A Guide to Vegan Food in Porto

Portugal's second city Porto has a lot to attract visitors - it's romantic riverside charm, it's stunning architecture and culture, and of course it's cellars full of port. Add in all the fantastic vegan food Porto has too offer and it's an ideal desination for hungry travelling vegans like us! And that's why we created this vegan guide to Porto especially for you.

We don’t usually eat out much, as often places we visit have few or no vegan options, but in Porto we were spoilt for choice. We are pretty frugal when it comes on spending money on food, but we decided to splash out (all in the name of research, of course!) and spend a few days eating our way around the city to create this guide to vegan food in Porto for you. Here’s our lowdown on our experience and the taste, value and atmosphere of Porto's vegan cafes and restaurants that we visited.

O Burrito

On Google it says O Burrito is cosy, and it really is, in a nice way. Stone and wood dominate the first impression. The upstairs space is really quite beautiful and the atmosphere is welcoming. O Burrito has a short but delicious sounding menu, and we don’t know what to choose! For those of you who are as indecisive as us, they have a build your own burrito option, where you can choose from the whole range of ingredients, the only limitation being how much filling you can fit in a burrito!

)We finally decided to share one cold and one warm burrito (€4,50 for cold, €5,50 for hot burritos) We were pleased to see that they come in paper wrapping. The cold teriyaki tofu and ginger peanut sauce burrito was super tasty! O, burrito! More of that please! That said, the warm burrito was not as great. The potatoes dominated and there generally could have been more flavour in it. Maybe we should have gone for a quesadilla (a small cheesy tortilla) or a starter plate with dips and nachos instead. But we’d be happy to come back and try the rest of the menu another time!

Visit O Burrito for the burritos obviously! Perfect for an on the go lunch

• Taste ⅘
• Value ⅘
• Atmosphere ⅘
• Wifi, cash only, English speaking

daTerra

This all vegan restaurant has several branches all over Porto. Our first visit left us a little disappointed, we came in the afternoon and had a couple of snacks - a small mushroom pastry (delicious but too salty) and an apple crumble (very dry). We also had to try their vegan version of the Portuguese classic sweet pastry - The Pastel de Nata. The atmosphere was not very personal, but light and minimalist.

Really, you should come for the buffets. €8.50 for an all-you-can-eat lunch including a great special drink of the day, or €9.90 for a dinner and weekend buffet. This is way more money than we would normally ever spend on a meal. But oh my vegan god, we did not regret coming back for our lunch the next day.

In addition to the always changing daily menu, they had a variety of sides and salads to dig into. And the kitchen keeps them all coming so there’s enough of everything. The only thing that they ran out of was the vegan quiche, which was absolutely delicious. But our highlight was the tofu with orange, dates and soy cream sauce. Rarely have I tasted vegan cooking at such fine quality and across so many dishes! Even the plain brown rice was fantastic! They really know what they do in that kitchen. We understand why this branch in a shopping mall was crammed full at lunchtime, it’s not just the hungry travelling vegans like us, but all kinds of locals simply in search of delicious food.

What we were a bit sad about when we visited their stall in a small market hall on the Gaia side of town, was to see how much food was left over at 10 pm at their weekday evening buffet. We really hope that all this amazing looking food is not going to waste, for it would be a shame. As experienced food waste warriors, we don’t approve of over-catering like that.

Visit daTerra for the all you can eat buffet, just make sure you go on an empty stomach!

• Taste - snacks ⅗
• Taste - buffet 5/5
• Value ⅘
• Atmosphere ⅗
• WiFi, English speaking

Vegana by Tentugal

After a visit to the market and the second hand clothes shop, we were a bit exhausted and ready for another break from walking through the streets of Porto. We navigated to Vegana by Tentugal, a vegan cafe that was recommended on the web. It also has a small shop that offers a range of organic groceries, including vegan food and cleaning products. The cafe area is spacious and equipped with colorful chairs and tables. There was only one person attending to the shop and the cafe. The atmosphere inside was quiet, with the only noise being the traffic coming in from the street. A slight buzz from the lights was gone once the owner turned on the radio. Soon we were all grooving to classics whilst we watied for our food to arrive.

We ordered a cup of coffee, a vegan ham and cheese toast and a chocolate pastry. Later a bowl of the soup of the day. While we eat and drink, we enjoy a little break in the no-stress atmosphere and catch up with some blog work. As the day gradually gets old, there is a bit of a chill coming in through the slightly open door.

