Service review insights for Porto, Portugal, Restaurants

5 course meal that emphasises SLOW cooking. Service is inconsistent between diner groups. As a solo diner, I was seated at the bar next to a pair of friends. At first, the server that guided me to the seat was friendly but as the night progressed, it gets progressively harder to get any server attention except when they are serving food. For my 7PM reservation: 6.45PM - Arrived 6.53PM - served bread and spreads 6.58PM - explained about “surprise menu” and given the drinks menu. Asked for recommendation with the food. She offered white wine. 7.05PM - couple next to me arrived 7.31PM - served tuna tartare (very yummy) 7.44PM - served this pork & tuna meatball - like starter (interesting, I like the flavour) 8.08PM - served clams (nothing special, not particularly delicious) 8.30PM - served codfish with pumpkin purée (can get at any other Portuguese restaurant) 8:55PM - served braised beef cheeks (super tender, but not flavourful nor fragrant enough) 9:38PM - served dessert - lemon mouse (10mins after I asked for it, and it wasn’t great) From the timeline, they seem to serve food at 20-40mins intervals. Very inconsistent and for most part of the evening, it was spent waiting for food to arrive. Yes 5 courses, but manageable serving sizes (even for ladies). I really don’t understand the great ratings and reviews. Will not recommend for solo dinners. They seem to thrive off group energy. For solo dinners, they pay you no attention and it was hard to get their attention. The difference was striking to me as they kept making conversation with the loud girls next to me and when explaining dishes, the servers always want to do it for the group of 3 at the bar but the whole time, they only make eye contact with the 2 girls and chit chat with them. This felt rude and off-putting. Even asking for a small dish for the clam shells was challenging. Either the server’s English proficiency is lacking, or she simply could not care less to help. At checkout, the server asked for feedback but it only seemed procedural. I commented that food is good but was much slower than expected. She only replied that it’s a 2-hour dinner. (lol I got surprised when I saw the timestamp of my photos)… Also, the bar seat is a bad idea as your hair and clothes will stink of the kitchen smells / torches for cocktails.

A disappointing experience overall. We ordered our coffees and 3 açai bowls with a friendly waitress and everything was going well. Unfortunately the açais took 40 min to arrive, however the big problem was when I addressed the situation to the manager… She cut me off and told me to eat first and then we could speak… before coming back and accusing me of lying, saying we’d only been waiting for 10 min. This wasn’t the case. After this it was just an exhausting back and forth with her, and we didn’t get anywhere… My advice: please listen to your customers, and just be honest about waiting times. It’ll save you a lot of stress.

A friend recommended this restaurant to us. We had 11 courses. Every single course was sensational. The wine were great. The homemade shots from the grandmother were great! But even better was the atmosphere in the restaurant. The waiters have spread such a great mood. The whole restaurant with all the guests became friends at the ed and celebrated together. We would come back anytime. In addition, it is an amazing value for that price... Update: Jan 30, 2026 Five years ago, this restaurant was something truly special for me: a nearly ten-course menu with wine pairing and shots between courses, fantastic atmosphere, warm service, and the whole thing for around 80 € including tip for two people. This time, I returned with high hopes and was unfortunately disappointed—for about five courses without wine pairing and only two shots, I paid more than double, some dishes were overly salty and overall poorly seasoned. The plates felt interchangeable, lacking any distinct signature or recognition value, more like standard 08/15 fare you can get around the corner in similar or even better quality. The service is still friendly and attentive, but the unique party vibe from back then—that perfect blend of great food, excellent service, music, and atmosphere—is gone. Overall, the price-performance ratio no longer adds up for me, so I'm revising my original 5-star rating to about 2.5 out of 5.

I dinned at elemento on 9/1/23 with my family. The experience we had we’re completely unacceptable and truly disappointed! Due to the lack of food choices from the main course, my family was only able to consume 2 out of the 4 entrees. The attending witnesses as well as the manager for the night were rude, inconsiderate and responded to the situation with an extremely condescending manner. My family and I were treated like a third class citizens by the staffs. This is not what we had expected for a restaurant, not to mention a so called ‘Michelin star’. The dinner was a disaster! Upon leaving, the manager for the night refused to apologize after I approached her directly! All she had to say was “ good bye”.

1 hour of waiting in full sun.. then 2 people arrive in front of the restaurant without respecting the queue and the restaurant manager lets them in without respecting the waiting order. Very unpleasant staff to avoid!

2 days of reservation. At 4 pm reservation made for the same evening half past eight. Were sent away at half past eight with the comment come at nine o'clock. Waiting at the door at nine o'clock for 15 minutes and then someone goes in for me. It was said anti-socially wait until everyone has made a reservation. We ran away angry. Not worth 1 star yet.

