Muro do Bacalhau — Restaurant in Porto

Spectacular! The restaurant has an upper and a lower part, both overlooking the river. The upper part gives a great view, suitable for 2 people if eating outside. The food served is a stilish version of some traditional dishes, with a novel and imaginative twist to these portuguese fconic flavours. The concept of the restaurant revolves around sharing food and love (would say especially for flavours) - all this was presented nicely from the beginning of the experince. From starters to the main dish, they were all full of flavour. The couvet included two types of bread, one of them with a flavour and colour reminding me of the hungarian "kalács", bit sweet but combining well with the delicious flavours of butter (one with herbs, rosmary I would say, and the other just salty). The sausage, included "salpicao" as well and both types were just jucy. The main dishes we ordered were the fresh cod and the duck rice. I was fascinated how these traditional dishes can be put in such a new light. I was especially curious about the duck rice, as this can be really dry, defenetley not the case here! Filled with flavour, the rice and duck was comlemented by the crunchy texture of bacon, and a sweet touch of apricot to balance the heavyness of duck meatl. To complete the dish, a splash of cheese sauce was added to close the circle (goat chese maybe?). Hard to choose which one was the best. The dish was accompanied by one of the most refreshing, bubbly green wines i ever had, Bachaleau. I didnt get to the desert, but loved how each came with the reccomandation of the port wine to best complement the flavour. I dont mind not having the desert and just stay with these flavours. The service was really good, especially where we were reccomended to wait before ordering the 3rd dish (we were so full we would not have needed it). The sugestion showed attention to customers and a care for no food waste. The price range was also good for how tasty it was. Congrats to the chef, I think this was the best dish I had since I moved to this country, and possibly in the last decade ( cant remamber further down the line). I know where we will celebrate my husbands birthday next month! That Iberian pork needs to be sampled! ...

We were really looking forward to dining at this restaurant, as we had this saved for weeks before the trip and were highly enticed by the food. Unfortunately, we were somewhat disappointed by the service and our overall experience was slightly uncomfortable. As the restaurant doesn’t take reservations (we tried and were told this twice - on social media and in person), we had to try and time it right to get a table. We did not manage to get a table the first time we tried, but arrived fairly early the next day for the dinner service. Unfortunately, the staff who greeted us downstairs near their outdoor seating space was quite uncooperative and condescending at times. We had mentioned that we were very happy to wait for a table, even upwards of 45 minutes, as it was quite early. However, he kept trying to dissuade us from waiting and increased his estimated waiting time from 30 to 45 to over an hour whenever we said we were happy to wait. He also spoke to us in a very off putting manner that made us uncomfortable and disrespected. We ended up walking away but ten minutes later went back to try again at their upstairs entrance, where a kinder staff did greet us, gave us a short 15-20 min wait time and provided us with a queue number (of which the staff downstairs would not do). We were then escorted to a table shortly after and had a much better experience in the restaurant. However, half way through our meal, that original staff member came upstairs and saw us, and made a snarky comment about us getting lucky. Up till that point we were enjoying the service from the rest of the staff and the food (kudos to the chef!), but were extremely uncomfortable by his condescending tone and comment. At times, we felt belittled and many of his comments towards us were unnecessary. Overall, good food with a lovely view. Most of the staff were lovely and extremely welcoming. Shame that one sour grape really negatively affected...

First of all, the dishes and wine were great. The kitchen did an amazing job, and speedy as well. Contemporary, well thought through food. Nice seating inside, comfy and well decorated. However, the service lets the place down significantly. I was sitting with my finished plates for at least 10-15min after every course, the waitress was very inattentive and every time I wanted to order something I needed multiple attempts until someone actually came to my table. Most of the time they simply ignored me, making sure to don't even look at me. And really, I'm not one of the annoying guests, I usually make a point by being super polite. One example, from having received the bill until actually being allowed to pay, it took more than 15min and countless attempts to grab attention. That being said it wasn't even super busy – when I left, half of the restaurant was empty. But worse than that was the fact that the waitress simply changed my order. I had ordered the bread basket as a starter and a main dish. The main arrived super fast – without the bread. I asked for it and the waitress told me that she skipped the bread because the main arrived so fast. Like – timing isn't a conscious thing there? I asked for it anyways which caused a raised eyebrow. I then received the bread basket – after I was already finished with the main because it took her so long to bring it. She put it on my table and commented "this should be at the beginning" with a grim face. Well yes, dear, that way my plan before you decided to completely skip it without even asking me?! Unacceptable. The change of my order, the attitude, the communication style. I have also observed her visibly rolling her eyes at other guests and speaking with her, I constantly felt like I was a burden to her. I would have come back for the food but I won't because of the staff....