Kind Kitchen — Restaurant in Porto

I was honestly getting a bit hyped by the amount of high ratings I kept seeing around Porto. But now I realize that the reviews don't portray the reality of the city. Compared to other cities I’ve visited, Porto reminds me a bit of London: overwhelmingly positive reviews, maybe too much so.

That’s not to say this place was bad — not at all. For around 26€ (burger, fries and a starter, including shipping) it did strike me as good in value, but not in quality. Perhaps that’s on me, assuming Porto would be more affordable.

The seitan burger had a good balance of flavours, but it was a bit heavy, and the tofu bacon felt too thick — like something from a vegan chain rather than a specialty spot.

The fries were clearly frozen: bland, unsalted, with mayo that lacked any punch. Disappointing, especially since I had seen different types of fries in pictures. Also, I've been to some places in Porto already, and, there's just too many franchises, and most of them serving either bland potatoes, or frozen ones.

The tofu bites, however, were genuinely tasty. Good texture, good flavour, and something I’d definitely order again. They reminded me of a spot named Kimchi Cult in Glasgow.

I was curious to try the cheesecake, but that’ll have to wait for another time.

Just to give some context — I had just arrived in Porto after a long day of travel and work. I picked this spot from my saved list because of the solid 4.7 rating. And while it’s not a bad choice at all, for me, it didn’t quite live up to the hype. If I had to rate it, I’d say it's a 7-7'5/10 tops.

Maybe others have had a better experience. But for me, especially as a vegetarian, I was expecting a local vegetarian specialty spot. And in that respect, this place didn’t fully deliver.

I ordered delivery, and yes, I expected some drop in temperature, but that doesn’t explain the fries or the average burger. Still, 4/5 review, I was going to give it a 3, but I don't think that's fair as the restaurant looks well taken care of, good overall marketing, and people...

My spouse and I are both vegetarians and we struggled to find good eats in Portugal that were not pizza or pastries (although, we had some excellent pizza and pastries!). We stopped in to the gelato shop next door to Kind Kitchen (which you should also patron), and stumbled upon Kind Kitchen as we left. One look at the menu, and we knew we had to make it back for dinner.

The food is out-of-this-world good. Bonkers good. We started with the Korean BBQ tofu nuggets. Could not have been better. Crispy outside, tender inside, dynamite sauce.

I am a fan of sampling local cuisine. One of the best ways to experience a culture is through its food. Traditional Portuguese cooking is seafood-heavy, as it should be, but it limited my options to sample local fare. However, Kind Kitchen has a vegan francesinha (look it up) on the menu, and I HAD to have one. SO GLAD I did. Divine. My spouse ordered a Beyond Burger, which came with a side of steak fries. She loved it. I would have sampled it, but the francesinha did me in on its own.

Prices are more than reasonable. Staff were pleasant and polite. We did not have a lot of interactions with the staff as we were so engrossed in our meal.

Could not have been a better meal. EXACTLY what we wanted. Whether or not you are vegan, if you are in Porto, go here. As my spouse put it, if we lived in Porto, we would take every visitor we got to...

I was familiar with their first location near Bolhäo and absolutely loved it; from the food, to the atmosphere, to the staff. But years later I find myself changing my 5 star review just because I'm able to compare two very different visits that make me feel I went to two different restaurants with different concepts altogether.

The food lost soul; it doesn't taste like it has the same love and care poured into it as it did before. The combinations are not very creative, they're predicatable, and whatever is fried is so tough it makes it hard for me to chew.

The staff is mostly confused and by extension, they confuse us, the customers. If you ask a simple question about the menu (in this case a small alteration, we wanted something without pickles), they have to double check twice to see if it was possible. In the end, it came with garnish pickles anyway (easily removable without affecting the dish at all), which we unfortunately just had to waste and leave on the side of the plate. It just made us feel unheard and uncared for. Maybe because we're locals? The staff seemed a lot more engaged with a couple of tourists the next table over.

Kind Kitchen became overrated. Which saddens me greatly because the initial message is meant to represent something I'd love to stand for. I hope they get their spark back some time soon. I'm really rokting...