Atmosphere review insights for Portugal

After eating ordinary food with a noisy atmosphere, on our last evening, we found a place with proper food, atmosphere, and the wine recommended by the sommelier was truly a trinity of food, service, and atmosphere. The bread served as an appetizer was unique, and the fondue (scooped out bread filled with melted cheese) was also excellent. For the main course, the baby octopus was grilled after being cooked, resulting in a perfectly chewy and crispy texture. The sea bass was finished with steam, and the resulting broth, which was not salty and carried the scent of the sea, was harmonious. The attitude of the service staff was also excellent.

Animal abuse alert! The restaurant has poor little birds in "decoration" in several very small cages. The poor things were trying to get out. We don't imprison animals, especially for decoration! Otherwise, I don't understand the rating of this restaurant. The waitress was curt and unpleasant, the service extremely slow, the portions too small (although it's true it's not expensive) and the hygiene leaves something to be desired.. Food is "nice" but nothing more, it could be pleasant in its simplicity if it weren't for all these things around... Please, first of all, release these poor animals!

Basically a very expensive restaurant. They serve dishes with extremely small quantities, don't specify that the dish is very small and give no explanation about it. We had vegetable soup, very creamy and quite tasty, a tartare seasoned with mango and apple, good but extremely small, and a naco, a very good cut of veal, but... it arrived cold and we had barely about 9 pieces in total. Calling them tiny is an understatement. Wine and bread were average, the dessert was interesting but the disappointment was so strong that we didn't even taste it properly. Avoid if you intend to do a Portuguese gastronomic tour. Service: silent Ambiance: very quiet, bordering on sleep.

A birthday dinner that had everything to go well but exactly the opposite happened. Dinner started at 9:30 pm with starters and the main dishes were only served at 11:30 pm. After we had already eaten the starters and faced such a long wait, we asked the waitress what was going on, as they had already served tables that arrived a long time after ours. The answer was that because we had ordered starters, our dishes were left at the “end” of the orders since the other tables had not ordered starters… we were perplexed by the situation and the response given. After insisting on our part to be served, no one deigned to apologize but instead found excuses for not having been served, in addition to some employees looking at our table with some contempt and arrogance, as if the problem were ours! With the arrival of the main dishes late, it should be noted that they did not all come at the same time, another blunder in the art of good service. Finally, well decorated space but reasonable food. An experience not to be repeated, mainly due to the way we were served, which is not worthy of a restaurant in the city of Porto!

Absolutely the worse service I have ever received!!! There were 8 in our group, we sat there for over an hour before they even brought us water while at the same time they sat other tables after us and they had wine/water/apps before we even got water. We were very nice but the waiter wouldn't give us the time of day (anti-American?). The rest of the meal was the same, waiter totally ignored us in every way possible. Food was good. Restaurant atmosphere was nice but we had to walk up 5 flights of stairs to the dining room we were in. To add insult to injury, towards the end of the "experience" they seated a group of 6 at the table next to us and they had wine and water within a few minutes and great service thereafter with a smiling/jovial waiter, the same guy who treated us like crap. You couldn't pay me to go to this place again. Avoid at all costs if you are an American, which is probably the message they were trying to get across. Point taken!

After reviews I had seen online and the 3-month wait to confirm the reservation, I was expecting something spectacular. What we got was nice, but not exceptional food, and a quiet ramshackle experience with long wait times between the courses (they also were over half an hour late seating us at out table despite having a reservation at a set time) because they time food service to bring out all the plates for each course at the same time (presumably to make it easier for the chef). It was a fun, lively atmosphere with music, some sporadic piano playing from the staff and some free shots (although we’re pretty sure we only got these because the waitress wanted to drink shots too). The food was tasty, but it definitely wasn’t the best meal we had in Porto (despite being the most expensive by far) and the service wasn’t very good (presumably because the waitress was doing so many shots while with customers while working). All in all, it was a fun experience but if you’re looking got great service and reasonably priced, exceptional food with great service this isn’t it.

The place is very beautiful, kindness level 10 and service the same. But to be deceived and not even acknowledge it is shameful, I would say they took advantage of the tourist. There were two of us. The waiter, seeing me undecided, said he would choose for me, and the second dish was game sausage. They brought me two dishes saying they were for me, but they didn't bring the sausage. In the end, those two dishes weren't a set menu, but they made me pay for them as two separate dishes, and they didn't bring the sausage. In the end, we paid a fortune and the sausage was cold. Shameful. Not even a shot of liquor or a discount as an apology. I won't go back. But at least it was good.

Review rating: 1.0

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

After eating ordinary food with a noisy atmosphere, on our last evening, we found a place with proper food, atmosphere, and the wine recommended by the sommelier was truly a trinity of food, service, and atmosphere. The bread served as an appetizer was unique, and the fondue (scooped out bread filled with melted cheese) was also excellent. For the main course, the baby octopus was grilled after being cooked, resulting in a perfectly chewy and crispy texture. The sea bass was finished with steam, and the resulting broth, which was not salty and carried the scent of the sea, was harmonious. The attitude of the service staff was also excellent.

Signal: 0.0%

Animal abuse alert! The restaurant has poor little birds in "decoration" in several very small cages. The poor things were trying to get out. We don't imprison animals, especially for decoration! Otherwise, I don't understand the rating of this restaurant. The waitress was curt and unpleasant, the service extremely slow, the portions too small (although it's true it's not expensive) and the hygiene leaves something to be desired.. Food is "nice" but nothing more, it could be pleasant in its simplicity if it weren't for all these things around... Please, first of all, release these poor animals!

Signal: 0.0%

Basically a very expensive restaurant. They serve dishes with extremely small quantities, don't specify that the dish is very small and give no explanation about it. We had vegetable soup, very creamy and quite tasty, a tartare seasoned with mango and apple, good but extremely small, and a naco, a very good cut of veal, but... it arrived cold and we had barely about 9 pieces in total. Calling them tiny is an understatement. Wine and bread were average, the dessert was interesting but the disappointment was so strong that we didn't even taste it properly. Avoid if you intend to do a Portuguese gastronomic tour. Service: silent Ambiance: very quiet, bordering on sleep.

Signal: 0.0%