Familia Geadas Bistro Terrace

I found about this restaurant while looking for places to stay in the Douro valley. I knew a lot of quintas here also operate as hotels and restaurants, and I figured, if the food and the wine is really good, how bad can the hotel be? Or, depending on the amount of wine, would it really matter?

After a pleasant day around Quinta do Tedo, we sat down at the Bistro Terrace. I really recommend getting a window side table here if at all possible. The view is really beautiful. They have a simple menu, with a few options to choose between starters, mains and desserts. We opted to go for seafood mainly, but we weren't really in the mood for white wine, nor vinho verde, so we asked the staff to recommend a bottle of red that would go nicely. We were recommended one of the quintas own wines, which we also had a chance of testing before. We thought it was a fairly average wine for the region, but it did complement the dishes well.

We ordered the scallops with the green apple puree as the starter. The staff was nice enough to split the portion beforehand, and we were served using two plates. Both were presented beautifully. The scallops were also cooked very nicely. I'm not sure if the green apple puree would be go-to side for me for scallops, but I'm glad we got a chance to try. I wouldn't mind trying it with different types of seafood to see how it complements them.

S went for the turbot because it's by far her favorite fish, and I ordered the catch of the day, which, if I remember correctly, was a grouper. Both were cooked very well, with crispy skin. The turbot was served with black carolino rice and blue mussels. My grouper fillet was served with a tangy couscous with cockles.

While both were executed nicely, we were both overwhelmed by the amount of cilantro used in them. This is a common theme for us in Portugal, and sometimes we forget to tell the staff to hold back on it if possible. We got used to it at least to some degree, but we still prefer to avoid it when we can. In this case though, we thought it was way more than the usual amount. We later heard the German couple we met during the wine tasting complain about the same thing. In any case, I can definitely recommend either of the fish.

We wrapped our dinner with a couple of desserts. We ordered the plate with pistachio ice cream, sour cream and apple, and, if I remember correctly, the meringue, almond and vanilla. Both were good.

If you are in the region, I would recommend a visit at the Bistro Terrace. Our experience here makes me curious about the other restaurants in the area, to see how they compare. We already have a few in our list that we are looking forward to, like DOC, Castas e Pratos, Aneto & Table and Bomfim 1896