ELEMENTO — Restaurant in Porto

I would like to preface this by stating that I have my fair share of fine dining and tasting menu experiences. We were really looking forward to this meal as the restaurant had an original concept and we had been looking for suckling pig.

We had reservations (party of 3) and when we called, they did not ask us what our menu plans were (a la carte vs. tasting menu). We arrived 5 mins early and upon checking in, we were again not asked about our menu plans. The host simply greeted us kindly and took us to our table.

Our server came to us with the menus, stating she will return to take our order - again, not stating anything about the menu. She provided us a generous amount of time before returning. We had not reviewed the a la carte menu since we knew we wanted the tasting menu, but upon requesting this, the server informed us that they were out of the suckling pig and just asked us if we were still interested in proceeding with the tasting menu. Since this was the main item we wanted, we were thrown off by the news and we kindly requested a few more minutes to review the carte menu. The server did not make any offerings or suggestions for this inconvenience, instead, she said that if we wanted to still do the tasking menu we would have to start it now or else forfeit the tasking menu altogether. Due to the pressure, we agreed to proceed. If they had simply asked us on the phone if we wanted the tasking menu, perhaps they would have prepared enough pigs for their reservations. If they had told us at check in that they were out of the pig, we would have more carefully reviewed the menu. Or if they had given us more time or even offered some recommendations, it would have changed the experience.

The first few dishes were decent and consistent in presentation, almost identical on each of our plates. The two mains were venison and lamb (replacing the suckling pig). Except they served my partner the venison twice just in a different cut and presentation when the rest of us got the lamb. We assumed an honest mistake and raised our concern with our server who did not apologize but said she will check. Quickly she returned to affirm that it was lamb and that our assumption was wrong. We simply acknowledged her. My partner did not want to press the issue, but he was the one who planned the dinner and the one that was mainly looking forward to the suckling pig, so I knew he was the most disappointed with how the night was going, and I found it unfair that his was the one that was in error. After dessert, I realized that since we took pictures of our dishes, perhaps it would help the staff realize that this was in fact a mistake (also because it was TINY. I feel like the least they could do was just offer to re-serve the right one.) I gently called the server and showed her the pictures, and she said she would check again. Within minutes, a different lady approached us and immediately stated firmly and briefly that we were wrong and that she assures us that what was served was lamb. I was a bit taking aback by her approach, since this was our first interaction with her and she did not even ask what our concern was on any level. I decided to explain myself anyway, and that it was odd that all the dishes before were consistent and identical at each presentation, except this round. Also even if it was the same meat, why was his portion SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than myself and the other guest’s and different tastes. She insisted that it was the same. We were left with an awkward silent stare. The staff was well aware our experience was less than ideal, yet we were charged €300+ and it was the most expensive of any of our other dinners in Porto (including some Michelins). We left extremely disappointed. This restaurant is far from star level and need to put a lot of work in their hospitality side of the experience. They had many opportunities to rectify shortcomings yet we were still failed by many levels of their staff and were not once acknowledged or compensated.

We would not return and do not recommend...

My partner and I visited the restaurant on August 20th for dinner. I decided to take some time to write this review due to the mixed feelings we had about our experience at Elemento. To summarize, the regular tasting menu was very tasty, but the pescatarian tasting menu was disappointing. The service was the worst we have experienced, especially from the lady manager, after dining at several Michelin guide/ starred restaurants around the world. I would have given her zero stars if Google allowed it.

We booked the restaurant for 8 pm, but we were delayed by traffic. We called ahead, and they kindly helped us reschedule to start at 9 p.m. We were greeted by a woman whom we assumed was the manager, as she was dressed differently from the other staff. She led us to the bar table, right next to the prep table, where we enjoyed watching the food preparation process. As the bar table was quite high, the manager helped me pull out the bar chair, but then she immediately pushed the chair back in, squeezing me despite the fact that I was still standing and trying to climb onto the chair.

