Espécie - Restaurante Vegetariano — Restaurant in Porto

It might sound exaggerated to say that it was an heartbreaking experience, but I was looking forward to visiting for my birthday and I literally left feeling hungry. The menu looks very good and the interior is lovely, including the garden. Though sadly, because we had our dogs with us, we were told we could only sit outside on the road (hello homeless people asking for help whilst you eat)

The staff was very kind and truly lovely, so the 2 stars are because of them. But the food was awful.

For one: super oily! The heart of palms curry was so soupy and oily that it was impossible to consume; we literally had to leave it behind. They charge extra for rice; thought it should come with, as it is kind of necessary.

We ordered the "KFcaliflower", which my husband did enjoy and looked good.

Then some mushrooms with wraps , which were ok but nothing special. We had an avocado and cucumber salad; that was decent (you cannot really mess that up I guess) and a bean curry, which was nice but again.... too oily! Seeing oil floating on the surface of my food is the most off putting thing, both for presentation and my taste buds.

Overall just a sad experience! Shame, it had potential! it is not a little ma and pa restaurant (we didn't know); it is part of a group, so unfortunately it seems they have a veg restaurant because it is trendy, not because they care.

In fact, the same group has a restaurant called Crue RIGHTl next door.. guess what they serve...?!? We only found this out then else we would have not...

I feel this place may have gone down hill. There’s plenty of excellent ratings here but I had a few issues. For one there was a palpable feeling that the staff did not care much, at least that’s true of the front of house, the kitchen staff seems to be more engaged. Slow restaurant but staff walked past tables that needed clearing several times, did not smile, nor did they seem proud or excited for the food, just bringing food without any words. Our server was friendly but the overall impression of the front of house servers was subpar. Too bad. The food was ok, better than average but not outstanding. The standout was the fried cauliflower with a really good crispy texture but even for that standout dish I found the sauce significantly salty. The beverage menu was sad, the laminated paper it was on was falling apart which made me not want to order wine because I knew the section had not changed in a while (years?).. nice variety and plenty of choice for vegan (clearly labeled) and fully plant based options. I’m not saying I would not visit again because the food was good enough, well presented on the plate, and fairly priced but the restaurant overall was unfortunately not up to the standard to deserve even 4 stars in my estimation although I really wanted to like this place. With a little effort this dining experience could get tightened up and improve. Nice looking outdoor dining area...

True vegans: walk past. We booked a reservation here for a group of nine (I acknowledge that this is a large group of people to serve). We were recommended this place multiple times and it looks so lovely inside that we were really excited to try. Unfortunately our server looked like she would rather be somewhere else the entire evening. She didn't put in any effort and had a sour and bored look on her face. We wanted to order Aperol Spritz but they were out of spritz (seems avoidable as it isn't a fresh ingredient). Some dishes were served earlier than the rest which was not ideal, although some of us did order smaller dishes to share instead of the main courses. The guy working here was friendly and they did let us split the bill which I commend them for. I just found all the dishes not particularly special and they were definitely overpriced. 8 euros for two small empanadas with cheese is a bit too much. Same goes for the peanut butter noodles which are made of fairly cheap ingredients. The tex mex shaksuhka also had overdone eggs. I just feel like this place wanted to be trendy instead of really cater to vegans and vegetarians. I've eaten better food in Porto elsewhere. Unfortunately this place suffers from...