A very fond memory of our foodie adventures while hosting Anthony Bourdain in Porto.

Walking the city with one of the six guides feels less like venue-hopping and more like dropping in for a catch-up with a series of food-loving, old friends.

Porto was the last trip I took before the world came to a grinding halt. Andre Apolinario, the host of my Taste Porto food tours and as effervescent as the Porto Tonicos I’d been enjoying regularly, delivered the tiny bag with a knowing smile.

This week we visit Porto, Portugal, learn about the beautiful Azulejos tiles and sip a liqueur made by monks with a Taste Porto tour guide.

Loosen a belt notch for Taste Porto’s superb downtown food tours, where you’ll sample everything from Porto’s best slow-roast-pork sandwich to éclairs, fine wines, cheese and coffee.

A couple of years ago, while researching my Portugal guidebook, I explored the crusty old industrial city of Porto. There I joined tour guide André Apolinário on one of his “Taste Porto” food tours.

The best tours will whet your appetite and teach you about the city you’re in – take them early in your stay so you’ve got time to return to places and areas you like. They’re sociable and easygoing mixers for solo travellers, or those who don’t like talk-heavy historical tours.

Get into the city’s foodie groove on Taste Porto’s three-and-a-half-hour walking tour. Guides take you everywhere from retro-cool conservas (tinned fish) shops to patisseries making traditional conventual sweets.

Indeed, food is the only part of a culture that we take into our body, that becomes a part of us, enters our blood.

What better way to be introduced to the city and to the local way of life than to take a food tour with Taste Porto?…

Our Downtown Food Tour was with our Guide Joanna from Taste Porto. Joanna explained that part of the ticket costs goes to the homeless people of Porto for food and shelter. We love working with companies that ‘give back’.

I called up my friend André Apolinário, the founder of Taste Porto Food Tours and got him take around the best “little eateries” in Porto for a full day of eating and drinking around Porto.

As a foodie, I knew I had to indulge in some traditional Porto food and I love a good food tour so I found the best Porto Food Tour with Taste Porto to help.

They were not only intent on showing me how to eat like a local in Porto, but also gave me plenty of suggestions on the best things to do in Porto to make sure that my entire visit would be just as memorable.

Touring a new city on foot always brings the place into focus, and a good food tour adds an element I especially enjoy. Our Porto Downtown Food Tour was a city walks intensive.