Best inflight wine: Qatar Airways First Class

For our recent travel to Maldives from SFO, we were able to redeem American Airline points for First Class seats on a roundtrip fare between Doha-Male. I have heard amazing reviews about Qatar Airlines business and first class (especially food and wine). Here’s my take of the experience

Al Safwa First Class Lounge

This was the best airport lounge I’ve ever been to (Cathay’s in Hong Kong is a close second) based on the size, service, amenities, food and drinks. They had nap rooms (that were actually more like a hotel room) with private shower and bathroom, multi-course dining, sushi bar, and a great selection of drinks. Their wine list included

Inflight food and beverage

Qatar is famous for serving Krug for their first class and we were in for a treat. They were serving Krug 2004 and Bollinger rosé 2008 paired with a caviar plate. Appetizer and main dish (choices include scallops, tuna, lobster, steak, fish) were delicious as well. We were so sad this leg was only 4hrs 50min 😂

Other details worth noting

  • Our flight coming back to Doha from Male required a shuttle transfer from the plane to the gate and this was the first time we saw a separate bus for first class passengers. We were the only passengers in the first class cabin and were the only ones on the bus as well.

  • Qatar Airways is very strict with the entrance requirement to the Al Safwa lounge. You can only enter if your outbound flight is in first class (or the very front seat of the plane) or if your inbound flight in first class is longer than 5hrs. They have separate lounges for business class, card holders, and elite members. There were conflicting reviews and anecdotes on different forums but we actually were not able to get in on our way back because our flight was 10 minutes short of 5 hours.

  • First class seats are usually double the price of business seats and don’t think most people pay for first class, hence we were the only people in the first class cabin both ways.

We loved the experience overall and would love to do it again. I’m not a points expert but the points guy has an article on redeeming points for Qatar Airways. Highly recommend trying this if you can!

Maldives resort for best food and wine - Ritz Maldives

Food and wine is always a big part of our travels, regardless of destination. Maldives isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind for foodies or wine lovers, mostly because you can’t really leave the resort island once you check-in. However, if you pick the right resort, you would be pleasantly surprised at the quality of food and wine. Here’s a quick review and a few tips on food and wine at the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.

Wine tasting experience (my favorite)!

A few different resorts in Maldives have an impressive cellar including Ritz and their sister property St. Regis. Ritz Maldives’ cellar is still growing since it’s a newer resort, but experience was top notch. It started with a sparkling wine sabrage, opening a bottle using a saber by the emerald blue ocean. Once the excitement kicks in, you go into a glass wine cellar room that overlooks the Maldives ocean and taste through ~5 different wines from Champagne, whites, and red from various wine regions of the world. Highly recommend!

Amazing on-site restaurant options

We spend 5 nights at the Ritz and did not have a bad meal there. Our favorite restaurant was Summer Pavillion, Chinese cuisine inspired by Singapore's Michelin-starred Summer Pavilion. They often get booked up so highly recommend asking your Aris Meeha (butler) to book in advance. We ate there twice during our stay. Italian restaurant La-locanda, where you can have breakfast, lunch, and dinner was also excellent. Breakfast buffet has free flowing prosecco and fresh juices if you want to make your own mimosa. We had Maldivian buffet for one of the nights and felt like it was a good value for us as it included various ceviches, lobster, gilled meats, fish, and desserts. While it’s always a good idea to make a reservation, we actually didn’t reserve the buffet in advance but were able to take a look at the buffet menu on the day and decided to participate.

Another detail that we loved as wine lovers is you can order a bottle of wine and if you can’t finish it, you can either ask the restaurant to keep for another night or send it to your room. They do an amazing job at re-sealing the wine and delivering as if it’s new (minus the wines you already drank 😆).

High quality room service

We originally didn’t plan on ordering a room service (as we always feel like food is more fresh at the restaurant) but due to our mistake in opening hours, we decided to lunch in our beach villa room. Plus we had a bottle of welcome Champagne so it worked out perfectly! We ordered a shrimp pad thai and a ribeye steak and to our surprise, the meal was as good as any restaurant. Food came hot but not overcooked, pad thai noodles were still fresh and steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare. If we go back, we will definitely do more of this.

