Will Walk for Wine (and Mussels)
A tale of two excellent meals and one very food-motivated walk
The night before our mussel pilgrimage, we had dinner at BistrĂ´ Severo, a Michelin Guide recommended restaurant tucked inside the beautiful Palacete Severo, which is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment.
We started with octopus carpaccio, followed by grouper, then shared a dessert. We finished the evening with wine in the garden.
It was a lovely, sophisticated evening.
And then, the very next day, we walked over five miles to let butter drip down our hands while we ate mussels.
Again.
The walk from our apartment to Matosinhos was beautiful, with the river and then the ocean beside us for most of the way.
We also passed quite a few pilgrims making their way along the Camino de Santiago. You can usually identify them by the seashells hanging off their backpacks.
The Camino de Santiago is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe that lead to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of St. James the Apostle are buried. People who walk the Camino are referred to as pilgrims. They walk for all sorts of reasons - spiritual, personal, or simply to get in a good workout surrounded by beautiful scenery.
We were on a pilgrimage of sorts too: round three of mussels.
Our destination was Titos II, where we had already eaten once and decided that the only reasonable response to that excellent meal was to make another reservation.
No regrets.
We ordered the mussels, of course, along with a few sides and the green wine.
There is something deeply satisfying about walking that far, arriving hungry, eating a giant plate of mussels, and then feeling like you have earned the right to dip all the bread into that buttery, garlicky wine sauce.
Afterward, we stopped back by the market for fruit, then took an Uber back to Porto.
The pilgrims continued on toward Santiago. We continued on toward our apartment, full of mussels and feeling spiritually fulfilled in our own way.
Loving your blogs on Porto. If you had to choose your top 5 restaurants where would you choose please.
We are happy with any budget really. Normally eat at a range of places. Wife doesn’t eat fish unfortunately so often places who are tasting only and not flexible are out.