Restaurant in Bragança, Portugal
Two Bib Gourmands. €€ prices. Book it.
Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands (2024–2025) confirm what the €€ price tag already suggests: Contradição is the value decision in Bragança. The Geadas brothers' informal venture delivers genuine Trás-os-Montes cooking — wild boar, Barbela wheat, local game — in a rustic room with a summer terrace. Service is warm rather than precise, but at this price point, that is the right trade-off.
If you visited once and enjoyed it, the answer is yes — and the second visit tends to be sharper than the first. You arrive knowing the format: a relaxed, rustic room in central Bragança, a menu built around the Trás-os-Montes larder, and a price point that keeps things honest. What changes is what you order. First-timers often play it safe. Regulars know to push toward the more characterful dishes — the wild boar sirloin with chestnut purée, the scallops served with cockle couscous made from Barbela wheat grown in the region. These are the plates that justify the return trip, and they are the ones that earned Contradição consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025.
Contradição is the more informal venture from Óscar and António Geadas, the brothers behind G Pousada , Bragança's most formally ambitious restaurant. Where G Pousada reaches for creative fireworks at €€€€ prices, Contradição stays grounded: traditional cooking, local ingredients, a terrace that works well in summer, and a service approach that feels more like being looked after by someone who knows the neighbourhood than being guided through a tasting experience. That shift in register is intentional, and it largely works.
The room at R. da Cidadela 92 reads rustic without being contrived. The atmosphere is homely rather than polished, with the terrace adding useful breathing room when the weather allows. It is not a large or formal space, and that shapes the experience in practical ways: the room fills, noise builds at capacity, and the service style works leading when the team is not stretched. The intimacy that makes a quieter evening feel personal can tip into chaotic on a busy night, so timing matters. If you are returning for a relaxed meal rather than a lively one, aim for earlier sittings or shoulder-season weeknights rather than peak summer Saturday evenings.
Aunt Mariema's samosas , available in vegetarian or meat versions , are the dish that first-time visitors often mention. They are worth repeating, but on a second visit the game dishes are where Contradição earns its Bib Gourmand status most clearly. Wild boar sirloin with chestnut purée and crisps is a direct expression of what the Trás-os-Montes region actually produces, without any culinary intervention that distances you from the ingredient. The Barbela wheat couscous with scallops and cockle is the more technically considered plate on the menu, and it demonstrates that the kitchen has the range to do more than comfort cooking when it wants to. The menu advocates for the local recipe repertoire with enough specificity to feel like a genuine point of view rather than a regional theme.
At the €€ price point, Contradição delivers more than you might expect from the setting. The Bib Gourmand, which Michelin awards to restaurants offering good cooking at moderate prices, is the external validation that the value equation here is real. Two consecutive years of that recognition (2024 and 2025) suggests the kitchen has not drifted. The Google rating of 4.6 across 180 reviews points in the same direction.
The service style is informal and warm rather than precise. That suits the format , you are not paying for ceremony here, and the room does not pretend to offer it. What the service does well is make you feel at home in a city that can feel remote to visitors from Lisbon or Porto. What it does less consistently is maintain pace and attention when the room is at capacity. For a special occasion where service polish matters as much as the food, G Pousada is the better choice. Contradição earns its price point, but do not arrive expecting the attention to detail you would find at Portugal's starred tables , at Belcanto in Lisbon, The Yeatman in Vila Nova de Gaia, or Antiqvvm in Porto, service is a structured part of the offer. Here, it is a hospitable backdrop.
Contradição is an easy book by Bragança standards. The city is not a high-traffic dining destination, and the restaurant does not have the same demand pressure as its more formal sibling. That said, the combination of Bib Gourmand recognition and a relatively small room means you should not assume a walk-in will work on a weekend, particularly in summer when the terrace is a draw. A few days' notice is sensible for most visits; a week or more if you are travelling specifically for a meal here and have a fixed date. No booking platform or phone number is listed in current data, so check for contact details on arrival or via local search.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Style | Leading For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contradição | €€ | Easy | Traditional, informal | Value, local produce, relaxed return visit |
| G Pousada | €€€€ | Moderate | Creative, formal | Special occasion, technical cooking |
| O Javali | €€ | Easy | Regional, casual | Game-focused, no-frills dining |
| Tasca do Zé Tuga | €€ | Easy | Traditional, tavern | Cheap and cheerful, local crowd |
Contradição sits in an interesting position within Portugal's broader dining conversation. The country's Michelin-recognised restaurants cluster heavily in Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, and Madeira , venues like Vila Joya in Albufeira, Ocean in Porches, Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Leça da Palmeira, Il Gallo d'Oro in Funchal, and Fortaleza do Guincho in Cascais. A Bib Gourmand in Bragança is a different kind of signal: it says that serious cooking with real regional identity is happening far from the usual circuits. For visitors making the trip to Trás-os-Montes, that matters. Contradição is not a consolation prize for being in a small city , it is a specific reason to come. See our full Bragança restaurants guide for broader context, and if you are planning a longer stay, the Bragança hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the visit. For comparable traditional cooking at the Bib Gourmand level elsewhere in the region, Cave à Vin & à Manger in Narbonne and Coto de Quevedo Evolución in Torre de Juan Abad offer useful reference points across the border.
Book it. At €€ with two years of Bib Gourmand recognition, Contradição is the most direct value decision in Bragança's dining scene. The service is warm but not polished, the room is rustic and can get loud, and the menu is rooted in a regional identity that feels earned rather than performed. If you have been once, go back and order the game. If you have not been, it is a more convincing starting point than anywhere else in the city at this price.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contradição | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Easy |
| G Pousada | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| O Javali | Regional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
| Tasca do Zé Tuga | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
A quick look at how Contradição measures up.
G Pousada is the closest direct comparison — it's the Geadas brothers' more formal venue and suits occasions where you want a structured dining experience over the relaxed format at Contradição. O Javali skews toward game-focused menus and is worth considering if wild boar is your priority. Tasca do Zé Tuga is the more casual, tavern-style option for anyone after a lighter meal without the Bib Gourmand credibility.
The room is described as rustic and homely — this is not a white-tablecloth setting. Casual to neat-casual works comfortably here. The terrace adds to the informal feel, so there's no dress pressure of the kind you'd find at a fine-dining room.
Bragança is not a high-traffic dining destination, so Contradição is an easier book than a comparably recognised restaurant in Lisbon or Porto would be. That said, the Bib Gourmand recognition two years running (2024 and 2025) has raised its profile, so booking a few days to a week ahead for weekends is sensible rather than showing up and hoping.
Yes. At €€, it's one of the clearest value cases in northern Portugal's Michelin-recognised dining. The Bib Gourmand is specifically awarded to restaurants offering good cooking at moderate prices, and Contradição has held it two consecutive years — that's a meaningful consistency signal, not a one-off result.
The venue has a rustic dining room and a terrace, which gives some flexibility for larger parties. There's no documented private dining space in the available data, so groups above six should check the venue's official channels before assuming the layout will work. Contradição suits small groups well given the relaxed, homely format.
There is no confirmed tasting menu format in the available venue data. Contradição appears to operate à la carte with dishes rooted in Trás-os-Montes regional cooking — including game, local wheat preparations, and items like Aunt Mariema's samosas. If you're specifically after a structured tasting format, G Pousada is the Geadas brothers' venue built for that experience.
It works for a celebratory meal if your idea of a special occasion is excellent regional food at honest prices rather than formal ceremony. The atmosphere is homely and the terrace is appealing in summer. For a milestone dinner where setting and formality matter, G Pousada would be the stronger call from the same ownership group.
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