Ze Da Calcada - Amarante

One of the best restaurants I’ve visited in Portugal. Great food, great service, the portions are very large, and the atmosphere is perfect. Very recommended !

My lunch at Zé da Calçada was very impressive and very unexpected as it does not look like much from the outside. Amarante is a lovely side trip from Porto and well worth a visit if you have time. Sat down just a little too late so not able to get a table on the balcony overlooking the river which was a shame. The menu is not too long but there is plenty of choice. As the Portuguese make great soups, started with the vegetable soup and the fish soup, both were excellent and full of flavor. Mains courses were hearty , even a half portion . My veal steak had a delicious crispy salt crust and cooked medium rare as requested and just melted in the mouth , the accompanying potatoes and veg were great too. The beef bourguignon main was amazing and very tasty, again a big dish and nearly enough to share served with 2 sides of veg. It was all better than I expected. Service was great, a little traditional , efficient yet friendly. Wine wasn 't too expensive, a bottle was €12 , total including a small water came to €53.95 Overall, it felt like a lovely home cooked meal and sad there was no room for dessert as they all looked yummy. Hired a swan boat after my meal and admired Amarante from the river while peddling away and enjoying the views.

Today I have a funny experience arriving to the restaurant, I have arrived a bit late (1h30 pm) with a 2 months old baby and surprisingly there was no suggestions or any kind of prioritizing towards us. It is so impressive how such supposedly friendly restaurant wasn't able to provide any suggestions or prioritizing us. Basically have make us waiting for arround 20 minutes to tell us that we needed to wait for more 30 minutes. Probably the priority law for couples with babies didn't arrived at that restaurant or the employees didnt got the memo (funny since it is a 2016 law)... anyway there are at a walking distance other possibilities with also interesting suggestions...

A good dinner we got in this Nice restaurant on 26 /09/2023 . [Coming from Bretagne (Breizh in France for a large Road Trip in Portugal , Amarante was our our thirteenth stopover. Great place

Amazing food and wonderful view! I highly recommend it!! I ate the Bacalhau Ze da Calçada and it was unforgettable.