Porto trip getting closer.

[Mika H]

I'm browsing this forum and all the imaginable topics within it(actually been doing that for some weeks now) to get some tips from you experienced Porto visitors. My third trip to Porto is getting closer in just two and a half weeks and while i know it's a large subject any tips about restaurants, must see places and of course everything related to port wine would be very much appreciated.
Especially i would like to know about different options to get to the Douro valley from the city centre for a full day trip. And Roy, what was that francesinha restaurant i remember you recommended at some point? Thank you.

Some pics from my last trip to Porto two years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcq4YJolo9o

-Mika

[Glenn E.]

And Roy, what was that francesinha restaurant i remember you recommended at some point?

That was probably Bufete Fase, Rua Santa Catarina, 1147 Porto Tel:222052118. Very hard to find as it's a tiny restaurant (11 chairs, and they had to work hard to cram that many in) and as I recall there's no exterior sign. If you look carefully, though, they used to have a certificate in the window proudly displaying their award for the Best Francesinha from the original FTLOP awards.

[Glenn E.]

A couple of pictures to help.

This is the seating area. All of it. It's tiny. This is taken from the back of the restaurant. The opening at the back of the picture that heads off to the right is the grill/counter area which then also leads out to the street.

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Here's what it looks like from the outside. Bufete Fase is the white awning. I don't remember whether or not it actually says "Bufete Fase" on the awning or not.

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And here's their FTLOP award that they have hanging in the window, so if all else fails you can look for this and know you've found the right place!

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[Mika H]

Yeah, that's the one. Thank you very much for your help and the pics, Glenn. Obviously one must try to avoid the busiest time of the day when going to that diminutive francesinha joint.

[Christian Gollnick]

Hello Mika!
Lucky you - I hope you will have a marvelous trip to Porto!
I understand that you have done already a lot of research about Porto and you have been there... So you will know about Paparico and the restaurant at the Taylor's lodge and Vinologia... and the restaurant at Graham's lodge... so many good places. Last summer friends from the Port-trade took me to another great restaurant "O Gaveto" - really nice, located in Matosinhos.
To get to the Douro: I like to be mobile. That's why I always rent a car when I'm in Portugal. The traffic in Porto is sometimes a little bit confusing... but driving in the Douro is fantastic. If you want to spend only one day in the Douro I would get a car, drive to Regua to visit the Douro-Museum (good bookstore with many books about wine and Portugal), then I would drive towards Pinhao and during the drive stop at Quinta do Tedo, Panascal, Seixo and if you are still able to drive, I would work my way through Pinhao north, visiting the Quinta do Portal near Sabrosa and then going from there on the highway towards Porto. By doing this, you see a lot of the Douro and some of the nicest Quintas. It's of course a rushed visit at each Quinta - but if you have only one day, that's how I would do it. There are good restaurants on the way, in Regua and Felgosa - but if you come to the Douro for one day I think a 2 hour lunch at D.O.C. would be fun on the one side, but eats away a lot of your time available to visit Quintas...
If you don't like to rent a car, then there is the train. It's a very nice train ride, and you see a lot of Northern Portugal during the way towards the Douro - but when you arrive in Regua or Pinhao then you are not very mobile. You can get a taxi, of course - but it can get very expensive and sometimes you have to wait quite some time until a taxi arrives. As small as the Douro seems - the distances between the Quintas can be quite large.
Once I went by boat from Porto to Regua and then back to Porto by train... but I wouldn't recommend that, because the boat is so slow and you have only so little time in the Douro itself...
So, my final answer is: Rent a car - even if only for one day... All the Quintas I mentioned are easy to reach by car... But it's always good to have a designated driver that doesn't like to drink...

[Mika H]

Christian, thank you very much of those precious tips and suggestions, truly appreciated!
I'm hectically checking out different options for our Douro tour and found a couple of promising sounding alternative ways to make it happen by car (with driver included). I have visited Vinologia twice so i think it's out of the list this time. I'm well aware of O Paparico and definitely trying to make it this time. Thanks for the other restaurant suggestions too! I'll have seven full days in Porto but since i try to be around at the 34th Oporto international film festival screenings as much i can, there are some limitations in where to go and what to see during the trip.
I've been thinking about paying a visit at Real Companhia Velha and Krohn lodge too.

[Christian Gollnick]

Hi Mika, how did your trip go? What did you do? What did you like the most, and what was not so good?

[Mika H]

Hi Mika, how did your trip go? What did you do? What did you like the most, and what was not so good?

Christian, thank you very much for asking! Our week in Porto was excellent and i already miss the place and the people. One full day at the Douro valley was truly a great experience with breathtaking views and stops at few winerys (Quinta da Foz, D'Origem and couple of others) tasting some great table wines and couple of excellent ports. Quinta da Foz have their first very own port wine aging in the cask now from 2012. They ended their companion with Calem if i understood correctly, some of you here might know the story better than i.

I noticed a topic here some time ago about white ports and i meant to post there that i really liked the Quinta das Lamelas 10 year old white port we got to taste at our Douro trip. We had a great local guide and driver who - from my point of view - seemed to have very good knowlwdge about the area and it's history, great stories. I believe there was some kind of issue with the dams and the river flow at that moment which prevented our planned boat trip. Absolutely delicious lunch at restaurant Ponto Grande in Pinhao too. Traditional portuguese cuisine including baby lamb an pork in red wine. Good news for you friends of Bufete Fase and their francesinha: the place is a little bit bigger now with around 15-20 extra seats. Despite that i had to wait maybe 30 minutes outside but as you know, it's well worth it. Visited a few port lodges too, Graham's and Ramos Pinto this time. By the way, it surely would be interesting to participate in one of FTLOTP tours some day.

I spent quite a lot of my time at the Porto International Film Fesival - Fantasporto, so there are still plenty of things in Porto for me to see, already waiting for the next time. I made sort of diary type 5 page coverage about my trip in the Finnish webzine for which i regularly write. It's movie oriented but flavoured with Porto stuff. And it's in Finnish :) In case someone wants to check it out, you can run it through the google translator (although it can give funny results, like just the opposite from the original text):
http://www.elitisti.net/artikkeli/2014/ ... _2014.html