PORTO, PORTUGAL — SEAFOOD-FIRST

Three mates, one trail, way too many plates.

We ate our way through Porto's charcoal grills, tile-walled tabernas and tapas trail so you don't have to guess — small plates, wine, beer, and the best seafood we could find, built from the trip that started it with Dave and Tom.

See the Tapas Trail Follow @portoseafoodtours

A row of charcoal grills set up on the cobbled street outside a Porto taberna, fish and sardines cooking over the coals

AFURADA DE BAIXO · 19:15

What's on the trail

Four stops, one afternoon, no reservations

This is what we actually did in Porto — not a concept, an itinerary we lived through once and are still talking about.

Whole fish grilling over glowing charcoal in an outdoor brazier

01 — Streetside

The charcoal grills

Whole dourada, sardinhas, tiger prawns and a steak the size of a dinner plate, cooked on braziers set right on the cobbles outside the taberna, doused in olive oil straight from the tin.

A wooden board of croquettes with salad garnish, one of the Rally Fish tapas stops

02 — Matosinhos

The tapas trail

Rally Fish: a paper passport, five stickers, and a beer waiting at the end of it.

Read the rules →

Strings of onions and dried chillies hanging over the stalls at Mercado do Bolhão

03 — Bolhão

The market

Strings of red chillies and garlanded onions hanging over the stalls that supply half the tascas on this trail.

Gulls landing at sunset on the water near Porto's coast

04 — Sunset

A proper wind-down

A rooftop, a strawberry caipirinha, and the Douro turning gold while somebody argues about the bill.

Why this exists

We didn't plan a business. We planned a Tuesday.

Three of us went to Porto for the grilled fish and came home having accidentally scoped out an entire tour. Right now this is a very small, very well-fed side project — the site, the domain, and an Instagram we're actually posting to.

Read how it started →