With all these wine and food, 5 nights went by way too quickly and we can’t wait to return! Do note that mark up on food and wine bottles is pretty high given how far these resorts are but it was worth splurging for a dream vacation :)

Guide to wine tasting in Puglia

Puglia is not the first Italian wine region that comes to your mind but it definitely should be on your radar if you like Primitivos or refreshing Whites and Rosés. I didn’t plan this trip around wineries and tastings but we learned that Puglia is the second-largest producer of wine grapes in Italy and was able to stop by a couple wineries and wine bars in various small towns of Puglia.

Near Bari/Polignano a mare

Main pedestrian center in Polignano a mare is filled with cute restaurants, shops, and bars and it’s super fun to walk around. I found these two small bars next to each other and loved it!

  • HOPS Birreria & Wine Bar: various beers on tap and wines by the glass. They also had a “beer spritz”!

  • La Casa Del Mojito: This is technically not wine but who would’ve thought I’d have one of the best mojitos in Italy?! They use fresh ingredients and don’t skimp on them either. I tried ginger and passion fruit flavors and loved both.

Near Ostuni

  • Tenuta Santoro Wine Bar: Winery with a nice outdoor setting in addition to the tasting room inside a traditional Trulli! Tasted through 4 wines (2 reds, 1 white, 1 rosé) for €15 and bought a bottle of refreshing white and red. Puglia region typically doesn’t grow grapes like Cab or Merlot but their vineyard is located in a small valley that

  • Vinicolo: Charming wine bar in the Ostuni city center. Host was super nice and went out of the way to offer various wines by the glass. He also had great recommendations on other wineries to visit in the area. We ended up getting a glass of sparkling, white, and red.

  • Borgo Antico Bistrot: Located in the middle of switchback streets, such a fun unique place to enjoy aperitivo before dinner. We had an amazing fresh cheese charcuterie plate with a few drinks. There’s a cute instagrammable blue door on top of the street.

Near Lecce

  • Cantele: Their wines were fairly common on local restaurants’ wine list and seemed to be one of the bigger wineries in the area. We didn’t make reservations so didn’t get to do the full tour and tasting but the host was super nice to give recommendations in the area and we ended up buying a bottle to try!

  • Feudi di Guagnano: This tasting room is in the small town of Guagnano and their rosé was

  • L'Orecchietta: This place was recommended by the host at Cantele for lunch and local wines by the glass. Deli style counter has fresh hot and cold pastas, salads, seafood, meats, and veggies. They have an entire wall of local wines and have a lot of them available by glass. Great place to stop by for lunch with wine. I don’t know how pricing works (we just pointed at dishes that looked good 😆) but our 3 plates of food and 2 glasses of wine was around €20.

Otranto

  • L'Ortale Ristoro SAlentissimo: I loved this hidden wine garden. Lots of choices by the glass or bottle (each bottle was only 15-20) and the garden was the most relaxing place to sit and drink.

  • La Cambusa: This wine bar is located right in front of the Aragonese Castle of Otranto so you get a great vibe and view of the Castle. Good selection of local wines by the glass!

I’ve also bookmarked these wineries but did not get a chance to visit:

  • L'Astore Masseria

  • Michele Calò & Figli

  • Azienda Agricola Cosimo Taurino

  • Castello Monaci

  • Masseria Li Veli

Overall, Puglia wines are a great value at €10-30 per bottle and definitely recommend trying it out!

Where to stay, eat, and drink in Puglia, Italy

Italy has become one of my favorite travel destinations and my recent trip to Puglia only made it better! After an amazing trip to the Amalfi coast visiting Capri and Positano, I decided to venture out to Puglia, often referred to the ‘Heel of the boot.’ It’s definitely less touristy compared to the Amalfi coast and best experienced by car! I stayed in 3 different cities to fully experience the region. Here’s where I stayed, ate, and drank in each of the city.

