Meia-Nau Porto — Restaurant in Porto

Having grown up in coastal regions around Asia and Europe, I’d like to think that I know seafood. I know how it should taste, be prepared, and Meia-Nau was an utter disappointment. Prior to visiting the restaurant I may have been influenced by the great reviews on both Google maps and trip advisor.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by I assume the manager, he was courteous and quickly seated us at a table by the door.

We read the menu and we ordered a starter, a fish, a meat dish, and a side. We also ordered sparkling water but it never came. We were also never offered any bread or olives unlike other tables who got bread and olives brought to them upon seating.

The shrimp croquettes came, and we barely tasted any shrimp. We tasted pumpkin? Butternut squash? We will never know. It was also a bit dry, and we thought it would be better if there was a dip that came with it.

Then the half turbot came. The fish was a bit cold and was a bit overcooked. It wasn’t as soft and buttery as we hoped it would be for a €25 fish. I know turbot is hard to cook but as a specialty seafood restaurant, I expected better.

Now let’s talk about the pork. The pork came and it tasted like literal cardboard. There was 0 salt or pepper, or maybe there was, but we couldn’t taste it. We realised we may have made a mistake ordering meat in a seafood restaurant, but how could anyone charge €13 for overcooked, tough, tasteless meat? We didn’t try the chips before we returned it to the restaurant. We quickly told the manager and he said he would take it off our bill and offered free dessert.

He asked us if we wanted to order something else and we ordered squid that was pretty good.

Then when we finished our meal, the manager was gone and we didn’t feel confident to order a dessert in case the new server didn’t know about the free dessert. We didn’t want any conflict between anyone, so we expected no perks or compensation, paid our bill, and left.

We walked into Meia-Nau expecting our best meal in Portugal, but as a result, had our worst and most expensive meal. Maybe we ordered the wrong items on the menu but we felt like the food quality did not reflect well on the price and the service was lacking for our table. Maybe other people had better experiences, but we simply did not have a good time. We wasn’t sure whether if it was our age, our ethnicity, or the way we dressed, but there shouldn’t be a difference in service...

Used to be our top list but something the manager said got me....

We have been in Meia-Nau many times. Their fish is fresh and nice and price is reasonable. Some fish are large so need to share, so more recommendable to go more than two persons. It is always a bit salty but so is many Portuguese dishes, so no complaints. Their service is always friendly. It is becoming a bit tourist hub but it is not bad thing at all for the restaurant.

The reason of two stars missing is something happened to us recently. We went there during Sao João and when the bill came, its sardine price was much higher than usual but we were never explained as the menu showed the normal price. So my partner mentioned to the waiter, he didn't say much but said it is because of holiday. So my partner wrote about this in his review because it is a bit upsetting not knowing the charge. The manager replied about the reason (they missed out the price change), which we fully understand. The thing is..he said my partner never wrote the review before on them and when bad thing happened, he wrote about it - so it is unfair for Maia Nau...Really?? My partner wrote in his review that we have been there many times and it showed how much we like them, and we even know who the manager is. We do not always have to write reviews on our favourite ones. And this manager's reply put us completely off. They didn't change price on their menu, that is their fault. Please do not blame customer. We won't go any more only because of the manager's reply to my partner. Staff are usually lovely and...

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Mei’s-Nau Porto. The ambience was smart casual, relaxed and bright. The staff very cheerful and friendly. We didn’t have reservations and missed the first seating. We were told to come back at 9:30 pm. (Family of 3.) Our table was ready and our host was very friendly and knowledgeable. When we ordered he explained what each item was and what accompaniments come with it. For starters we ordered the mussels, sardines (petingas) and pimento padron. The mussels was very flavorful. Two ladies 2 tables away from us shared them as main course. The petingas was fried perfectly where the fish is cooked and soft and the outside somewhat crispy but not dry. For our main course we ordered the polpo lagaleiro (octopus), lulas (squid) and acorda (bread soup with egg). All I can say that we were all blown away! The octopus was absolutely delicious and soft, served with smoked peppers and new potatoes. We have been eating a lot of octopus since we were travelling round the coast in Spain but this octopus we had at MeiA-Nau beats all the other octopuses we have eaten. The tentacles were soft, the peppers divine and together it was an amazing symphony of flavours. The squid was a bit milder with a slight citrus with the chopped onions but refreshing flavours. For desert we shared a mousse Lima. I wish we could stay longer in Porto now because I would to try the other items in the menu. Fabulous food, fantastic service and wish we...