Portofino Brasserie Italienne — Restaurant in Quebec

I came to Quebec City with my family for our first visit, decided on an Italian meal a week before, and made reservations for 7:00 pm on a Wednesday at Portofino.

After being seated and ordering, our appetizers came relatively quickly. However, as other tables left and the restaurant became less busy, we were surprised our main courses were taking so long. A table busser even came by, REMOVED OUR CUTLERY, and placed dessert menus on our table as it looked like we were finished our meal and just waiting. We informed her that our meal had not arrived yet, and she said, "The server asked me to come by and drop these off," and went to replace (most of) our cutlery. Really? The server asked you to remove our cutlery?

Our meal finally came, but my wife did not have a fork (that was taken away), and she made eye contact with a blond server, who made eye contact back at her, then turned and walked away. My son felt bad, stood up, and went to another table to get a fork as no one came by for 3-4 minutes to check in on how the meal was. I started eating my lasagna, and the sauce was room temperature, but I didn't think much until I made my second cut into the middle of the lasagna, and it was literally COLD. I asked my wife if I was imagining my food was cold, and she stuck her finger in the middle of my lasagna and was taken aback. Everyone stopped eating and we all tried to get the attention of bussers and servers, and after a few minutes, finally got the attention of a busser (the one who took our cutlery away) to please get our server. After explaining our complaint, our server felt the underside of my plate and said, "I feel it is COLD under the plate, I'm so sorry." He offered another serving, but I was a little turned off at reheated lasagna so I decided to just replace my lasagna with something easy, like the spaghetti with bolognese sauce my son had ordered, and the waiter said, "I will make this my FIRST PRIORITY!" The waiter brought by 2 complimentary pieces of bruschetta so I could eat with my family (see pic 1). However, to our surprise, the amount of time to get what we thought was a relatively easy order took over 10 minutes. When I was finally served, the spaghetti was VERY HOT, and I was focused on eating my meal to try to catch up to the rest of the table. As I was half finished, I looked at my son's plate and asked if he was done. He said, "Yes," but had left some of his sauce. I tried some, as it looked different, and it tasted totally different, YET I ORDERED THE SAME MEAL as him??? We called the server over yet again, and he came up with this explanation: "Because we rushed the meal, the sauce didn't have time to reduce." Would a restaurant not have a large pot of bolognese sauce ready for the evening? The 2 sauces were obviously different, as mine was watery and not as flavourful as my son's dish (bottom pic 2).

The server asked if we would like a complimentary dessert, but we had all had enough of this experience and asked for the bill. We were a little surprised as we looked the items over, and we were not 'comped' the lasagna/spaghetti with 'different' bolognese sauce. We asked the server and explained that it shouldn't be his fault to receive a 0% tip if the meal was not taken off the bill, to which he said, "You were very polite, did not yell, and were very reasonable and taking the lasagna/spaghetti off would not be a problem.

I am not sure why we had to ask for the meal to be taken off the bill. The mere fact that a cold lasagna came out would warrant a comp, but to have a spaghetti with different bolognese sauce come out?

The other 3 meals were enjoyed (hence the 2 stars), but I am not sure we will return again.

Follow up 9 days later, I received the email to further on the discussion, but no reply after that. Maybe that is Portofino's way of making people reading these reviews look as if they are making an effort to address these problems? I will change my review to 1 star if I don't hear a reply in...

Overall, the food was incredible, for the most part the service was great, and the food came so fast, we could not believe that we were in and out within an hour, having gotten an appetizer, main courses, and a dessert.

The atmosphere and service I gave 4 stars because the restaurant was unbelievably crowded/packed in. We were placed at a table where twice we were asked to move/watch our heads so servers could get bottles of wine out of the cabinet that was beside us. We were also right outside the kitchen entrance and twice when I was moving to put my bag and coat on my chair I bumped, and was bumped by servers bringing food and dishes in and out of the kitchen. I was nervous too move too much as I didn’t want to knock anything out of the hands of servers.

It was also just so loud. We went thinking it was more of a finer dining experience based on reviews/photos, which I would not classify the ambience of the restaurant as.

The hostess who greeted us as the front was beyond lovely. I have very rough French speaking abilities and she very quickly switched to speaking English but thanked me for my attempt at French. We were then met by a man who we originally thought was our server, he gave us the impression that it was a nuisance to be dealing with us. He brought us water, asked how we were and as we tried to respond he walked away and we did not see him again. That being said, our server was so kind and quick and asked us where we were from, if we’ve liked Quebec, and wished us the best for the rest of our honeymoon. She was absolutely wonderful.

The food was amazing. We got the garlic bread with cheese as a starer and it came within 5 minutes, and was so hot and fresh. For our mains my husband got the house lasagne and I got the fettuccine with pesto and they were both incredible. Some of the best pasta we have ever had. For dessert we got the creme brûlée which was also just amazing. It came with some strawberries and a berry sauce on the side which complimented the dish perfectly.

I would still rate the experience a 5/5, as ultimately the volume and crowded atmosphere of the restaurant did not take away from our enjoyment at all, but could have made it a more relaxed dinner had it of been a little less loud and crammed.

There was also love music which was absolutely amazing. My husband got a beer and I had the espresso martini which was fantastic and for having 1 bartender, the drinks came quick quickly.

We would 100% come back if we are back in...

It was decent.

Tonight (Monday) was our first of 5 nights in Quebec City ahead of a cruise to Boston.

We decided to try Portofino. We made an online reservation for 7:30 pm. We arrived on time and waited maybe 5 minutes before being seated. All the outdoor tables were full so the two of us sat at a low 4-top inside not far from the kitchen.

Water was brought right away. Our server then took our drink, appetizer and entree orders.

We each had a pint of Stella beer on draft and we shared an order of their Focaccia bread, served with butter and a dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The beer was cold and because it was draft, not from a green bottle, no skunk smell or taste :) The Focaccia bread isn’t what we make in the States, but it was find. More of a soft, yet dense bread, topped with herbs. For $3 CAN, it was a deal.

Later on, the Casesar salad was brought out. It was a generous portion and was plenty for the two of us to split. The dressing was tasty as was the shaved Parmesan cheese and the house made croutons.

Later, our Cannelloni entree came. It was in an oval dish that had been baked. The full order came with 2 Cannellonis. Here again, plenty for two people to share. It was stuffed with a meat and cheese mixture.

We were too full to be tempted by their dessert menu.

Our friends arrive from the US in a couple of days, so we’ve made another reservation here at Portofino for the four of us.

The only downside to Portofino was that it is popular and busy, so it was a bit...