A Despensa — Restaurant in Porto

We heard great things about this restaurant so we decided to visit here during our trip to Porto. We were greeted to not the best area of the restaurant although we made the reservation way in advance but were fine with it as we understood it’s a busy restaurant. However, when we tried the house salad, we realized it was extremely salty - it was our first time having a salad this salty. It was weird because only specific areas of it would be salty, but not all. It made us wonder if they dropped salt on specific areas of the salad and not the rest. When the carbonara came out, it was already cold and the noodles were already clumped together. Maybe this is why the carbonara was quite salty too. We had to call the waitress over because no one came to check in on us and ask how everything is. She took the salad back to the kitchen and came back saying they said it’s perfect and that there are no issues with it. We asked to speak to a manager since that was offered and the same thing was said in a way where if they don’t find any issues with it, we are wrong and have to deal with it. They made us feel like our opinions don’t matter at all. They did take the carbonara off the bill but this was only because we let them know it was cold and the main issue of the salad being so salty wasn’t taken into consideration. This attitude is what got us fuming since they made us feel like we are in the wrong. Since we already lost our appetite from this, we refused them offering another dish. To be honest, we felt like they were going to charge us extra since when we asked them to take the salad away, the waitress told us it will be charged regardless although we barely touched it. The lack of empathy and understanding of the situation as well as not being open to the possibility that something could’ve gone wrong in the kitchen is extremely unacceptable. We have never had a restaurant that treats their customers this way especially when we made sure to relay this message as kindly as possible. Them saying they are not expected to be at a Michelin restaurant level is also ridiculous as we believe all restaurants should have the same goals and attitude of respecting their customers’ experience at the restaurant. This definitely ruined a part of our trip. Please go to this restaurant if you want to spend a ridiculously large amount of money for the worst food experience as well as customer...

I had one of the most disappointing and unprofessional dining experiences this evening at Dispensa and feel compelled to share it — out of genuine concern for food safety and customer respect.

When ordering, I clearly informed the waiter that I am pregnant and asked specifically about the ingredients in the starter. I was reassured that the kitchen would accommodate my dietary needs and that there was “nothing to worry about.” Despite this, the bruschetta starter was served with gorgonzola cheese, which is unsafe for pregnant women, regardless of whether it’s pasteurized or not.

When I pointed this out, the waiter did not apologize or offer to replace the dish. Instead, he brought the receipt showing that the gorgonzola was pasteurized, as if this somehow excused the oversight. This was dismissive and completely unprofessional.

Later, when my main course arrived, I requested Grana cheese — a hard cheese that is perfectly safe during pregnancy. The waiter laughed at my request and told me I shouldn’t have it because it’s pasteurized. When I calmly corrected him and explained that Grana is indeed safe, I was met with condescension and argument, rather than respect or understanding.

At that point, I asked to speak to the manager, hoping for some professionalism. Unfortunately, the manager’s behavior was even worse. He was rude, defensive, and dismissive, telling me that it was simply “my opinion,” that what I was saying “wasn’t a fact,” and implying that I was overreacting or making things up.

This is unacceptable. Any healthcare professional would advise the same information regarding what is and isn’t safe during pregnancy. To be laughed at, argued with, and spoken down to for raising legitimate health concerns is beyond unprofessional; it’s reckless.

Given the complete lack of accountability, I will be reporting this incident to the local health authorities so that proper attention can be brought to the restaurant’s disregard for safety and respect.

Dispensa not only failed in service and food safety but also in basic human decency. I would strongly advise anyone with dietary restrictions — especially pregnant women — to avoid this...

One of the weirdest experiences we have ever had in a restaurant. We booked a table of 5 people at 7:30pm but we arrived at 7:00, normally we are seated with no problem and the restaurant is pleased that the client arrives earlier so that we can leave earlier as well to vacate the table for the next customers, well not this place. When we arrived 30 minutes earlier and they said to us that we could sit in the table but we couldn't order until it was close to the reservation time, we had nowhere to go, so we sat down and ordered water. It was 19:20, we wanted to order and another waiter smiled and said that we had to wait. The initial waiter came to our table at 19:29 to get our order, but wait, we could only order the appetizers, we could only order the mains after we finished with the appetizers, again weird. We ordered the tabua de bruschetta mista, pretty good, the tabue mista de enchidos e queijo, could have come with a bit more jam, and the last but not least, the carpaccio de picanha, which was pretty good, but took the longest time to come. For mains, the order the fusilli al pesto, de tortelloni, and two meat dishes, the scaloppine con marsala DOC, the scaloppine was delicious but the side was not the crispy parmagiano chip and sundried tomato, it came with baked potatoes, filled with cheese and toped with shoestring potatoes bought from the supermarket, very disappointing. We also ordered the filetto di maiale all'aglio Nero, it was an okay dish. Overall a weird experience from beggining to end and the food was very hit and miss, not worth coming here again. Positive : Tabua de bruschetta mista Carpaccio de picanha Fusilli al pesto The meat from Scaloppine

Negative : Weird service Long waiting time Food was hit or miss

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