We had to wait 50 min for our very simple dishes during lunch. The menu is quite different and promising for Porto but their kitchen is extremely slow. Yes its their slogan but our experience was much more than slow…

Review rating: 2.0

What a sadness to see what became of this restaurant I loved. I booked it for a birthday, thinking I would find the quality and atmosphere that made his reputation... but the evening turned into a fiasco. When we arrived, the table was not even ready. The tablecloth was dirty, which is unacceptable for an establishment that wants a serious minimum. The service is now disorganized, impersonal and clearly below what was previously proposed. The decoration remained the same, as if nothing had changed, but it is misleading: everything else collapsed. The cards are now made of low-end plastic, with about twenty dishes written in English, which gives the impression of a tourist factory without soul or identity. We were so shocked by the general deterioration that we preferred to get up and leave without even ordering. A first for us, and yet we frequented this restaurant for years. It’s a total waste. The old kitchen was exceptional, full of taste and character. Today, there remains only an empty shell that lives on its past reputation. Very sincerely: to flee. I am sickened to have lost one of my favorite restaurants.

Review rating: 1.0

5 course meal that emphasises SLOW cooking. Service is inconsistent between diner groups. As a solo diner, I was seated at the bar next to a pair of friends. At first, the server that guided me to the seat was friendly but as the night progressed, it gets progressively harder to get any server attention except when they are serving food. For my 7PM reservation: 6.45PM - Arrived 6.53PM - served bread and spreads 6.58PM - explained about “surprise menu” and given the drinks menu. Asked for recommendation with the food. She offered white wine. 7.05PM - couple next to me arrived 7.31PM - served tuna tartare (very yummy) 7.44PM - served this pork & tuna meatball - like starter (interesting, I like the flavour) 8.08PM - served clams (nothing special, not particularly delicious) 8.30PM - served codfish with pumpkin purée (can get at any other Portuguese restaurant) 8:55PM - served braised beef cheeks (super tender, but not flavourful nor fragrant enough) 9:38PM - served dessert - lemon mouse (10mins after I asked for it, and it wasn’t great) From the timeline, they seem to serve food at 20-40mins intervals. Very inconsistent and for most part of the evening, it was spent waiting for food to arrive. Yes 5 courses, but manageable serving sizes (even for ladies). I really don’t understand the great ratings and reviews. Will not recommend for solo dinners. They seem to thrive off group energy. For solo dinners, they pay you no attention and it was hard to get their attention. The difference was striking to me as they kept making conversation with the loud girls next to me and when explaining dishes, the servers always want to do it for the group of 3 at the bar but the whole time, they only make eye contact with the 2 girls and chit chat with them. This felt rude and off-putting. Even asking for a small dish for the clam shells was challenging. Either the server’s English proficiency is lacking, or she simply could not care less to help. At checkout, the server asked for feedback but it only seemed procedural. I commented that food is good but was much slower than expected. She only replied that it’s a 2-hour dinner. (lol I got surprised when I saw the timestamp of my photos)… Also, the bar seat is a bad idea as your hair and clothes will stink of the kitchen smells / torches for cocktails.

Signal: 0.0%

A disappointing experience overall. We ordered our coffees and 3 açai bowls with a friendly waitress and everything was going well. Unfortunately the açais took 40 min to arrive, however the big problem was when I addressed the situation to the manager… She cut me off and told me to eat first and then we could speak… before coming back and accusing me of lying, saying we’d only been waiting for 10 min. This wasn’t the case. After this it was just an exhausting back and forth with her, and we didn’t get anywhere… My advice: please listen to your customers, and just be honest about waiting times. It’ll save you a lot of stress.

Signal: 0.0%

A friend recommended this restaurant to us. We had 11 courses. Every single course was sensational. The wine were great. The homemade shots from the grandmother were great! But even better was the atmosphere in the restaurant. The waiters have spread such a great mood. The whole restaurant with all the guests became friends at the ed and celebrated together. We would come back anytime. In addition, it is an amazing value for that price... Update: Jan 30, 2026 Five years ago, this restaurant was something truly special for me: a nearly ten-course menu with wine pairing and shots between courses, fantastic atmosphere, warm service, and the whole thing for around 80 € including tip for two people. This time, I returned with high hopes and was unfortunately disappointed—for about five courses without wine pairing and only two shots, I paid more than double, some dishes were overly salty and overall poorly seasoned. The plates felt interchangeable, lacking any distinct signature or recognition value, more like standard 08/15 fare you can get around the corner in similar or even better quality. The service is still friendly and attentive, but the unique party vibe from back then—that perfect blend of great food, excellent service, music, and atmosphere—is gone. Overall, the price-performance ratio no longer adds up for me, so I'm revising my original 5-star rating to about 2.5 out of 5.

Signal: 0.0%