The wait here was really long. I'm not sure if it was worth the wait for me (it was about an hour wait), but the dishes I had here were tasty. I had the shrimp appetizer and octopus rice. The shrimp were very boozy, I was kind of surprised by that because typically it would be cooked down more. The octopus rice I had was a huge portion of rice, but not all that much octopus. The octopus though was delicious, it was cooked perfectly and the rice has nice crispy bits. After eating the dish for awhile, it was a bit one note and the price for this dish was pretty high compared to other places. I ended up taking half of it back to hotel and had it reheated the next day and it might have been even better than when I ate it in the restaurant.

Delicious, amazing server and very cozy ambiance. Try their specialty rice and octopus.

Well... Taberna Dos Mercadores was quite the experience! It is a small (16-seats) family owned restaurant with consistently long lines. When my party of 3 arrived around 6:30 PM on a weekday, there were already many people ahead of us. Most of us did not know if they were opened as their door was locked. We realized that's how they operated and there was a doorbell you could ring to hopefully get one of the staff to come outside and answer your question. I found out that they do take reservations and recommend calling around 11 AM before they get busy with their lunch service. But the wait was worth it for the food. The service was so attentive and cracking jokes with us - it is clear that they loved what they do. This reflected in the food with the flavors and quality. I really loved the octopus rice and seabass - if you love seafood, Taberna Dos Mercadores is definitely a restaurant that you must try out when you are in Porto!

Honestly our best meal in Porto! There was no reservation system so we tried our luck by lining up right by the time they opened and we got lucky thankfully. The place is small and it gets really packed, like you can hear the conversation next to you even if you don't want to. However don't let that deter you. There were 2 women cooking and a gentleman attending to everyone. Small yet efficient team! We started off with some clams, so good and then some gambas al ajillo which was perfect to soak up the bread with that sauce. For entree, I went for the octopus with rice. I'm still dreaming of this dish. Don't know how they manage for the octopus to be so tender and you mix it with like paella-ish type of rice but a class on its own! My husband really loved the seafood stew for his entree and we loved sharing everything. You absolutely can't go wrong because everything is delicious! Also seems there's a grilled fish that's also very popular here and the place is especially loved by Korean customers who know their food! Line up early because by the time we left around 6:30pm, the line was outrageous and discouraging! Plan your activities around having dinner here, it'll make you want to come back to Porto! I did not even get to take pictures and only have videos because you'll be very distracted in the best way. Also, my favorite white wine is the best pairing for seafood so go and get some vinho verde! You're very welcome and enjoy! :)

Get a reso if you can! Otherwise line up 30 mins before opening times. We ended up waiting in line for 1.5 hours and it was worth it bc the food was divine. Service was great and it's a small and intimate space. Would highly recommend: - octopus rice, somewhat comparable to a paella and I adored it and we finished every bite. - salted sea bass - nice cut of fish and v buttery. Hubby devoured it - grilled shrimp - table side presentation was so fun and great garlicky broth - dry white wine reco was solid and a great accompaniment to our meal

Our daughter recommended this place to us when she visited Porto last year. She said it has the best seafood in town. Therefore, we were determined to try it. Taberna Dos Mercadores does not take reservations (through website or phone) and we definitely found out why when we went there. They only have 6 tables. One is a 4-seater and the rest are 2-seaters. The host and server told us that it was going to be about an hour wait but turned out to be two hours and fifteen minutes before we got seated. This was the longest that we ever waited for a table. Was it worth it? I have to say that it worth every minute. The food by far was the best that we had in Portugal

Probably my favorite place for dinner in Porto. Very hard to get in if you don't have reservations and don't show up on time, else you probably have to get in line around 5pm or be the first couple of folks in line in order to get in elsewhere you will wait and possibly not get in if your past 20 people deep. But the food/experience is totally worth it. We will never forget the food here. Muito bom!

