Pata Gorda — Restaurant in Porto

We went to this restaurant after reading the many positive reviews, expecting a nice, satisfying meal. Unfortunately, what we experienced was shocking.

The kitchen is open, so you see everything. The chef repeatedly tasted the food with the same spoon he was cooking with (4–5 times), wiped his mouth and the sweat from his forehead with his hand, and then touched the plates with those same hands. Basic hygiene rules were completely ignored.

Honestly, it’s hard to understand how this is possible. Using the same spoon that goes into the mouth multiple times carries the risk of transmitting diseases to others. How can such a basic rule of hygiene be ignored? Isn’t this the first thing you learn in chef training?

We couldn’t stay at the table or eat under those conditions. We gave feedback, but I’m not sure it was understood or taken seriously. In the end, we had to find another restaurant late at night and only managed to have dinner at home around 11:30 p.m.

If you go, watch the kitchen carefully. And if you see hygiene rules being ignored, speak up. Dining out should never mean compromising on cleanliness.

ANSWER FOR THE RESTAURANT REPLY👇👇👇

Hello,

I have read your response, but frankly, what you wrote does not change the reality of what happened. An open kitchen concept may be valuable for transparency, but what we witnessed was not transparency — it was a blatant violation of basic hygiene rules.

The chef repeatedly tasting with the same spoon, wiping his mouth and the sweat from his forehead, and then touching the plates with the same hands is absolutely unacceptable. This is not something that can be misunderstood or overlooked; it happened clearly in front of everyone. While you say this does not reflect your principles, for us, as customers who were there that night, the incident was undeniable.

The fact that the chef came to our table afterwards and offered to cook new dishes does not erase the hygiene breaches we had already seen. As customers, our expectation is that food is prepared hygienically from the very beginning — not “corrected” after the fact.

My review is not a malicious attempt to damage your business, but an honest account of what we experienced. If you claim that this “does not reflect reality,” then I believe you need to take a closer look at what is really happening in your...

We had a really nice evening at the venue. We seemed to be the only non-locals which made it even more special for us.

The food was really, really nice with a high quality and local sourcing approach. Happily, not a fine dining Mirco portion but rather a Portuguese soul food concept. We had the sourdough (slightly sticky crumb) and ox tail pastry as a starter (amazing).

The chicken and potato/shrimp course was really nice as well.

As the main dish we chose the rice with lamb, which was really nicely done.

Accompanied with great wine and a beautifully done interior, we had a great evening.

The only flaw of the evening was the service of one of the waiters. Being nice and energetic in the beginning, he seemed to be put off be the fact we only ordered one glass of wine. Additionally, he misunderstood us ordering a small portion of the main course (which was an option) and brought us the big one. Being very full and feeling anxious about not being able to finish, we asked if this was the small one. He apologized and said it was the big one but we should not be worried. In this kind of venue I would have expected some kind of approach of apology; e.g. charging only the small size, or a free desert etc.

Instead, the mini apology was the only gesture happening. We paid full and felt a bit treated left in the rain.

We would definitely return since the remaining staff was really nice and the experience was great overall. Hopefully the one tall guy will improve in...

We had a wonderful dinner at Manso. We ordered a bottle of red wine that the chef (who was also serving us) recommended - we really enjoyed it. We got 2 starters: Xara e Feijao Branco and Pave de Batata, Gema e Cogumelo. As the main course we shared an Arroz do Polvo. Everything was great, very balanced, the sauces were well thought out. To finish we ordered Trifle de Pera Rocha e Moscatel and it certainly did not disappoint.

We'll definitely go back, both for lunch and dinner. We have been told that the dinner menu changes every month. Can't wait to see what the chefs will come up with next month!

Update as of November 2024: After my 1st review, we had many meals at Manso until they moved to their new place under a new name. We recently visited their new location. The food and the service are still great and the atmosphere improved significantly. The new location seems to be working better than the old one so reservations are highly...