Garden Balthazar Caffe — Restaurant in Porto

The place looked nice, so we decided to stop by for brunch - but that’s when the issues began. We ordered two dishes, and only one came out. We waited… and waited… for about 30 minutes, but the second dish never arrived. When we finally asked, it turned out the order had never even reached the kitchen due to some internal mistake. It wasn’t even busy at the time we arrived, so it was disappointing that no one came to check on us during that long wait.

While the staff were friendly, the experience clearly showed a lack of organization. What really let us down was that no effort was made to make up for the error, even though it was clearly on their side and we were in a bit of a hurry. A simple gesture - a drink, snack, or even an apology with a solution - would have gone a long way.

To add to that, the first dish we ordered was later canceled due to missing ingredients. The staff suggested an alternative with similar components, but it was bland, underseasoned, and the portion was incredibly small for the price. The rice was hard and undercooked, and the dish lacked even basic flavoring like salt or pepper.

In the end, one of us ate, the other waited and gave up, and we left feeling pretty unsatisfied. The interior is nice and the staff are polite, but the place lacks the attention to detail and customer care needed to recover from mistakes. The portion-to-price ratio was also disappointing.

Mistakes happen - and that’s understandable - but the complete lack of effort to address them made this an unfortunate experience.

Overall, it wasn’t great in any aspect, which was a shame, especially considering how promising the place...

We visited Balthazar for the first time after finding a great deal on The Fork, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it.

The space itself is lovely: bright, spacious, and well-decorated. The food was the highlight. Everything we ordered was genuinely delicious. The French toast, in particular, stood out in terms of flavor and texture. However, the presentation could use some improvement. It was served on a wooden board with a layer of paper underneath, but with the maple syrup and melting ice cream, the paper started to dissolve and stick to the food. Unfortunately, part of it ended up being eaten by mistake.

We also had a passionfruit lemonade, but was underwhelming in taste. The one aspect that really detracted from the experience was the service. The staff member who served us wasn’t exactly rude, but she wasn’t friendly either. There was no smile, no sense of welcome, just a cold, distant approach that made us feel uncomfortable. At one point, while we were still confirming part of our order, she walked away mid-sentence. Later, while clearing the table, she nearly dropped a plate and made a loud noise without acknowledging it or apologizing.

Overall, Balthazar has a lot of potential: great food, a beautiful space, and a menu with a huge variety. We just hope the service becomes more...

This place came highly recommended but I quickly learned how overrated it was. Takes forever to get a table because there is not enough staff to accommodate how busy they are. I came here by myself and waited 20+ min for a table for one, which isn’t a problem, but staff did not communicate to me how long i would have to wait. Took them forever to greet me after i sat down, so i ordered everything all at once when they finally did. My food came out within 10 min, but it was cold. And my drinks didn’t come out until 10 min after my food. I had to ask two different staff members for my drinks until I finally got them. Drink and food quality was average, which is disappointing for how long I had to wait and for what I had to pay for it. I didn’t see my server again until I was ready to pay, which I had to flag him down to do. A restaurant with these prices needs a better system in every regard: more efficient staff, courses coming out at the proper time, HOT food, FULL drinks, etc. Even though tipping for food service is not really a thing in Portugal, it should definitely be...