Polignano a mare

This is one of the more well-known cities and definitely do-able without a car. It’s famous for Lama Monachile beach and you can spend days walking and exploring the city.

Stay

We stayed at this charming B&B and it was perfect! Room with a balcony was spacious and you get a view of the ocean and the iconic bridge from the balcony. Located right in the center of the city, all the popular and great spots are within walking distance (less than 1-5 minutes).

Eat & drink

Antiche Mura: There’s no view but the indoor setting here is really romantic. They have a mix of traditional and unique dish centered around seafood. We enjoyed our uni + oyster pasta, pasta with red prawn with zucchini flower, and fish soup!

Morus Sapori & Sentori: Located by the water with a little bit of the view, another great seafood restaurant! We had uni pasta, lobster pasta, and lobster catalan.

La Casa Del Mojito: Had the best ginger mojito here! They make all of them with fresh ingredients and do not skimp on them either.

Aquamarea: Menu/drinks are not too special but it’s located right on the popular viewpoint of the beach/city. Small pedestrian streets are not well recognized by Google maps but it’s easy to just follow the streets and navigate towards this direction.

Ostuni

Ostuni is often referred as the mid-point base for Puglia as it’s 1.5 hr from the main airport Bari and ~2hrs from the southern most part of Puglia. It’s not right on the coast but has lots of charming Masserias, which are Italian bed and breakfast farm stay. We stayed here for 2 nights and loved the quite and relaxed experience. It is also close to Alberobello UNESCO World Heritage Site, town of trulli and you can find places to stay inside a trullo.

Stay

We stayed at the most adorable and picturesque Masseria with a huge pool area. I absolutely loved the stay and highly recommend. Not all rooms are Trulli and there are only a handful of them so book early if you want to stay in one!

Eat & drink

Borgo Antico Bistrot: Located in the middle of switchback streets, such a fun unique place to enjoy aperitivo before dinner. We had an amazing fresh cheese charcuterie plate with a few drinks. There’s a cute instagrammable blue door on top of the street.

Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale: Great traditional local dish that features affordable tasting menu at 35-45euro. We opted for a la carte because we like trying a little bit of everything. A couple dishes were a bit too salty for me but overall was a nice place to grab dinner and try regional food.

We didn’t get to try all the places I’ve bookmarked but also have heard great things about Ristorante Taverna della Gelosia, Vicolo 43, and Dish

Otranto

We chose Otranto as our base to explore the Southern most tip of the region and loved the city. Expansive sandy beach and the castle in the city center added to the charm!

Stay

We booked this one last minute and it served us well. Clean and spacious close to the city. Since we knew we were getting the Masseria experience a room with a view at other cities, we were not picky here other than the location. I’d say you should be good as long as you are within walking distance to the city center and have access to parking!

Eat & drink

L'Ortale Ristoro SAlentissimo: I loved this hidden wine garden. Lots of choices by the glass or bottle (each bottle was only 15-20) and the garden was the most relaxing place to sit and drink.

Latrobaffo: Booked this place when I saw uni pasta on the menu, which is one of my favorites! They gave out mini Aperol spritz as a welcome drink 🙌 and had a great seafood focused menu. It’s on the expensive side but we enjoyed every minute and bite here!

Classe 80: Another seafood spot! Loved the fried mixed seafood platter here along with some unique pasta dishes. I asked for a tomato sauce on the side like a noob and was given a bowl of the best freshly made garlicky tomato sauce I’ve ever had 😂

I spent ~2.5 days in each area and it was truly one of the best weeks I’ve had 🥰 Can’t recommend Puglia enough! If you are planning a trip, see more updates and ask me any questions via DM @fine.vining

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7 day itinerary in Champagne, France

Planning a winery trip abroad can seem daunting as you have to know where to stay, deal with transportation, AND make reservations for wineries. I have done more planning for my recent Champagne trip compared to other trips where I usually only bookmark a few restaurants and book hotels and transportations. If you are planning a trip to Champagne, here’s the summary of recommended itinerary to maximize your experience there!

