Solar Moinho de Vento — Restaurant in Porto

My boyfriend and I went to this restaurant because our friends raved about how good one of their dishes was. We got there and were planning to order quite a few dishes since we love to try a bunch of foods. However, when we told the waiter we wanted to order three dishes, he denied our request and said that’s too much. We then had him seldom check on us and we had to remind him to do quite a few things. Then, we went to order dessert and I ordered a creme brûlée and I asked for a side of ice cream. He then DENIED my request because ice cream wouldn’t go with it… I was extremely upset about it and then the dessert he did bring out was curdled and chunky. We then asked him to take it off the bill or to make a new one and he tried to argue with me and say it was made just an hour ago and that people around me were eating it; however, a creme brûlée should not be made within an hour and if it is chunky and curdled, any high class restaurant would send it back immediately and fix the issue. I am EXTREMELY disappointed in this restaurant and will not be returning due to poor service. I would not recommend going.

Hi, thank you for your response.

I would like to address your first statement that we requested four dishes, including the “sardinha petinga” and the “bolinhos de bacalhau”. We did not request four dishes, nor did we request two of the dishes you said we did. In fact, we specifically stated we did not want any seafood (bacalhau is codfish and sardinha petinga are sardines-both fish). We had requested the cabidela, a steak, and the sausage, so that is your first mistake. We stated we wanted to order quite a bit even after our waiter told us it would be too much, to which he continued to deny our request. We knew we may not be able to finish it all. Second, I did not ask for an ice cream on top. I requested it alongside the custard dish, to which I was told “no”. I do not care if another dessert goes “with” the one I ordered, for I well know the difference and that it may not “go well” with my dish. I still requested it, fully prepared to pay for it, and was denied. Also, regarding your claim that I could “have had it with your Rabanada Caseira,” our waiter informed us after we were denied the ice cream that you did not even HAVE ice cream the night we dined with you, so we could not have had any with that dish like you stated. Third, regarding your statement of the water, I would certainly hope you did not charge for water out of your tap water. We were not told you sold bottles of water, but even so, we had requested tap water so there would have been no reason to charge us. I’ve never heard of such foolishness. The only other food we had, which is all we were permitted, was just fine. Now that you mention it, the cabidela chicken could have been cooked slightly less as it was dry.

I will not be returning to the restaurant, especially after you made false claims of what we requested to order and stating that you were being generous in not charging for tap water.

Best...

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