Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Hoje vou reservar uma mesa num restaurante de caril vegetariano. - Today I’m going to book a table in a vegetarian curry restaurant.

In everyday European Portuguese, the ir + infinitive structure (here: vou reservar) is the most common way to talk about the future, especially for planned or near-future actions.

Hoje vou reservar uma mesa… = Today I’m going to book a table…
– sounds natural, conversational, and is what people actually say.
Hoje reservarei uma mesa…
– grammatically correct, but sounds more formal, written, or emphatic. You might find it in announcements, formal writing, or very careful speech.

So vou reservar is chosen because it matches normal spoken usage in Portugal.

Could I say Hoje reservarei uma mesa num restaurante de caril vegetariano instead? What would be the difference?

You can say it; it’s correct Portuguese. The difference is in tone and register:

Hoje vou reservar…
– neutral, natural, everyday speech.
Hoje reservarei…
– more formal, sometimes a bit literary or emphatic. It can sound like you are making a firm resolution or a scheduled plan (e.g. in a written itinerary).

In normal conversation, a native speaker from Portugal would strongly prefer Hoje vou reservar… rather than Hoje reservarei….

Why does hoje come at the beginning? Could I say Vou reservar uma mesa num restaurante de caril vegetariano hoje?

Both positions are possible:

Hoje vou reservar uma mesa…
Vou reservar uma mesa… hoje.

The difference is mainly in emphasis:

Hoje vou reservar…
– focuses on when you’re doing it. You are highlighting today as the important element.
Vou reservar… hoje.
– more neutral; hoje just adds time information at the end.

In speech, you might move hoje around depending on what you want to stress, but all of these are grammatically fine.

Why is it uma mesa and not a mesa?

Uma mesa is an indefinite table — any table — not one that the speaker and listener already know about.

uma mesa = a table / one table (unspecified)
a mesa = the table (a specific one we both know about)

When booking in a restaurant, you usually don’t care which table, just that there is a table, so you use uma mesa.

Hoje vou reservar a mesa would imply a particular, already identified table (for example, “the table by the window we always use”).

Can I drop the article and say Hoje vou reservar mesa?

Yes, you can, and this is common in European Portuguese.

Both are possible:

Hoje vou reservar uma mesa.
Hoje vou reservar mesa.

With certain nouns, especially in fixed or semi-fixed expressions (like reservar mesa, comprar casa, vender carro), Europeans often omit the article. It sounds a bit more concise and sometimes slightly more formal/neutral, but it is very natural.

Meaning-wise here, vou reservar mesa ≈ vou reservar uma mesa.

What exactly is num in num restaurante?

Num is a contraction of the preposition em + the indefinite article um:

em + um = num
em + uma = numa

So:

num restaurante = em um restaurante = in/at a restaurant (unspecified)

In European Portuguese, these contractions are very common and usually preferred in speech:

em um restaurante – possible, but sounds more formal/unusual in Portugal.
num restaurante – normal, everyday form.

What is the difference between num restaurante and no restaurante?

Both come from em + article, but:

no = em + o (definite)
num = em + um (indefinite)

So:

num restaurante
– in/at a restaurant (any restaurant, not specified or known)
– matches the English “at a restaurant”.
no restaurante
– in/at the restaurant (a particular restaurant that both speakers know)
– matches “at the restaurant”.

In your sentence, you are talking about some vegetarian curry restaurant, not one that’s already identified, so num restaurante is the right choice.

Why do we use em (as in num) instead of para when talking about reserving a table?

With reservar in this context, Portuguese usually uses em (contracted as num/no/na/numa) to mark the place where the reservation is made:

reservar uma mesa num restaurante – to reserve a table at a restaurant

Para would suggest direction or purpose:

Vou para o restaurante. – I’m going to the restaurant.
Uma mesa para duas pessoas. – A table for two people.

You wouldn’t normally say reservar uma mesa para um restaurante; it sounds like you’re reserving a table for the benefit of a restaurant, which is not what you mean.

So:
reservar [coisa] em [lugar] → reserving something at a place.

What does caril mean, and is it different from the English word “curry”?

Caril is the European Portuguese word for curry (both the dish and, by extension, “curry-style” cuisine):

um caril de legumes – a vegetable curry
restaurante de caril – a curry restaurant

In Brazil, people more often say curry (borrowed directly from English), whereas in Portugal caril is standard.

So restaurante de caril vegetariano is essentially a vegetarian curry restaurant or a restaurant that serves vegetarian curries.

Why is it vegetariano and not vegetariana at the end?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

Here the word being described is caril:

caril → masculine singular
therefore: caril vegetariano (masculine singular adjective)

If the noun were feminine, you’d change the adjective:

comida vegetariana – vegetarian food
refeição vegetariana – vegetarian meal

Because caril is masculine, vegetariano must also be masculine.

Does de caril vegetariano describe the restaurant or the curry? Is the restaurant vegetarian or just the curry?

Grammatically, the structure is:

[um restaurante] de [caril vegetariano]

So it’s literally a restaurant of vegetarian curry / a vegetarian curry restaurant.

Interpretation:

It suggests the restaurant specialises in vegetarian curry.
It does not clearly say that everything in the restaurant is vegetarian (like a fully vegetarian restaurant).
It focuses more on the type of curry (vegetarian) than on the restaurant being strictly vegetarian in all its offerings.

If you wanted to clearly say that the restaurant itself is vegetarian (all or mainly vegetarian food), you would more likely say:

um restaurante vegetariano – a vegetarian restaurant
um restaurante vegetariano de caril – a vegetarian restaurant that serves curry

Is the word order restaurante de caril vegetariano fixed, or could I say restaurante vegetariano de caril?

You can say both, but the nuance shifts slightly:

um restaurante de caril vegetariano
– literally: a restaurant of vegetarian curry
– focus: the curry is vegetarian; the restaurant specialises in vegetarian curry.
um restaurante vegetariano de caril
– literally: a vegetarian restaurant of curry
– focus: the restaurant is vegetarian, and its speciality is curry.

In practice:

For “a vegetarian restaurant” in general: um restaurante vegetariano.
For “a curry restaurant (that is vegetarian)”: um restaurante vegetariano de caril.
For “a restaurant that specialises in vegetarian curry dishes”: um restaurante de caril vegetariano.

Native speakers might choose whichever best matches what they want to emphasise.

Could I say Hoje vou fazer uma reserva num restaurante de caril vegetariano instead of vou reservar uma mesa?

Yes, that’s possible and correct, but there is a small difference:

reservar uma mesa – explicitly says you’re booking a table.
fazer uma reserva – more general: making a reservation (which is usually for a table, but it’s less explicit).

In a restaurant context, both are understood as booking a table:

Hoje vou reservar uma mesa num restaurante de caril vegetariano.
Hoje vou fazer uma reserva num restaurante de caril vegetariano.

The first sounds a bit more concrete and direct about what you’re reserving.