I decided to go with the regular tasting menu, while my partner, who is a pescatarian and doesn't like sweets, asked if we could order one regular tasting menu and the A La Carte option. For the A La Carte, we planned to order two appetizers, one main course, and two sides. We clearly stated that we were not intending to share; the request was solely due to my partner's dietary restrictions. We also ordered a bottle of wine. The lady manager then came over and said, "THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE." To be fair, we respect the restaurant's decision, but a bit of an explanation or some alternative recommendations would have been appreciated, rather than just a blunt rejection and a look that seemed to say, "If you don't like it, you can leave." She mentioned that the chef could prepare a pescatarian tasting menu.

We also asked if they could omit the dessert from my partner's tasting menu. We made it clear that we would still pay the full tasting menu price; we just didn’t want the food to go to waste. The lady manager replied that the desserts weren’t too sweet.

Regarding the food, the chef and his team were very professional, and the food was mostly great, but the pre-main course and main course of the pescatarian menu were disappointing.

The pre-main course consisted of about five thin slices of white fish marinated in salt water, which was overly salty. The main course was a white fish steak, tasted like boiled not 'fired'.

I enjoyed the dessert, but as mentioned, my partner doesn’t eat sweets, so he didn’t enjoy it at all. He tried a spoonful, but it was too sweet for him. When the lady manager saw that he had barely touched his dessert, she asked if everything was alright. We politely told her it was too sweet for him, and she just laughed, said something dismissive, and walked away.

At the end, after paying our bill, the manager asked us how everything was. We decided to politely mention that the pescatarian pre-course was too salty. She replied that it might be a cultural difference, as it was a traditional Porto dish. Fine, we thought, but we also brought up the service, suggesting that she could explain more about the menu rather than simply stating, "This is not possible." She didn’t respond to this.

Personally, I enjoyed the food, and I really like the concept of fire dining, and I would definitely recommend it to my friends. I genuinely think this restaurant has the potential to be Michelin-starred. If there’s any reason it might not achieve that, it would be because of the...

we booked on the application "the fork". When we arrived at the restaurant, the waitress placed us in front of the open kitchen, on high chairs, in front of the ovens, without giving us a choice : it was extremely hot: in front of two grills and an oven, my wife's face was red and I was sweaty after 5 minutes. all the other customers in front of the kitchen had their faces flushed. we asked to change table and moove for a classic table.

The answer was : « the other tables are for groups of more than two people. »

a Portuguese couple arrived, the waitress offered them the same seats in front of the stove. the woman refused, the waitress then offered her a table away from the ovens.

= I asked why two couples who just arrived, had been able to enjoy a table away from the stifling heat, the waitress answered me when I had to specify this when booking on the app.

The restaurant objected that the application indicated that you had to choose between these two types of tables in the comments. in short, it's your fault if you didn't specifically ask for a table away from the heat… and also that it’s the « concept » of the restaurant.

Of course, after verifications, it is by no means stated on their site that dining in front of the kitchens with stifling heat is the concept of this restaurant…

as you will see, it is not indicated that we have to choose our type of table on the application the Fork.

the restaurant invites us to have dinner in front of the entrance, on the coffee table, in front of the checkout counter.

dinner was over in 5 minutes, I asked for the bill. the restaurant offered a commercial gesture. the chief came to see us. we explained to him that if we knew we were going to dine on high chairs in front of the ovens with insurmountable heat, we would have preferred to postpone our dinner, and that we weren't told it was so hot on the high chairs.

I have indicated that the handling of the complaint is clearly not appropriate: you are told that you had to request a normal table, and basically, it is your responsibility to request a quiet table with a normal temperature ! neither the application nor the website informs you that you must specify a normal table, and not in front of the ovens blowing heat.

= after verifications, it is only indicated in Portuguese on the app that customers must specify their preference for their table. the waitress tells us that regular customers are aware that they must specify their preference; don't transient customers (such as tourists) can’t choose for a normal table as they are not informed of that ?!

The young waiters team is responsive, but training in handling complaints is clearly required.

too bad.

They have cancelled our order after the diner on the Fork app in order that we can not put any...