Quick answer: if you only book one food experience in Porto, make it hands-on. A Portuguese tapas class starts at Bolhão Market, has you cooking dishes like clams in white wine and lemon, and ends with lunch and a glass of Douro wine. If you would rather walk and graze, a four-hour food tour covers five stops and 12 or more tastings. The Port houses add the pairings: chocolate, cheese and full lunches.
Details and prices come from each operator’s own website, checked on September 17, 2026. Canto Cooking, which runs the tapas class, food tour and city tastings, is a commercial partner of ours.
Table of Contents
Cook it: the Portuguese tapas class
Canto Cooking calls these Portuguese small plates tapiscos. The class runs for four hours and costs €119 per person:
- The market. You meet the chef, who wears a chef’s hat, at the corner between Manteigaria and Leitaria Quinta do Paço at Bolhão Market, and shop for ingredients.
- The kitchen. A 10-minute walk takes you to the kitchen at Boutique Maison Canto De Luz for a barista coffee and a fresh nata.
- The cooking. You watch the chef, then make the dishes yourself. Menus change with the seasons but include flame-grilled chouriço, fresh clams in white wine and lemon sauce, cod fish pancakes, and vegetarian and vegan plates.
- The lunch. You eat what you cooked with a glass of Douro wine, and leave with the recipes and a travel bottle of aguardente for flame-grilling chouriço at home.
It is open to ages 14 and over. The aguardente is a nice touch for a wine site: grape spirit is what Port makers use to stop fermentation, so you go home with a small piece of how Port is made.
Canto Cooking is a commercial partner of Pinot Squirrel and we earn from bookings. Winery and lodge prices on this page come from each producer's own website.
Canto Cooking · 4.9 on Google and TripAdvisor
Portuguese Tapas Class + Bolhão Market Tour
- Shop for ingredients with a chef at Bolhão Market
- Hands-on class: flame-grilled chouriço, clams in white wine and lemon, cod fish pancakes (menus change seasonally)
- Lunch of what you cook with a glass of Douro wine, plus recipes and a travel bottle of aguardente
Check dates & bookPrice checked 17 Sep 2026
Walk it: the Porto food and wine tour
The Gastronomic Porto Food & Wine Tour costs €69 and takes four hours, with a maximum of 10 guests. It starts at the same Bolhão Market meeting point and visits five places, including Bolhão and Time Out markets, with 12 or more food and drink tastings and a guided walk through the city.
It ends at Canto Cooking’s Orangerie on Rua do Almada with a nata and a barista coffee, or a tasting glass of Port, and you can stay on to try Douro Valley table wines from the house wine machine. Practical details: it runs in all weather, with umbrellas provided; open-toe shoes are not recommended; vegetarian and gluten-free diets can be accommodated with notice, but it is not suitable for vegans. Ages 12 and over, with alcohol for over-18s only. Tours run in English or Spanish.
Canto Cooking · 4.9 on Google and TripAdvisor
Gastronomic Porto Food & Wine Tour
- Five stops including Bolhão and Time Out markets, with 12+ food and drink tastings
- A guided cultural walk, small group of up to 10
- Finishes at Canto's Orangerie with a nata and coffee or a glass of Port
Check dates & bookPrice checked 17 Sep 2026
Pair it: wine and food tastings
Port and chocolate, explained by the pairings
The €22 “Best of the Best” tasting is the clearest lesson in matching Port to food we found, because every glass has its own pairing:
| Port | Paired with |
|---|---|
| Sandeman Fine White | Brie and dried apricot |
| Graham’s Mature Reserve Tawny | Equador raspberry-ganache truffle |
| Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage | Equador almond dark chocolate |
| Ferreira Dona Antónia White | Equador orange dark chocolate |
The pattern is worth remembering at home: a fresh White Port with soft cheese and dried fruit, a nutty Tawny with a rich truffle, and a fruity LBV with dark chocolate.
Canto Cooking · 4.9 on Google and TripAdvisor
“Best of the Best” Port Tasting with Artisan Chocolates
Check dates & bookPrice checked 17 Sep 2026
Douro wine with cheese and ham
For table wine, the €29 tasting pours five Douro wines and a White Port with local cheese, Portuguese cured ham, crackers and jam, in the Orangerie or, on a sunny day, the garden. See wine tasting in Porto for every other Douro wine tasting.
Pairings at the Port lodges
- Burmester: the Reserva Tour (€25) serves almendrado and Queijo da Beira cheese; Port Wine Trilogy Senses (€35) adds ovo mole and Queijo da Ilha; a chocolate and cheese tasting costs €45.
- Poças: Port & Chocolat (€35) with Annobon truffles, and the Contrasts Menu (€57) with chef Pedro Braga and Queijaria da Praça: courgette carpaccio, smoked salmon blinis and a cheese board, paired with Port and Douro wine.
- Sandeman and Ferreira: Port wine and chocolate experiences at €32 each.
- Croft at Quinta da Roêda: a chocolate and Port pairing (€40), an olive oil tasting (€41), and a harvest picnic basket (€95).
Sit down: lunches with the wine
- Graham’s: Visit, Tasting and Lunch at its Vinum Restaurant, €140, booked at least 48 hours ahead, with vegan and children’s menus.
- Quinta de la Rosa: a Visit & Winemaker’s Lunch for €100, plus two places to eat on the estate, Cozinha da Clara and Tim’s Terrace.
- Niepoort: a Douro experience with lunch, €85 for two and a half hours and four wines.
- Sandeman’s Quinta do Seixo: a Wine and Cheese Experience (€34) and a Picnic in the Vineyard (€95).
- Dow’s at Quinta do Bomfim: the riverside restaurant Bomfim 1896.
- Real Companhia Velha: a programme combining a cellar visit, its museum and a three-course lunch at Enoteca 17.56. Confirm the price when you book; its English and Portuguese pages differ.
A few words you will meet
- Pastel de nata (plural pastéis de nata): the custard tart served with coffee all over Porto.
- Ovo mole: a sweet made from egg yolks and sugar.
- Almendrado: an almond sweet.
- Queijo da Ilha: cheese from the Azores.
- Aguardente: grape spirit. In Port, it is added during fermentation to keep the wine sweet.
- Petiscos: small shared plates, Portugal’s answer to tapas.