We came 10-15 minutes prior to opening time and it wasn't early enough to make it for the first seating. We ended up waiting almost 2 hours for a table so my tip is to come early (maybe 30 minutes before opening). We ordered the pastel de bacalhau (3,00), shrimp (9,00), octopus salad (11,00), Seafood rice (38,00) and a meringue pie (4,00). The portion size here is very generous. Our favourite dishes were definitely the shrimp and the octopus salad. The seafood rice had a lot of seafood in it and that itself could definitely feed 4 people. I would recommend you come here with 4 people as their portion sizes are quite large. The dessert was okay - not our cup of tea. I would want to try the flan next time. If you want to visit, I would recommend coming early or you will be stuck waiting. They do around 1 and a half seatings during lunch before they close. They had to turn people away after the second seating.

The best meal we've had in Porto so far, and we've been really pleasantly surprised by Portuguese food! Taberna makes me want to stay longer here... just for the food! We arrived half an hour before opening time, since we knew that a line was highly likely (having read the reviews). And indeed, many people started queueing up right after us! Fortunately we were first in line, and were the first to get seated in this tiny, cavern-like restaurant. There are only 4 tables that can each seat 2 people or so... making the full restaurant capacity only 8!! Wow! Were we blown away by the food. For starters, we ordered a codfish croquette, clams in oil, and fish soup. For mains, we shared the seafood rice (for 2 people). The codfish croquette was served first, and it came piping hot and freshly fried. The texture was crispy on the outside, soft and mashed on the inside, but also with some sinewy bits not dissimilar from pork floss. It was very good. The clams and fish soup followed. The clams were good, imbued in a garlic and shallot filled oil, as was the fish soup, which was a deep orange hue (likely from shellfish broth) and full of fish bits. Then came the showstopper. The arroz de mariscos, or the seafood rice. My god, this was so delicious!! The rice had some bite to it and was immersed in a deeply flavourful stew, filled with shrimp, mussels, clams, and cockles. We just couldn't stop eating bite after bite!! The staff were also very kind and respectful, and we had an absolutely great time. Would highly recommend to everyone who comes by Porto!

TIPS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: - Reservations are booked 2 months out. Reservations are daily for 2 time slots (7pm/9pm). They won't hold your table for too long, so come as soon as you can to your reserved time or you will forfeit the table to walk-in guests. - Always a line outside for walk-ins due to the small capacity inside. If you don't have a reservation, try to get there as early as possible for the least wait time and best chance to get in. - The smaller the group in your party, the faster you can go in. They reserved only select tables for 3-4 people groups. - Large groups (over 4 people) is not likely, so skip this place altogether - They stop taking walk-ins after 9:45-10pm. We came around 7:30pm on a weekday. My friends and I consisted of a 3 people party, so we ended up waiting 2hrs in total! They only had a table by the window available for 3 guests, so we literally had to wait for the party before us to sit down, order and finish their meal. That took a good while! Finally, our turn arrived. We sat down at the table near the window where everyone outside waiting in line can see use eating, but we had no choice. We already knew what we were going to order, so we ordered immediately. We got a Petras Sparkling Water to share. We also got 3 dishes to share: SHRIMP IN FRYING PAN When the dish comes out, it's a fire show. It's blazing with fire which eventually dies down. You are treated with several pieces of prawn soaked in a delicious sauce. It was a nice small appetizer to start. OCTOPUS AND ITS RICE IN THE OVEN This is probably the most biggest and best valued dish on the menu. It's toasted on the top due to being baked in the oven. The octopus pieces are mixed in with the rice. In general, the rice was a tad bit salty for my taste, but nonetheless, it was very flavorful/seasoned. SHELLFISH PORRIDGE This is also quite big. It's a pot full of various seafoods: clams, mussels, prawns. The porridge had like a grits-like textured content inside as well making it filling. The sauce was very flavorful. This was a dish that we were debating on, but super glad that we got to try it. It was delicious. Despite the extra long wait for our table, I think it was worth it. The food is amazing! I love all our choices and you can't go wrong with whatever you get. Now, I get the hype around this restaurant. Probably one of the most memorable restaurants we ate at in Porto. Definitely recommend.