The food at Vegana was not the best vegan food we’ve had. However, a bowl of soup at 1.50 euros and a coffee for 90 cents are certainly good value! Considering the low prices, everything we’ve tried was really more than alright. The Vegana cafe also serves salads other light bites.

Really, we are in two places about Vegana. The owner was super friendly and well meaning, and the cafe welcomes guests to hang around, while the business was definitely the least professionally managed of the ones we visited. We love that there is a vegan hotspot in Porto to get all the special vegan groceries like seitan, several kinds of tofu and vegan cheese, as well as a range of typical ingredients like legumes, different flours etc. The shop is a great resource for the local vegan community and we applaud the owner's ethos, we just wonder if the cafe and shop is fulfilling its potential.

Visit Vegana by Tentugal for cheap snacks and to stock up on vegan groceries

• Taste: ⅗
• Value: 5/5
• Atmosphere: ⅘
• Wifi, English speaking

APURO Vegan Bar

Vegan bar that has burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches on their menu. For drinks there’s beers and natural lemonades as well as kombucha, which was really good! They do menus where basically you get a free coffee if you have a burger or hot dog with potato chips. They also have sweet potato chips but we went for the classic ones. It's €6.00 for a burger or €7.90 for the menu.

Everything we ate and drank was utterly delicious. The black bean burger was full of flavour, definitely one of the best vegan burgers I have ever had. When I asked, they told me they used to hand-make the burgers themselves at the beginning. Now they have someone make them using the same recipe. The bread was lovingly handmade too (by the same person), and the whole composition of the burger was just as tasty as it looks. The chips were thinly cut and super crispy, absolutely yummy. Our drinks, a ginger lemonade and a classic kombucha were awesome too. This was the most satisfying meal we had in Porto during our stay.

The atmosphere is modern, dark but warm. We chose to sit in a corner with comfy benches and blankets, where we were often joined by a young male cat who was very eager to „play“ with us. We didn’t mind, but they offered to lock him in the office if he was annoying us. They had some nice music running that blended smoothly into the background, so it did not draw my attention, which was very pleasant. There is also a small stage for live music events.

The people working in the bar were very friendly and hospitable, happy to help with anything. The wifi code was just on display, so a big plus for not having to ask them. The bar was only opened in October 2018, but we think the team have done an amazing job setting up and running it. Everything from the choice of menu and drinks options, to the atmosphere was very well and thoughtfully designed. Keep up the good work! 🙂

Visit Apuro Vegan Bar for Porto's best vegan burger!

• Taste 5/5
• Value ⅘
• Atmosphere 5/5
• Wifi (code displayed openly), English speaking

DUH! Vegan Donuts

We had read about this place and were anticipating a visit. Unfortunately they were on a break (probably holiday) when we were in town, which we found out before via their Instagram. Normally they are open every afternoon except Sunday. On their menu are the ‚classic‘ doughnut and a special doughnut of the week, as well as some hot coffee and chocolate drinks. Minimalistic, simple and clear. What else would you want to buy from a doughnut shop anyway? These guys know what they want to focus on. Without being able to go or peek inside, we get the impression that the doughnut shop must indeed be quite cosy.

Next time in Porto, we’ll make sure to pay a visit to DUH! vegan donuts! For now, we’ll make do with our own homemade vegan doughnuts.

Amorino

As we couldn’t get a doughnut for our sweet fix, we decided to try our luck at the first ice cream place we came across, and we were lucky. Amorino is not the standard gelateria, and had vegan flavours aplenty At first, we thought cones are quite expensive at €3.50 for a small one, but they are absolutely loaded with ice cream of as many flavours as you want, and they make them into these beautiful flowers! If you want to go extravagant, there’s an option for chocolate and hazelnut rimmed cones.

The basis cones are vegan. Amorino have a range of flavours, and also a dozen vegan sorbets that are as tasty as any ice cream. They brand themselves as natural ice cream, and it tastes full of natural flavour indeed. The mango and passionfruit sorbets we were full on fruitiness. The vegan chocolate sorbet didn't quite live up to the gelato we had in Lake Garda, but was nevertheless tasty.

Visit Amorino for the most beautiful ice cream cone ever!

• Taste ⅘
• Value ⅗
• Atmosphere ⅘

Paul said after our day walking around the town and trying food at every vegan place was the best job ever. He also pronounced that Porto was one nicest cities we’ve visited. Proof that the way to his heart is through his stomach!

We hope you enjoyed our guide on vegan food in Porto. We wish you a great time eating your way around the city! We've even created this vegan food in Porto map for you to make it easy for you.

Share your vegan Porto experience and recommendations with us in the comments 🙂