Whether you’re travelling in Porto at Christmas time or live here and don’t feel like cooking during the festive season. If you happen to visit Porto during this time of the year, my Complete Guide to the Christmas season in Porto might be useful.
It seems there are more and more people who choose not to spend Christmas lunch and dinner at home. That’s why I made this list of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto! They are divided into the restaurants that are open on Christmas Eve (evening of December 24th) and the restaurants that are open for Christmas lunch (December 25th).
Just some important notes before you read this article:
- It is not easy to find restaurants open on Christmas Eve and even less so the following day.
- Most restaurants which DO open during Christmas are the restaurants in city’s best hotels.
- For that same reason, eating out for Christmas is usually quite expensive. They can go for anything between 60€ (the most inexpensive deal I found!) and 250€. However, most restaurants offer discounts for children under the age of 12.
- Given the high demand and little choice, I HIGHLY recommend that you book your dinner / lunch in one of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto as early as you can. If you don’t, you risk having to improvise a Christmas meal of cheese and crackers in your hotel room 😛
- A typical Portuguese Christmas meal usually consists of codfish, veggies and a ridiculous amount (and variety) of desserts. This is the reason why most Christmas menus will feature: 2 or 3 mains and a buffet of desserts, just like we do at home!
- Last but not least: if you don’t find what you are looking for, DO NOT email me asking for help to find yet another restaurant. I know it can be frustrating to find a restaurant for Christmas, but I am not the yellow pages – all I know about Christmas dinners in Porto is already on this article!
Without further ado, let’s find out where to go for Christmas dinner (and lunch) in Porto!
The best restaurants for Christmas in Porto
The Yeatman Hotel
Rua do Choupelo | Vila Nova de Gaia
I begin my list of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto with an unavoidable name in the city: The Yeatman hotel, one of the best luxury hotels in Porto.
On Christmas eve, with panoramic views over the city and the Douro river, Chef Ricardo Costa will prepare an exclusive 6-course menu.
Following that you will have at your disposal a buffet of desserts with delicious Christmas sweets.
Dinner costs 200€/ person and already includes a selection of wines (which, I speak from experience, are very worthwhile in what is considered one of the best wine hotels in the world). Children aged 4 or younger eat for free, and children under 12 pay 100€.
Christmas lunch, on the other hand, costs 130€ / person; children pay 65€ each.
Dinner is served at 19h30, a rarity for Portuguese restaurants, since, as a rule, we always have dinner starting at 20h30 / 21h00.
Blind
Rua de Entreparedes, 40 | Porto
One of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto is in one of my favourite hotels in the city, the Torel Avantgarde. Located away from the most crowded areas (but still very central) and featuring a fabulous view of the Douro river, it really is an exceptional hotel.
Christmas Eve’s dinner 2022 has already sold out on Blind, but I know they still have some opening for lunch on December 25th.
Hotel Infante Sagres
Praça Dona Filipa de Lencastre, 62 | Porto
Continuing my tour of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto, I suggest another fantastic hotel: the Infante Sagres, one of the oldest luxury hotels in the city.
Christmas Eve’s dinner at the Hotel Infante Sagres costs 120€ / person (wines included). It starts at 19:30 and will take place in the D.ª Filipa room, which will be decorated in accordance with the season just to make you feel that extra bit more Christmassy 🙂
On Christmas day they will serve a brunch at the Vogue Café for 60€ / person (drinks not included).
Porto Palácio Hotel by Editory
Avenida da Boavista, 1269 | Porto
At Porto Palácio Hotel they will serve a Christmas Dinner Buffet, from 19h30 to 22h30. I’ve already seen the menu and I can tell you it’s well worth it!
This Christmas dinner in Porto is priced at 85€ / person and 42.50€ / child (ages 5 to 12).
Vila Foz Restaurant
Avenida de Montevideu, 236 | Porto
Vila Foz Restaurant, in the beautiful Vila Foz Hotel & Spa, will serve a simple and delicious Christmas Dinner by the talented and creative Chef Arnaldo Azevedo, who recently own a Michelin star precisely at this restaurant.
The Christmas Dinner at Vila Foz, one of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto, will consist of three dishes and it costs 140€ / person, drinks not included.
Flor de Lis
Avenida de Montevideu, 236 | Porto
Flor de Lis is the second restaurant located in the fantastic Vila Foz Hotel & Spa, in the Foz area. It is covered with unique tiles by Nini Andrade Silva, evoking a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere in each the five available dining rooms.
This year, the Christmas Dinner menu features three main dishes and the usual Christmas dessert buffet.
This Christmas menu in Porto is priced at 85€ / person (drinks not included).
Christmas brunc will take place from noon to 16h and it costs 75€ / person (drinks included).
17º Restaurante e Bar
Rua do Bolhão, 223/179 | Porto
Another luxury hotel in Porto that has one of the best restaurants for Christmas in Porto is 17º (pronounced décimo-sétimo in Portuguese) which, as the name suggests, is on the seventeenth floor of the Hotel Dom Henrique Downtown.
The Christmas Dinner will start with four delicious starters (asparagus tart with citrus mousse sounds particularly good), followed by the traditional cod. The meat dish will be a mouth-watering beef loin cured with shimeji mushrooms and potato and truffle cream.
Finally, a buffet of five Christmas desserts, pineapple from the Azores and a cheese board.
The price of the Christmas Dinner at the 17th Restaurant and Bar is €58 / person – drinks are not included.
Le Monument
Avenida dos Aliados, 151 | Porto
Le Monument is an elegant and discreet restaurant located in one of the best luxury hotels in the city, the Maison Albar Hotels Le Monumental Palace.
The price of Christmas dinner at Le Monument is 275€ / person. For the little ones: those aged below 2 need not pay and those aged eat for half-price.
Casa da Companhia
Rua das Flores, 69 | Porto
Another option for Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Porto is the fine dining restaurant at Casa da Companhia hotel. Both programs will include music, although with different themes.
- Christmas dinner, on the 24th of December, starts at 19h. It costs 135€ / person (drinks included); children from 6 to 12 years old pay half price.
- On the 25th of December there is a Christmas Brunch, from 12h30 to 16h, which costs 85€ / person.
- New Year’s Eve dinner starts at 19h30. There will be champagne at midnight and supper at 1h15 (yes, in the morning) with caldo verde and other delicacies. The price for this dinner is 290€ / person.
- On January 1, 2023, the New Year’s Brunch will take place from 12h30 to 16h and it costs 85€.
The Lodge Hotel
Rua Carvalhosa, 151 | Vila Nova de Gaia
The Lodge is a fairly new luxury hotel in Porto and this year they have decided to host both a Christmas dinner and a Christmas lunch at their restaurant, Dona Maria.
Both menus have been published on its Instagram page but the prices are not published yet, so you’d better get in contact with the hotel to enquiry about this.
Eurostars Aliados
Eurostars is a chain of very famous hotels in Portugal, with several units spread across the city.
In the restaurant of the Hotel Eurostars Aliados, several meals will be served during the Christmas season:
- Christmas lunch, consisting of 5 starters, 3 main dishes and a desserts buffet for 65€ / person (drinks included). It starts at 12h30 and it lasts until 16h.
- New Year’s Eve party, with different with 2 starters, two main dishes and two desserts, followed by a party from 23h to 02h with an open bar, and a supper. It costs 260€ / person.
- Brunch buffet on January 1st, for 45€, from 12h30 to 16h.
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