A Escola by The Artist — Restaurant in Porto

We ended up down the block from our apartment at the hospitality hotel school with a restaurant called Escola by the Artist. Here hospitality students are training for their career. We were asked for our patience as the students could be nervous serving real guests for the first time.

We chose the five course meal, €40 each and added on some white wines that ran from six euros to €13 a glass.

We chose a random bread from a basket and were given two slices each. Unfortunately, the olive oil did not arrive until we have finished the bread and we were not offered any more bread, although the bread plates remained on the table throughout. 🥖!

We admired the slender utensils and received tiny little square plates on our placemats. We didn’t know what to do with them until the waiter placed our used utensils on them after our first course bowls were taken away.

Many tables were set up for large groups but unfortunately we and a table of two French ladies were the only ones dining the whole time we were there. We left at 9:45 PM, not sure if those tables ever got filled. Hopefully so because they did turn away a couple who tried to dine in without a reservation.

The portuguese waitress who was serving us spoke both English and French, so she was explaining everything in our corresponding languages. The first was an amuse Bouche of hummus in a tomato cone.

The five tastes included:

A warm vegetable mix that is usually done with Portuguese bacalao, cod, but this was the vegetarian version topped with potato string chips and a balsamic reduction.

Soft cooked mackerel over a bed of bell peppers and onions, Portuguese style.

Quail over a broad bean mix with muscadet wine reduction.

Seabass over a bed of beet quinoa that Matthew said looks like ground beef. With bok choy and soy sauce reduction. They do love their reductions!

Panna cotta with a caramel and Matcha sauce and crispy sesame sponge cake. With this, we shared a glass of port wine.

All of the food was beautifully presented, it just lacked that flavor and wow factor in taste.

In this country, like many European countries, you have to specifically asked for the check or you might be sitting around until it’s time to wash the dishes.

After paying with credit card, we were asked to fill out the survey at the end.

The bathroom is located past the reception desk on the right.

This restaurant is in a very hip and stylishly decorated hotel. Everything is pretty quiet. Not sure if it’s because it was a Wednesday night or if it’s...

I've eaten at Michelin restaurants all over the world. During my first visit here I really enjoyed my lunch. Today I'm just getting back to my hotel from my second visit and I'm extremely disappointed. It's clear that the students understand the keys to a contemporary ambience and beautiful presentation with plating but the flavor and life within the food was completely dead today. My spinach soup lacked body and flavor to the point where I had to request salt and that really didn't even help much. The turkey entree was cold, dry, and thin. The pureed spinach on the side was like chalk mush and I questioned if the potatoes were frozen microwaved. I had to request more of the sauce that accompanied everything to revive the dish and that didn't help much either because everything just lacked overall seasoning. I think concept and ambience are important aspects to dining but if you don't have amazing food it's not worth it. The students have an amazing location and hotel that creates an inviting foundation for the menu. Inject some life, body, and flavor into the food and you have an amazing experience and a menu that's actually worth it. Don't try to play into the "fine dining" concept without food that isn't worth...

Non existent flavour and subpar service.

We spent New Year’s Eve at A Escola By The Artist and were bitterly disappointed. Firstly, the service staff weren’t knowledgable, they didn’t explain any of the dishes to us, instead one waiter said to us ‘didn’t you get the menu emailed to you?’ They also messed up when they paired red wine with a fish dish (contrary to the menu, meaning they obviously got confused but didn’t offer an apology nor acknowledge their mistake).

The food itself was tasteless, it seemed the chefs were more interested in presentation rather than complexity in taste, one dish genuinely was cod with some potato mash (that had been dyed blue). The only dish that was okay was the first course, which were cooked oysters.

The pacing between courses was around 30 minutes per course which was ridiculous given the small portions, it just meant a lot of the tables were waiting around for the next course.

I wouldn’t go back here nor would I recommend anyone pays €150 for a 7 course fine dining experience (with wine pairings) here. You’re much...