The best asian restaurants in Porto

Upon entering Boa-Bao, in downtown Porto, you are immediately transported to an exotic environment, where you are invited to have a signature cocktail in its friendly bar. With a casual-chic atmosphere, it is a great option for a first approach to Asian food, as it offers an impressive diversity of oriental cuisine. From dim sum to bao's, passing through noodles, curry or pad thai, there are many choices, all delicious!

VietView was the first Vietnamese restaurant to open in Porto, bringing the strong flavors and fresh ingredients that are so typical of delicious Vietnamese cuisine. As a starter, it proposes the well-known fresh spring rolls or Vietnamese-style chicken wings, followed by the typical pho, a delicious beef broth with rice noodles and spices, the most famous dish in Vietnam. For dessert, be sure to try Chè, made with coconut milk, tapioca, peanuts and coconut.

Still in Vietnamese flavors, but in a more street food aspect, YOAM - Vietnamese Bread & Boba, brings to the city the famous bánh mì, Vietnamese baguettes dubbed by the famous chef Anthony Bourdain as “the best sandwiches in the world”. To go with it, try the fun Bubble Tea, or Boba, which immediately draws attention due to the variety of its colors, flavors and textures, mixing tea (hot or cold) with milk, fruit or fruit juice and the “bubbles” made with soft and chewy tapioca pearls, a true flavor feast!

When talking about Asian restaurants in Porto, the Grande Palácio Hong Kong is an unavoidable name for its antiquity and quality. It serves the typical Chinese food, but dim sum lovers say that this is where you can eat the best dim sum in town. Steamed or fried, these little dumplings with assorted fillings are truly addictive, and can be eaten as a main meal or just a starter.

In recent years, luckily to the inhabitants of the North region, more Thai restaurants have started to appear all over Porto, but Thailander is our suggestion. Right in the center of Porto, it is one of the best options for eating Thai delicacies, due to the quality and authentic flavors it serves, as well as the friendliness of the service. Here you can try the well-known pad thai, Tom Yum, spring rolls… Be sure to try the chicken satay, chicken skewers with a wonderful peanut sauce!

Han Table Barbecue appeared to fill a gap in the variety of Asian restaurants in Porto: the Korean barbecue! With a grill and extractor at the table, just choose from a variety of meat and vegetarian options and get to work, cooking the way you like it. A unique experience, fun and, of course, full of flavor. Be sure to try the typical Korean drink Soju or one of its original cocktails, such as Han soju.

Bao's are small steamed buns, which are both light and tasty. The name of Bao's - Taiwanese Burger leaves no room for doubt: it is assumed to be an Asian fusion restaurant and its specialty is bao's, with some more traditional fillings, such as pork belly or meat cooked at low temperature, and more original options, such as bao's with codfish or soft-shell crab. For dessert, try the peanut ice cream bao or the sesame ice cream bao.

Thamel offers good and varied Asian food, from Momo's (dumplings) from Nepal, to soups from Tibet, classic dishes from Thailand and India, among others. But it also has an American cuisine menu, which makes it easy when you want to go out to dinner with a group, but one of your friends doesn't like Asian cuisine. Here, there are options for the more “reluctant”, but don't be surprised if they later attack your plate when they see a delicious pad thai or a Thali arrive.

The name of the Taberna Asiática is not misleading: here they serve good Asian snacks, from tasty ramen to soft bao’s, a Thai yellow curry or, if you prefer, a bento box with sushi and shashimi. For starters, be sure to try the gyozas, dumplings or spring rolls. At the mouth of the Douro, its cozy room, with a dimly lit environment, transports visitors on a journey through Japan, Thailand, China and South Korea.

Our journey through Asian restaurants in Porto ends at RO, where the specialty is ramen. If you've never eaten before, RO explains how to taste this delicious dish: first you have to look and smell; then taste the broth with the spoon; eat the pasta with chopsticks and slurp it without embarrassing the noise; eat at ease; drink the broth directly from the bowl. Alternatively, you can try an okonomiyaki, a kind of Japanese pancake, or a donburi, a bowl of rice with different toppings.