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The Casa do Sino guide
Where to eat
Tarouca is small, which is exactly why it helps to know where to go. The best tables in the area are not all in town. Some sit a few kilometres away, in a hamlet you would drive through without noticing, and they have no website and take no online bookings.
These are the ones we go back to, from the end of our own street out to the Douro. Not every restaurant there is, but the ones we would send a friend to if they were staying in our house.
In Tarouca and around
It starts in town, on foot from the house, and runs out to Ucanha and Gouviães, which is where the food of this land is cooked.
Restaurante Lumik
Tarouca, in town, walkable from the house
The closest of them all, and the only one you can walk to without thinking about the car. Everyday Portuguese cooking, generous portions and a short bill. It is the answer for the first night, when you arrive late and have no appetite for driving anywhere.
What to order: the dish of the day, which is where the kitchen shows itself.
- AddressAvenida Ananias do Carmo Santos 76, 3610-020 Tarouca
- Phone913 308 089
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- Good to knowThe obvious choice if you arrive late or would rather not drive
Tony's Bar
Tarouca, walkable from the house, by the Alcácima
The café within walking distance of the house, a few steps from the Alcácima viewpoint. It is where you have your morning coffee before heading out, or a snack on the way back, without taking the car.
When to go: in the morning before heading out, or for an afternoon snack, together with the walk up to the Alcácima.
- AddressAvenida Vice-Almirante Adriano Savedra, Tarouca
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- On footThe Alcácima is seventy metres away, and the parish church just below
Restaurante Marisqueira O Solar
Tarouca, at Castanheiro do Ouro
The big house of the area, with an open view over Tarouca and the Serra de Santa Helena. It does serious seafood and grills in a place a long way from the sea, and it is the right choice when you want a table with a view and a lunch that does not end quickly.
What to order: the salt cod à Solar, the octopus à lagareiro or the roast kid.
- AddressLugar da Tapadinha, Castanheiro do Ouro, 3610-119 Tarouca
- Phone254 678 820
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- Good to knowParking at the door and a large room, so it works for groups
Eira & Sabores
Gouviães, on Rua da Ponte
Regional cooking with nothing dressed up, in a family house. You walk in on the smell of it, which is the best welcome a restaurant can offer, and you walk out needing a stroll. The portions are not measured by the gram.
What to order: the milhos no pote and the marrã, a regional pork dish.
- AddressRua da Ponte 10, Gouviães, 3610-033 Tarouca
- Phone963 422 486
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- Good to knowIt is a step away from the Ucanha bridge, so the two go well in one outing
Pote Preto
Ucanha, beside the bridge
It opens only at weekends and only by reservation, which tells you most of what you need to know. Everything is cooked in iron pots over the fire, the old way: wild boar, cozido à portuguesa, milhos, feijoca. Starters and desserts come as a buffet, and even the leite-creme comes out of the pot. It sits right beside the Ucanha bridge.
What to order: the wild boar in the pot, and leave room for the leite-creme.
- AddressRua da Torre 14, Ucanha, Tarouca
- Phone913 509 757
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- OpenWeekends only
- Good to knowBooking required. Do not turn up without calling
Tasquinha do Matias
Gouviães, beside the Ucanha bridge
This is the house of milhos no pote, and some people drive out here for that alone. It is a farmhand's dish, cooked slowly with vegetables and cuts of pork, and it reaches the table in the three-legged iron pot it was made in. Not food for anyone in a hurry, nor for anyone who arrived only a little hungry.
What to order: the milhos no pote. If they are not on that day, the beef.
- AddressRua da Ponte, Gouviães, 3610-033 Tarouca
- Phone254 677 327
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- ClosedMondays
- Good to knowCall ahead, especially at weekends
In Lamego
Fifteen minutes away, when you feel like an evening out of the village.
Douro Excellence
Lamego, fifteen minutes away
When you want to leave Tarouca and have a proper dinner, this is where to go. Carefully thought-out small plates and contemporary cooking drawn from the region's larder, in a register quite different from the village houses. It is among the highest-rated restaurants in Lamego and the room is small.
What to order: let the kitchen lead with the small plates of the day.
- AddressRua Macário de Castro, Largo da Vitória, 5100-149 Lamego
- Phone969 686 787
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- Good to knowBook ahead. It does not open every day of the week
Tasquinha dos Cansados
Lamego, on Avenida Dom Egas Moniz
The name is a statement of intent: the house was opened as a refuge for those tired of the noise, and it delivers. Unpretentious Portuguese cooking, a small room, and conversation that ends up travelling from table to table. The opposite of a hurried dinner.
What to order: whatever the day brings, and time to linger.
