Midweek lunches in Shoreditch are rarely dull. This one was no exception at super cool restaurant Jones and Family. From the outside it looks like a cross between a bar, a gallery and a restaurant, so obviously it goes down well in the heart of Shoreditch.

My starter of squid salad was bright and punchy, bursting with flavour.

Mrs D’s potted Cornish crab hit the mark and was declared an instant hit!

Not quite Harry Ramsden, but the Fish and Chip salad was innovative if not a 100% success due to soggy chips underneath the fish.

It’s a cool place though with nice folk manning the decks, well worth a nosey if you’re down Shoreditch way…

On the other side of the Rio Douro from Porto is Vila Nova de Gaia. These two cities have faced each other for centuries across the steeply banked slopes down to the river. Over the years these have been built up and spectacular bridges have been added across the chasm.

On one side is Porto: picturesque UNESCO world heritage site and on the other, lots of port wine lodges. It’s quite bizarre to see all the British port names emblazoned on buildings on the other side of the river. Names from our colonial past, still here making and shipping port all over the world. It was quite a surprise to see these quintessentially British brands in such a place.

We arranged a port tasting at Taylor’s lodge  (we were told it was the best) which was right at the top of the hill. Apparently the higher up the hill you were in the past spoke volumes of your stature and of course Taylor’s is still up there with the best. The Taylor’s lodge is a little bit of England’s past clinging on to the notion that the Empire still exists. Cool, dark tasting rooms make way for English country gardens, spectacular views from the terraces and peaceful old warehouses full of slowly maturing port.

We tasting four kinds of port: chip dry white, ten year old tawny, LBV (late bottled vintage) ruby and vintage port. All this at 10am in the morning! I am actually a fan of port but mostly drink it at Christmas time, so drinking it in the summer felt a bit odd, but when in Porto…

We learnt the differences between the ports, when they should be drunk and with what kind of food they should accompany. It’s a complicated business this port drinking. Our guide was deeply knowledgeable as you’d expect and visibly proud of the product and tradition and we were lucky enough to have a private tour which made all the difference. The port wine making process hasn’t changed for hundreds of years and I loved the giant vats of port, nestled in the darkness, quietly waiting for their time to decant their contents. The smell in the giant warehouses was gently boozy: cool, damp air mixed with old oak combining to create a woozy atmosphere.

After the tour, we staggered out into the late morning sunshine, blinking in the light, feeling more than a little fresh, heading off in search of an early lunch to counter the port.

Just back from our first trip to Porto in Portugal and I’ve just realise that it would be nigh on impossible to write up every meal we had (and quite tedious to read). Instead I thought I’d provide a snapshot of this culinarily vibrant and fascinating city…so here goes:

Eating out in Porto is exciting, diverse and different to Spain. All the menus are primarily in Portugese (which often bears no resemplance to Spanish!) but restaurant staff all speak excellent English and always happy to make recommendations. Often, we’d leave it in their hands including the wine. It’s also worth saying it’s very, very good value in Porto compared to the rest of mainland Europe including and especially the UK.

No trip to Porto is complete without a tour of a port wine lodge. This is quintessentially Porto — this is the Taylor’s lodge, which was very ‘English’. The tasting was my favourite bit, obviously!

Tuna carpaccio starter at Cafeina, a lovely up market restaurant out near the ocean, quite traditional but very relaxed and excellent prices for the quality of food.

Exquisite seafood, spankingly fresh, is everywhere. This octopus tentacle was a meaty as pork fillet and packed a real garlicky punch.

I won with the starters at Cafeina I reckon although Julie’s beef carpaccio was pretty good.

Slightly sparking Vinho Verde or green wine is everywhere. Very cheap and quite palatable, I was loving their labels!

We tried to get into this place but had to book and we were successful second time around. Great food and bizarre ambience with a Michael Jackson live from Prague concert video projected on to the wall. Cool staff.Meat and cheese of course always come in to play when we’re in town. Local charcuterie (or whatever their version of it is) delicious and plenty of it. This gaff was a bit trendy for our liking but we fitted right in as we looked the business 🙂 I now know all there is to know about Port. Next time you see me, ask me. Nice touch. Ouch! Mrs D enjoying some fizz in the sunshine. hard life! This place was on the edge of the transvestite red light district, so it was quite an entertaining lunch!Cheese literally like mayonnaise. Unctious and pungent, running all over the shop. If I’m not mistaken, Tawny, LBV Ruby and Vintage…where’s the Chip Dry?? Oh yeah, I drunk it! They love a bit of codfish brought back , national dish I think. This is a local special with cabbage and cheese. Sounds grim but it’s actually amazing.

Oh dear. Pastels de Nata. Part of my five a day regime!! Chateaubriand for one at Cafeina. Spec-tac-u-lar is the only way to describe it.

LBV on the way back to the apartment. Cheese and nibbles? Oh, go on then! Chuck steak for two at Cantaina 33. The photo doesn’t do it justice as the portions were gargantuan. As usual we blobbed on dessert. There really is no need to spend more than ten euros a bottle in Porto, all the local wine is that good. The cheapest bottles are as good as pricey ones in the UK. More cheese trying to escape the plate in liquid form. Local cheese teamed with a ten year old tawny picked out by the owner of the restaurant. Flaming sausage served at the table. No, really. It was great too but don’t try this at home. This was our second up market restaurant and even here the prices were very reasonable. We pushed the boat out and spent twenty euros on a bottle of wine, must have been the sun going to our heads!