Note that this isn’t the exact itinerary from my recent trip but optimized and modified after experiencing the region.

Day 1-3

Stay in Reims and visit large houses and have nice dinners

Reims is actually considered a tourist destination not just for champagne houses. Did you know there is another Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Reims? City is fairly big and you can find a lot of great restaurants. You can stay in the city center and explore large Champagne houses or stay ~10minutes from the center in a small boutique hotel (we did both!)

Places to stay

Champagne houses

  • Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery

Day 3

Hire a driver to visit grower producers in between Reims and Epernay (or rent a car)

I actually did this myself as well, if you don’t rent a car, best way to maximize your transportation budget while wine tasting is to combine traveling between cities with a private driver. You can hire a driver for a day or half a day, get picked up in one city and dropped off in another. I went with this driver/company after comparing a few options and prices. We visited Bouzy and Verzy while traveling from Epernay back to Reims. Here are the spots you can visit while moving between cities:

Bouzy/Ambonnay wineries

  • Paul Dethune, Champagne Egly-Ouriet, BARNAUT, Champagne Benoît Lahaye

Verzy

Day 3-5

Stay in Avize & visit small grower producers

Avize isn’t the only small town in Champagne where you can stay and visit other producers in the area but I’d have to say I LOVED my stay and will definitely stay there again if I go back. Avize is not only a home for so many up and coming and already popular grower producers but also has the best B&B, Les Avises. From the B&B you can rent their e-bikes to visit and taste at

  • Dhondt Grellet, Corbon, Franck Bonville, Champagne DE SOUSA, Etienne Calsac

and don’t miss the Jacques-Selosse Champagne tasting hosted by the owner & winemaker Anselme.

Day 6

Epernay for Ave. de Champagne

Epernay is definitely smaller compared to Reims (i.e. there are Ubers in Reims but not in Epernay) but this is where you can find the famous Avenue of Champagne. You can find popular Champagne houses like Moët et Chandon and Perrier-Jouet. If you have additional days, you can also visit nearby cities like Ay or Hautevillers.

Travel back to Reims or Paris

You can get back to Paris via train from Reims or Epernay depending on how much longer you are spending in the area.

Couldn’t pack all the places to eat and see in this itinerary so feel free ask me any questions via DM @fine.vining

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Travel planning tips to visit Champagne, France

Trip to France wine region has been on my list for a long time and given our relatively new found love for sparkling wine and proximity to Paris, we decided to spend a week in Champagne. Planning a wine trip to another country was definitely not easy without much local knowledge! Here’s a few things to note if you are planning a trip to Champagne

  1. Pick a sub-region/town: Just like other wine regions, there are multiple villages in Champagne and it can take 30minutes to an hour to travel between each of them. We stayed in the region for 5 days and ended up splitting our stay between Reims and Epernay/Avize. If you have enough time, I’d recommend the same!

    • If you like large houses (Ruinart, Veuve Cliquot, Tattinger, etc) and want to stay in a larger city stay in Reims

    • If you like small grower producers and quieter town, stay in Epernay or surrounding towns.

  2. Book tasting visits in advance! and get your hotel’s help: Large houses get booked up a few weeks in advance and small grower producers usually only open for advanced appointments. Other than large houses, most places take appointments by phone or email so best to book via hotel’s concierge!

  3. Rent a car or hire a driver if you want to visit a more variety of producers: You can visit large houses within Reim and take a train to visit Epernay but this means you will be limited to visiting only large houses located in the city.

  4. Make dinner reservations, especially if you are staying in Epernay: Reims is a popular day trip destination from Paris so lots of restaurants get booked up. You can always find a place to eat but if you want a specific cuisine or restaurant, best to book in advance. Epernay is a smaller town with less restaurant options and when we went, we were turned down by 4 different restaurants because they were fully booked.

