O Bacalhau Em Prato — Restaurant in Porto

I literally have no idea how this place has a 4 star rating. It was late on a Monday evening, so many restaurants were closed in the area, and others were extremely busy. We came by this place and saw there was tables available and popped in. My wife had grilled pork, and it was undercooked and chewy… awful. The cod/chickpea salad was just terrible as well… Big fillet of chewy raw cod, as it was not prepared properly at all. I had the alheira sausage dinner… it was edible, but not very good either. My pint of beer was full of white particles, but the server gave me a bottled beer, no problem there. I told the waiter that the cod salad didn’t seem right, and he said it’s supposed to be like that, but it definitely isn’t.

I didn’t want to cause a scene or a racket, so we just paid and left. €46 for a lousy meal. Hopefully this review saves others from getting raked...

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in May, we had difficulty finding somewhere open for lunch around 4 pm. We found this place and got a table on the pavement. The Spanish-speaking waitress was very friendly. As was the male waiter/cook and the food was fair to good. There are better restaurants offering bacalhau and cheaper. Sadly, as we were about to leave, I stood and a nail protruding out of the wooden seat ripped my dress. When I went inside with the chair, warning them that the nail was quite dangerous, the waitress said sorry, but the owner/manager stated that we only put cushions on indoor seats. No apologies were given by her and no money or compensation offered. That is not how to run a business, and I wished I had not paid the bill before telling them about the chair as that is totally unfair. I am now out of pocket and...

The server was very sweet, helpful with recommendations and guiding us in our choices. She was able to assist us in English. She also made the dessert herself. We ordered the Francesinha com quiejo da serra (Porto sandwich with meat, sausage, cheese and sunny side up egg with sauce and fries; and Huge de Alcatraz com molho aromatizado bingo do porto (rump roast in port wine sauce); salad with sauteed mushrooms; and a bottle of red wine. We finished with a traditional desserts: bolo de balacha da nossa casa (family recipe cookie cake) and aletría (sweet, creamy noodles with cinnamon). The portions were generous and the food very satisfying. We were offered a complimentary taster of port to finish dinner. A lovely dinner experience in a charming family-run restaurant that we would recommend to friends or...