This restaurant is named after the chef who won his first Michelin star at the end of 2014. A few years ago no one knew who he was – but now the restaurant struggles to accommodate the constant stream of reservations. Pedro Lemos is absolutely mandatory for gourmand travellers. After he received this recognition, he closed up for a few weeks and changed the entire restaurant, renewing the house, located in a tiny, narrow alley in Foz Velha – an old, charming district near the river.

This restaurant is divided across two floors. The first floor is perfect for an after-work drink. It contains a wine bar with a list of focaccia that you can stuff with roast beef, vegetables or truffled sausage and they have a selection of cheese boards. On the upper floor you’ll find a meat realm, with Porto’s best steaks, chops and other cuts of meat. If you are aiming for a relaxed evening, you should call and ask for a spot at the beautiful hidden terrace just outside the restaurant. If you’re a game type of person, than the steakhouse is the best option. There you can choose the meat by the kilogram and add as many side dishes as you can eat.

Luís Américo was one of the first Porto chefs to view food through a fun and unpretentious lens. How? First he launched a forneria – a pizzeria with a wood oven – with no tools or cutlery on the table. He encouraged diners to eat with their hands, chat to friends, share food – and if you really needed a knife you could pick one from a vintage can at the table. He applied this same approach to all of his businesses. First a cervejaria (a typical Portuguese restaurant with beer and seafood) at Mercado Ferreira Borges near Ribeira, where you can grab a bottle of beer from your own ice bucket. Cantina 32 is located on a recently turned pedestrian street in the city called Rua das Flores. At Cantina 32 the tables are long with room for groups of friends or strangers who may very well become friends by the end of the night. The restaurant’s atmosphere has a nice contrast between its concrete walls and vintage armchairs. You can taste a multitude of creative dishes, some of them divided as ‘proposals for two people who are not very hungry’ or ‘suggestions for two people who are starving’. You can also eat ‘dirt’ here. Well, not dirt, but Oreo dust served in a clay vessel with a surprise cheesecake underneath

This is what you call an authentic Porto bistro. Nabos da Púcara is a place which only uses Portuguese ingredients – it’s also a grocery store, so you can eat in or take it home – and it stocks a variety of products from local producers. You should try anything and everything. They combine less noble products with exquisite cooking techniques and get perfect results. This restaurant may have the best quality-to-price ratio in the city. Scout’s honour.

Zé Bota has marvellous Portuguese food – just how mama would’ve made it. It’s a difficult task recommending dishes because they are almost impossible to translate, that’s how genuine they are. Bacalhau à braga is fried codfish with caramelised onions, peppers and perfect chips; polvo à lagareiro is roasted octopus with olive-oil sauce, garlic and grilled potatoes; and costela mendinha is tender veal chops slowly cooked in the oven before a long marinade. We could keep going, but it’s making us hungry…

If we had to choose one thing to do in Porto, and one thing only, eating at Casa Guedes would be it. This is the worst place on earth to take a date or your parents for lunch. It is filthy, crowded, noisy, old and ugly, but they happen to serve the best pork sandwich in the whole world. Plan your visit there with caution. Choose an off mealtime hour – 4PM in the afternoon would be great – and get in line. Ask for “sandes de pernil” with or without artisanal cheese, a bottle of white wine and cheese with pumpkin jam for dessert. You’ll probably find a table outside or, if you’re lucky, you can sit at the counter and drool while Mr Cesar slices the massive, juicy pork leg.

Travelling to Porto and leaving without a big francesinha in your gut is an unforgivable sin. And Santiago is the best place to fulfil that task. You’ll have to wait to get a table (don’t even try to make a reservation). You should get there early: at 11.30AM for lunch or 6.30PM for dinner. Go for a seat at the counter to watch the cooking process of this incredible meaty, cheesy sandwich, ask for a beer (or ‘fino’ if you want to pretend to be local) and finish the whole thing or the waiter will mock you.