Champagne was such a fun destination especially for wine lovers and you will have an amazing time! You can also see the full itinerary with specific recommendations in this post.

Best wineries to visit in Napa Calistoga

Calistoga is home to some of the iconic Napa wineries like Chateau Montelena and Castello di Amorosa. In addition, there are many small family owned places to visit and it’s somewhat easier to find more cost efficient wineries in Calistoga compared to St. Helena and Rutherford. Since Napa is pretty big (it will take ~30min-hour from the southern most region to Calistoga), I’d recommend splitting up your trip to visit 2-3 wineries in the same region. Here’s the list of Calistoga wineries I liked

  1. Spire Collection: This tasting room is unique as Spire collection owns various different wine labels across the globe. This allows them to customize tasting flights based on your preference! They have everything from Pinots, Cab Francs, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Various whites from Australia, Italy, Oregon, and California. $60 to taste, waived with 3 bottle purchase

  2. Envy: Fun small family owned winery at a great price point! No fancy buildings but you get a nice view of the vineyard and friendly host. You can find nice Bordeaux varietals here. $30.00 per person tasting fee, waived with a purchase over $50

  3. Lola: Another small family owned tasting room in downtown Calistoga. Tastings are held in their cute backyard and you get to taste some unique varietals like Malvasia Bianca along with Pinot and Cab. $30 to taste, waived with 3 bottles

  4. Rivers-Marie: Relatively new modern glass enclosed tasting room by Thomas Rivers Brown who makes and consults for some of the biggest names in Napa. From Pinots to Cabs, all around great wine and private experience. $75 to taste, waived with 3 bottles

  5. Schramsberg: Family owned but slightly bigger than other boutiques, the oldest sparkling wine house in Napa and you can add the cave tour to your tasting as well. You might have seen their blanc de blanc or blanc de noir in wine shops, but they have 10+ different sparkling wines that are usually only available at the winery. Experience range from $50-100

If it’s your first time in Napa, definitely recommend Castello di Amorosa and Chateau Montelena as well! They are such iconic wineries with lovely ground and wines that are easy to drink.

Weekend trip to Bodega Bay from SF (with wine and Instagram Spots)

California is known for picturesque coastal view, especially Big Sur and Monterey. While Mendocino and Bodega Bay are not as well known, it offers similar amazing viewpoints and great food and lodging options. Because Bodega Bay is so much closer from SF (~1.5hr) , it’s quickly becoming my favorite weekend trip destination. Not to mention all the fun wine tasting options on the way. You can stop by Sebastopol to visit some of my favorite wineries or venture out to the Sonoma mountains for small family owned wineries. Here’s my quick and easy Bodega Bay itinerary idea for a weekend trip

Where to wine

  1. Sonoma Coast Winery: This winery is right on the HWY1 with the view of the coast. They offer wines by the glass, bottle, or tasting flight. Mostly Pinots and Chardonnay and all were enjoyable

  2. Halleck winery: I looked at Google maps to see different wineries on the way to the coast and this small family owned winery caught my eye

  3. Tasting by the Sea: If you drive a bit more north from Bodega Bay to the town of Jenner, there are cute cafe and this outdoor wine bar looking out the Russian River.

  4. Valley Ford Cheese and Creamery: This is technically a cheese shop and a cafe with food but when you get their cheese tasting flight, you can also bring (or buy) a bottle of wine. They have the cutest outdoor eating area and the vanilla soft serve is to die for. I would totally drive from SF just to get their soft serve 😂

Where to eat

  1. Fishetarian Fish Market: I had the BEST BBQ Oyster here! it was the most plump and flavorful oyster I’ve ever had. Quality might depend on the season but overall highly recommend stopping by for oysters, fish and chips, and tacos

  2. Spud Point Crab Company: We went during the Dungeness crab season so not sure how it is during the off season but their clam chowder was one of the bests I’ve had. Not too thick but creamy and garlicky, went perfect with their crab sandwich.

