Icarai - Porto

Every year I come here when I live in Porto for work as a professor for a couple of weeks. I come here as my go to dinner most nights. If you have Portuguese family or ancestors you will get it, trust me. The wait staff, the food, the atmosphere, is all perfect, all from another time. I always order the chicken and fries, and mixed salad and they know me and my order and it feels familiar and lovely. Gentle and efficient wait staff and I am grateful for them. It is not a tourist place, but in many ways it should be, the upstairs seats many people and the food is delicious every time. I <3 this place!!

I live in the other end of Porto and come here almost every week. Either lunch time, middle afternoon, dinner or late night, I always will have 2 bifanas and a beer at the bar, next to the counter. You can’t find any bifana like these ones anywhere else in Portugal. If Porto would be an exotica destination like Bangkok or Singapore, Icarai would be a serious contender for one of those humble Michelin starred places just because the bifana. Really! Give it a try.

Off the beaten track you must find this place! It doesn't look much from the outside but serves the most amazing Portuguese local food at excellent prices. You can opt to sit at the bar or on a table and there is a huge variety of meats and fish cooked to order. We had grilled octopus and two chilled glasses of Vinho verde as a little snack. Thanks to your great customer service we want to come and try some more!

We stopped for lunch here it is a traditional churrasqueira, with a simple menu with a wide variety of dishes and daily specials. We had a '¼ misto carnes ' dish and it was enough for 2 of us, as it came with a variety of meats, rice, chips and salad. The service was quick and friendly and we 'll certainly be back one day.

Wandering round a city looking for somewhere to eat and stumbled on this place Authentic drinks and food cooked over hot coals what could be better I had a plate of meat like a mixed grill which was plenty In would recommend and would definitely return