What I ate Vegan in Porto, Portugal
Black Mamba
We arrived in Porto in the late afternoon and Black Mamba was the first place we tried. It is located in a quirky little street of vintage shops and vegan places (namely O Burrito and Duh Donuts). Black Mamba is a record shop with a fully vegan burger menu. If you're not a fan of rock music then this place might not be for you! There are 6 different burgers to choose from and you can get a burger, wedges and a drink for a very reasonable €8.
I went for burger No.1 'The Punk burger' which was a soya burger with veggie cheese. It was tasty although having eaten a lot of soya burgers I probably should have gone for something a little different. The bread and fries were good and the sauce was a sort of spicy tomato, I liked it!
My friend went fr No.4 'The Doom burger' which was a mushroom and lentil burger with vegan 'chicken' strips in breadcrumbs on the top. Now this burger I loved, we ended up swapping burgers as my friend preferred mine! The patty itself was really flavoursome and the 'chicken' strips added a different texture.
O Burrito
As I mentioned earlier, O Burrito is located on the same street as Black Mamba so we returned the next evening to this fully vegan burrito restaurant. They offer burritos, quesadillas and nachos all with interesting combinations and quirky names.
We started with some nachos (not pictured as my photos turned out awful with the lighting!). The dish was made from homemade tortilla chips, soya mince, salsa and cheesy sauce. I really enjoyed them although the soya mince definitely had a spicy kick!
O Burrito had 4 burritos on the menu, 2 were offered cold and 2 hot. We got both of the hot options. I decided to get the 'El Pablo' which has 'Cashew cheese, black bean chilli, vegan mince, fried red pepper, avocado and spicy Mexican salsa'. It was really tasty and flavoursome but wasn't too spicy which was good.
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| photo taken from facebook |
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| photo taken from facebook |
O Diplomata
When I saw the photos of O Diplomata pancakes online I just had to try them!
Among many other non vegan brunch options, O Diplomata has an amazing pick your own pancake menu with the option to pick a vegan gluten free pancake base. You can then pick any number of a selected fruits as they are individually priced as add ons. There is also the option to add ice cream (of which the sorbets were vegan), sauces (such as peanut butter and maple syrup) and toppings (such as oreos, mixed nuts and granola). Although the toppings were not labelled to show which were vegan I asked and was able to find out.
I went for my vegan pancakes with banana, strawberry, peanut butter and oreos (because I could!) and oh my goodness they were absolutely amazing! The pancakes themselves was really good and I definitely couldn't tell that they were gluten free, with the combination of toppings they were just amazing.
You should definitely check out O Diplomata but go early as they get busy pretty quickly. We arrived just after 10 and were seated straight away but they was a long line of people waiting outside for tables when we left!
Vegana by Tentugal
The menu offers lots of meat and cheese alternatives in burgers, toasties and traditional Portuguese dishes like a veganised Francesinha which I was too scared to try! I decided to go for a cheese and smoked sausage sandwich was was really good, the outside of the bread had been buttered before toasting so it was lovely and crispy and comforting. My friend went for the 'hamburger' which she said was very good and she really enjoyed.
For dessert we couldn't miss out on the opportunity to try vegan Pastel de Nata (Portuguese custard tarts) and they did not disappoint- beautiful crispy pastry with a creamy custard filling, just as good as the real thing!
Duh vegan donuts
On the same street as Black Mamba and O Burrito, while browsing some vintage boutiques we spotted Duh vegan donuts. By looking on their facebook they appear to have a couple of specials per day. On the day that we went the options were matcha icing with coconut or cinnamon icing with goji berries, I went for the latter. The donut was lovely and soft and fresh and I really liked it. The only thing was, it was pretty big! Maybe a good one to share.
Cultura dos Sabores
Before heading to the airport I managed to grab lunch at Cultura dos Sabores, a vegetarian and vegan restaurant with a lunch buffet. They have a set price for a selection of cold salads, hot dishes and a tea of the day for under €9. Desserts, wines and coffee are also available separately.
I wasn't massively hungry so I skipped the salad bar but there were cold pasta and rice options and lots of vegetables. I went straight to the hot dishes. I tried Portuguese style tofu with potato straws on top, pumpkin and sweet potato and soya meatballs, there was also the option of white or brown rice. I really enjoyed my meal, the sauce on the meatballs and the flavour of the tofu were really good.
I would definitely recommend Cultura dos Sabores for value for money to fill up on a busy day sightseeing, an added fun element in the swing seats in the window!
Porto airport
I find it really helpful to do my research when travelling, especially when it comes to finding food at airports, which can be very hit and miss! I noticed on the porto airport website that there was an Acai place before security which is great, there was also a sandwich place listed (Deli & Cia) which said they had vegetarian sandwiches with hummus and avocado so I was pretty sure I'd be able to find something there.Acai natura
As I said, acai natura is located before security at Porto airport. They offer frozen acai in 4 different sizes ranging from €3.50 to €6.90. You can then choose 1 sauce and 2 or 3 toppings depending on the size you choose.
I went for the small size which looks pretty tiny but it was loaded up and actually ended up being just enough to not get brain freeze! The lady was very helpful in checking whether the topping options were vegan, unfortunately all of the granola options contained milk but the rice and corn cereals were vegan. However, I decided to get banana and strawberries as my 2 toppings instead. I got the mango sauce which was drizzled into the cup before the acai was added.
Overall, I really enjoyed my acai. The top was a little bitter but once I reached the fruit and sauce it sweetened it up really nicely and I loved it.
Sushi Passion
Unfortunately, once I had come through security I had less luck finding something to eat. I wanted to get some food to eat on my flight home. I tried the deli previously mentioned and all other outlets selling sandwiches.etc. and found only cheese and meat sandwiches. My only option other than snacking was sushi.
Sushi passion had several vegetarian options on their menu, I decided to get a vegetarian platter to go which was a pricy €21! However, it was all vegan and there was a lot of variety. There were 6 different rolls including avocado and cucumber maki, one with sundried tomato and a spicy mushroom one. It was very good and nice as a treat but I would definitely have preferred to see more vegan options at airports in general.
On the whole Porto has lots of vegan options, the great thing about the veggie restaurants too is that they are all pretty central. Porto is beautiful and definitely worth a trip if you fancy it!