  3. Patrick’s Sea Water Taffy: Technically not a spot to eat but this place is so cute and you can snag a few bags of delicious Sea Water Taffy. You can choose from 50+ flavors!

Where to sleep

There are a few inns and lodging options in the area but we actually camped in our car right on the beach. There are two state parks where you can reserve a spot, and we love the Wright’s Beach because it’s really right on the beach. Some of the sites (1-10) are truly on the beach with unobstructed view but all other sites are worth it as you can walk right to the beach. Spots fill up months in advance but you can often snag last minute cancelation on Reserve California

Wineries to visit in Porto and Douro Valley and travel tips

Douro is approximately 3x the size of Napa Valley and there are no shortage of wineries “Quintas” to visit in the area. With only 2 days in the Valley (and having full itinerary outside of Douro), we definitely didn’t get to visit as many as I would have liked. However, it was also easy to visit port houses right in town of Porto within walking distance to Airbnbs and hotels. Here are some of the wineries we visited in Douro and Porto:



Douro Valley Wineries

Few things I had in mind when planning the Douro is 1) Mix of Port and still wines 2) Mix of small and large wineries 3) Include a winery with the Douro River view 4) Reasonable distance/route

  1. Wine and Soul - Small family owned winery with a long list of still white and red wines along with ports.

  2. Vintage Theory - We stopped here during lunch and did their lunch and tasting experience. Booking through our driver (more on this later) gave us a significant discount–€15 for a sit down lunch with wine and separate port tasting. Good traditional lunch and the port tasting was fun and educational

  3. Quinta do Popa - We wanted to include a winery with the iconic view of the Douro River and this was a great spot. You can choose to focus on their port or still wines for the tasting so we did a bit of both.

  4. Quinta da Pacheca - We tasted here as it was included with our stay (which we LOVED, you can read more about it here)

  5. Murganheira - This is technically not considered Douro Valley but in Távora-Varosa, about 30 minutes south of our hotel. We visited on our 2nd day before returning to Porto, separately from full day of tasting in Douro Valley. Loved the experience getting to tour the cave and seeing the entire traditional sparkling wine making process.

Transportation to Douro from Porto

We typically opt to hire a private driver vs. renting a car when we are abroad and wine tasting because we are not familiar with the area and would rather enjoy the day without worrying about someone being a designated driver. We were spending the night in Douro so we hired a driver to pick us up from our place in Porto and drop us off in Douro instead of driving back to Porto. We compared a few options and chose a company that seemed like a good balance of being affordable and personable. Prior to the trip, I worked with the company to arrange the route based on my research and their recommendation. Highly recommend this if you want complete freedom in planning the day. Other options are

  1. Public transportation (Train to Douro then Taxi to wineries) which will take longer and could be limiting in terms of winery choices

  2. Group tours with a set itinerary (convenient but limiting in terms of winery choices). If you are ok with these limitations and want to do a quick day trip from Porto it’s a great option and more affordable. You can find some private and group options here.



Porto Wineries

There is an entire street/area dedicated to Port wine houses in Vila Nova de Gaia area of Porto and you can find all the popular names like Calem and Fonseca. We didn’t do much research prior and just stopped by while walking around. Two we ended up visiting were:

  1. Churchill Lodge: Bit further walk into the town from the main road but the walk was worth it! There are various flights you can choose from and we felt like we really got to taste different types of ports here. Ended up taking two bottles home!

  2. Porto Augusto: We wanted to check out a smaller producer/brand that is not as familiar to us and ended up here. They have a tour and tasting or you can just choose a tasting flight with a variety of ports. It was fun to taste the difference from Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage.

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Food and wine lovers travel guide to Porto, Portugal

Portugal is an amazing travel destination all year around and one of our favorite European destinations during the Thanksgiving holiday time. You get the holiday festivities with the decorations and even Christmas markets in the city, but the weather isn’t as cold compared to Paris or London. We first went in 2019, mostly in Lisbon, and went back this year to venture out to Porto and the Douro Valley wine region. Here’s a list of all the places we loved to eat and drink in Porto and Douro!

