you inside and is hard to get out of. I cannot understand all the good reviews? So sad one of the few nights we had in Porto sucked so badly. read more

Enjoyed a variety of foods here including these delicious dumplings and several authentic Portuguese dishes. Would recommend getting a reservation multiple days in advance and going with a group of 2-4. Intimate setting with authentic cultural vibe read more

Tapabento - Dumpling appetizer - Portuguese Near Me - Porto, 13

Tapabento is a little nook by the train station, in an unassuming alley. The menu consists of fresh seafood, fusion soups and tapas, and Portuguese specialties. My friend and I ordered the Ceviche de Salmao (salmon ceviche), the Bruschetta de Tomate Fresco Marinado (tomato bruschetta), the Sopa de Peixe (fish soup), and the Caril de Peixe e Marisco (fish and seafood curry). I can't believe I'm saying this, but the nori-jasmine rice that came with curry was the best rice I've had in Europe (come at me, I'll fight you on this). They nailed the basics: crunchy toast, fragrant and fluffy rice, the crunchy sweet potato chips in the ceviche, the razor clams in the curry. The curry was flavorful and reminded me of coconut Thai curries, the ceviche came with fatty chunks of salmon and the fresh bite of lime, and the fish soup had a warm, smooth and brothy mouthfeel to it that coated your tongue. The ambience is quaint, but the food is bold. I would visit Portugal just to eat here again! read more

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