- AddressAvenida Dom Egas Moniz 1163, 5100-196 Lamego
- Phone928 294 264
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- ClosedMondays and Tuesdays
- HoursWednesday to Sunday, lunch and dinner
Casa da Rua
Lamego, on Rua de Almacave
It is the highest-rated house in Lamego, and it is the family themselves who serve: husband and wife, few tables, great care in what comes out. Small plates with their own produce. Being small, it fills up fast.
First things first: book a table. There are only a few, and they fill up fast.
- AddressRua de Almacave 48, Lamego
- Phone968 859 127
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- We have not been yetIt is here on reputation, not on our own visit. We will check it out
- Good to knowIt opens only a few days a week. Call before going
O Sousa
Lamego, on the castle street
On the street that climbs to the castle, in the old part of Lamego. Small plates and Portuguese cooking with no pretension at all, in portions that fool nobody. A tasca in the best sense, good for a quick lunch or for an evening that stretches.
What to order: several small plates for the middle of the table.
- AddressRua do Castelo 25, 5100-128 Lamego
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- We have not been yetIt is here on reputation, not on our own visit. We will check it out
- Good to knowIt is in the old town, up towards the castle. Go on foot
In the Douro, in Régua
Half an hour away, and the natural stop on a day spent by the river.
Galripo Brunch & Coffee
Peso da Régua, for the morning
In a register completely different from the rest of this list. It sits inside Régua, which is where a day on the Douro usually begins, and it serves a proper brunch: pancakes, French toast and well-presented savoury plates. It is worth leaving Tarouca earlier and having breakfast here before heading up the river.
What to order: the pancakes or the French toast.
- AddressAvenida João Franco, Peso da Régua
- Phone923 177 916
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- Good to knowA small room and much in demand at weekends. Book ahead
Locomotiva Wine & Gourmet
Peso da Régua, in the station warehouses
In the old goods warehouses of the railway station, facing the Douro line, the same one the wine once travelled down to Porto. Douro cooking with a contemporary turn, and a wine list worthy of the setting. It is the kind of place that justifies staying in Régua until dinner.
What to order: ask for advice on the wine, that is what the house is there for.
Aneto & Table
Peso da Régua, by the railway station
Next door to Locomotiva, with the river in front. It grew out of a wine house and it still shows: the food is good, but the bottle leads the conversation. A good choice for a long lunch with the Douro in view.
What to order: the house dishes with whatever wine they suggest alongside.
- AddressArmazém Estação Régua, Loja B1, 5050-280 Peso da Régua
- Phone254 323 120
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- ClosedSundays
- Good to knowLunch Tuesday to Saturday; Mondays dinner only
Tasca da Quinta
Peso da Régua, in the centre
A small room in the centre of Régua, Portuguese small plates and nothing staged. It is by far the most informal on this list, and that is what makes it good. Dinners only, and it fills up.
What to order: several small plates for the middle of the table, rather than a dish each.
- AddressRua do Marquês de Pombal 42 r/c, 5050-282 Peso da Régua
- Phone918 754 102
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- ClosedMondays and Sunday evenings
- Good to knowDinner only, from 7 p.m.
The bôla
Not a restaurant but a dish, and it earns a heading of its own. Take one home at least once.
Telebôla
Lalim, on the way to Lazarim
The bôla de Lamego is a filled bread, with meat, sardine or salt cod, and here it is baked in a wood-fired oven, which is what makes the difference. It sits on the way to Lazarim and pairs with a visit to the mask museum. You can take one home still warm.
What to order: the meat one, which is the traditional recipe. And, for the braver, the vinha d'alhos: pork marinated in wine, garlic and paprika.
- AddressLugar de Penedarca, Lalim, 5100-549 Lamego
- Phone254 699 846
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
- ClosedMondays
- HoursTuesday to Sunday, 7.30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Good to knowThere is takeaway. It is what guests most often take with them for the road
- OrdersTo avoid waiting, order your bôla ahead
Pastelaria da Sé
Lamego, in the Edifício Dom Diniz
They call it the Casa das Bôlas, the house of bôlas, and the name says it all. It is the reference for bôla in Lamego, with meat, salt cod, sardine and cured ham fillings. Take a whole one, which lasts the day, or eat a slice at the counter with a coffee before climbing up to the sanctuary.
What to order: the meat one, which is the traditional recipe, and the salt cod one after it.
Two things worth knowing
Outside the towns almost everywhere closes one day a week, and many houses serve lunch only on weekdays. One phone call before you set off saves a wasted drive.
Sunday lunch fills up everywhere, and a summer weekend even more so. In Régua, during the harvest season, book several days ahead.