Where to Stay

Quinta da Pacheca in Douro: This was one of my favorite hotels I’ve ever stayed at! It was romantic, had amazing vineyard views, and was such a unique experience to stay inside a wine barrel. It is part of a winery so you get complimentary wine tasting during your stay. It is also ~5minutes taxi ride to the main town where lots of restaurants are located.

Stay in Apartment: We booked the Studio room at this budget friendly hotel with a great location right on the main road in Riveria. Porto is small enough to walk around and be able to visit main attractions and this location was perfect. Did not expect this but had a very cute window that opened up to the alley with a view of the river.

Airbnb with a view in Porto: Another great spot located next to the famous Luis I Bridge in the Riveria district. There were no shortages of restaurants and bars within minutes of this place. This particular place was spacious and had large windows with awesome view.

Where to Drink

I have a separate post for wineries here

Wine Quay Bar: This wine bar is such a gem! Great view of the iconic river and bridge with outdoor and indoor seating. Great selection of wines by the glass and bottle. We ended up getting ~6 different wines by the glass (😂 I know, we were only going to get 2 each) and liked all of them! They also serve tapas/snacks so stop by for sunset drinks and appetizers before dinner

Porto Cruz Rooftop: Rooftop bar with a beautiful view of Porto, Douro river, and the Luís I Bridge on the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river along with all the port tasting rooms. They also had a DJ when we went mid-day so great stop to relax and have a glass or two.

Churchill’s Lodge: We ended up only doing 2 port tastings in Porto since we spent 2 days in Douro but this was a great add. You will need to walk a bit from the main road but it was worth it. Great selection of white, ruby, tawny, and vintage ports. Loved one of the vintages and ended up purchasing a bottle of it!

Praia dos Ingleses Bar: If you venture ~20minutes west from Porto, you get an amazing coastal town vibe. If you are familiar with California, it felt like I was in Santa Monica/Malibu. We stopped at this bar/restaurant, which is right on the beach. Great view and vibe with drinks!

Pick any spot by the river: Get a bottle of wine or beer, sit by the Douro River or at Morro Garden to enjoy!

Where to Eat

Euskalduna studio: We had 4 dinners in Porto and was so glad we fit this one in! Amazing 10 course (+surprises) tasting menu (€105) with a lovely wine paring. Focused on seafood but the entire menu was innovative (think tuna sashimi with uni foam, grilled eel with beet sauce, and toro with persimmon 🤩) and wine pairing was so on point! One of the white wines was so good, I even saved it on Vivino so I can find it again. Highly recommend if you are trying to save a night for fine dining

Le Monument : We couldn’t decide between Euskalduna and Le Monument so decided to try both. The vibe is totally different here. Located inside one of the top hotels in Porto, they do a quick intro to the kitchen with a small bite and offer 10 or 14 different courses (€85 or €105) with wine pairing. Also focused on seafood and surprise desserts kept coming at the end. They sent us home with a bag of tea we had, which is such a fun gift to remember the night!

Taberna Dos Mercadores: Hidden in a small street behind the main Riveira street, was such a gem. Wanted to try everything on their menu, ended up getting a seafood rice (meant for 2) and grilled lamb chops between the 2 of us. If I had more nights, would have gone back to try other popular items on the menu (like octopus rice and fish). It’s a small place and by 1pm they were completely full so make a reservation or go early

Tapabento S.Bento: Seafood stew is the star menu here but their beef carpaccio was easily one of the bests I’ve had. Duck breast was also good so I’d imagine you really can’t go wrong with any menu here. Also, don’t forget to order a glass or pitcher of SPARKLING SANGRIA!

Curb: I almost feel weird recommending a burger place in Portugal (and I’m from California, love my In-n-out and Shake Shack 😂). But we actually went here twice during our stay, first for a mid-day snack to see if the hype is real and went back for a quick dinner the next day. I didn’t believe the reviews saying that it’s the best burger they’ve had but it was worth the hype. Please don’t pass on their fries!!

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