Barrica by YoursPorto

It would be easy to dismiss Barrica as just another average Porto restaurant catering to tourists passing by. It has all the hallmarks: It’s under a hotel owned by the same owners, and it's close to most tourist attractions. You know, the kind of place that only expects one-time customers. If you look at their Google reviews, they’re mostly by foreigners. We certainly had our share of these places in Porto. We continue trying them anyway, but it ends in disappointment fairly often.

We visited them for the first time last winter with these thoughts. We didn’t expect much, but we were very pleasantly surprised. You go in without knowing what you will eat; they only serve a fixed menu that changes daily. You can also get a wine pairing to go along with it. We left that day incredibly satisfied with the food and the service but couldn’t help but be cynical. There is no way they could produce such a high-quality menu every day.

After eight months, we went back, and we were seated at the exact same table. We hoped that was a sign of how the rest of the evening would go. The restaurant was mostly empty on our last visit, with only one waitstaff. This time, more tables were occupied, and there were 2 people working in the dining room.

They welcomed us with a glass of sparkling wine and the couvert while they explained how the menu works. We replied with an enthusiastic yes when they asked whether we would go for the wine pairing. With that decided, we shifted our focus to the food before us. The couvert consisted of a few varieties of bread (muesli and raisin, black olive, regular), olive oil, and a small plate with beetroot butter, hummus, and extra virgin olive oil. Everything was great, especially the beetroot butter. The quality of the olive oil was also very good.

Our first wine of the evening was a 2022 Dom Bella Elegance Sauvignon Blanc with a beautiful floral scent. The amuse-bouche consisted of two small bites: a codfish and green olive salad that was more like a pâté and crispy brie with blackberry jam. It was a good start but not as impressive as what came next: a pea soup with buttered leeks and chorizo. Such an elegant dish, with just enough substance to pair well with the wine.

Before moving on to the fish course, we were served a glass of Rosé da Fitapreta Cuvée nº7. We are not fans of rosé, but this one paired well with the fish that came next. A perfectly grilled sea bass fillet with pumpkin rice, broccolini, and roasted pepper foam. The rice was very creamy and delicious. The broccolini was pickled, a nice surprise as soon as you took a bite, serving as a perfect contrast to the rice.

The next wine was our favorite of the evening, a Quinta das Queimas D'Ovaia Tinto 2020 from the Dão region. For the past year, our go-to, buy-boxes-from-producer wine has been Casal da Coelheira Private Collection, but we thought this might replace it for a change. We enjoyed it with a crispy duck breast served with parsnip puree, lotus root tempura, and mushrooms. Overall, it was an excellent plate.

The sweet wine of the evening was Quinta da Alorna Abafado 5 Years from 2017. It’s from the Alentejo region and is a medium-sweet dessert wine made with Fernão Pires grapes. It accompanied a dessert plate with passion fruit foam, pineapple ice cream, and toucinho do céu, a Portuguese dessert made with almonds, eggs, and sugar.

Throughout this excellent dinner, the service was amazing as well. One of the things that we really liked on our last visit was how the staff explained the wine they serve, where they come from, who the winemaker is, and even recommended other wines. To our delight, we had a similar experience this time.

We have no reservations about recommending a visit to Barrica. You will get to taste excellent examples of Portuguese cuisine paired with excellent Portuguese wines. When we told the waitress to compliment the chef for us since it was our second time, we thought there was no way our experience would be as good as the first with how they changed menus every day. We heard some laughs from the kitchen later, and she came back with word from the chef inviting us to return at least 10 times to witness their consistency. We wouldn’t mind.