Three Portuguese restaurants named among world’s best winery dining experiences – Portugal Resident

Three Portuguese restaurants have been named among the world’s best places to combine wine and food by US publication Wine Enthusiast, highlighting the growing international profile of the country’s winery-based dining scene.

Mesa de Lemos, in the Dão; Bomfim 1896, in the Douro; and Malhadinha Nova, in the Alentejo, are Portugal’s three representatives on the magazine’s 2026 list of 57 winery restaurants around the world.

The selection includes 22 restaurants in Europe and focuses on destinations where the combination of food, wine and surroundings makes the winery itself worth travelling to.

In the Dão, Mesa de Lemos is located at Quinta de Lemos, near Viseu, surrounded by vineyards and overlooking the surrounding countryside.

Led by chef Diogo Rocha, the Michelin-starred restaurant serves contemporary Portuguese cuisine built around seasonal produce sourced from across the country.

Wine Enthusiast highlights both its cooking and contemporary architecture, including the extensively glazed restaurant building overlooking the Quinta de Lemos vineyards. Among ingredients singled out are sea bream from the Algarve and pineapple from the Azores.

Rocha said the recognition rewarded work developed from Portugal’s interior while drawing inspiration and produce from throughout the country.

“It is a cuisine that looks to the territory, respects seasonality and producers, and finds in the wine and landscape of Quinta de Lemos essential elements of the dining experience,” he said.

Mesa de Lemos has retained a Michelin star for seven consecutive years and also holds a Michelin Green Star for its approach to sustainability.

Portugal’s Douro representative, Bomfim 1896, is located at Quinta do Bomfim on the banks of the Douro River in Pinhão.

Part of the Symington family’s historic Port wine estate, the restaurant focuses on traditional Douro cooking, using wood fires and an open kitchen. Its dishes draw on regional family recipes, with examples including smoked eel and slow-roasted kid.

Further south, Malhadinha Nova represents the Alentejo on the international list.

The restaurant forms part of Herdade da Malhadinha Nova, a wine estate near Beja where much of the produce used in the kitchen is grown or raised on the property, including Alentejo black pigs.

Its cooking takes traditional Alentejo recipes and ingredients and gives them a lighter, contemporary interpretation, reflecting the estate’s broader emphasis on wine, gastronomy and hospitality.

The inclusion of restaurants from three distinct Portuguese wine regions also showcases the diversity of the country’s wine tourism offering, from the terraced landscapes of the Douro and vineyards of the Dão to the estates of the Alentejo.