Subenshi Porto — Restaurant in Porto

An arguably good sushi restaurant, but a bit too impersonal for my taste. There is a lot to like in this restaurant, the location first in the city center next to clérigos, the building, old style with perfectly renovated interior, very chic, the terrasse on the top floor which gives towards the parc and gives a feeling a nature a quiet ambiance in the middle of the city. The food was good, not exceptional, but above average. We got gyosas as starter, then two menus, that are actually sushi sahimi combo (they don't not included soup or drink like what other restaurants call menu). We tried the fushion and the classic menu, both 20 pieces. The fushion was definitely surprising, some pieces with guacamole others with caramelized onions. The surprise was nice, but it was a bit unequilibrated and a full 20 pieces set was a bit tiring. The classical combo was as the name suggest, classical but good, as I said before nothing exceptional but a solid plate of sushis. We also got 2 pieces of eel sushi. I love them and they are not always easy to find. For dessert, we got the tempura ice subenshi: an hazelnut ice cream surrounded by fried filo-like pastry pasta and chocolate on top. It is original and good. The price are at the same level than most sushi restaurants. Now after I left, I had this mixed feeling about it and I could not put my finger on it at first. I realized later that it was, because the restaurant is quite impersonal. First we arrived to a kind of call center. The person who welcomed us was nice, but with the headphones on the head the feeling is not the same. Then she sent us to the top floor. A waiter, also with headphones, welcomed us there. The restaurant was mostly empty without any reservation signs (we had reserved) but he brought us to a table without asking if we would like to be seated elsewhere. The table was inside but next to the door of the terrasse and with sometimes an uncomfortable airflow. The waiter was also speaking very low and it was not always easy to hear him. All this gives a cold feeling to the place. Anyway even if it's surely not my favorite restaurant, it's overall a good...

Very disappointing dinner experience. Given the expectations of something premium, we felt it wasn't worth our time. Here is where the disappointment came from: At the entrance, with still our coats on, we were greeted with an invitation to get a glass of champagne or prosecco, as there would be some wait; even though the restaurant was not busy (quite aggressive upsell strategy) we were offered a table for 4 (even though we booked for 2 and are clearly a couple), the table was in front of a big TV screen (switched off) that killed any potential romantic atmosphere. The restaurant had clearly better tables around and we booked over a week in advance . We had to ask for a better table and finally they gave it to us the tables are set fairly high-up compared to standards. We found them somewhat uncomfortable to dine on menu was solely available on a tablet that was handed over to us (1 device only). The website menu was hard to browse (the app would go back to the home page and we had to click on the Chrome icon to get it back). Not a positive experience. We had to write down our order because finding each item in that complicated menu was quite a mission. Some of the dishes didn't have a description nor ingredients. We asked the waiter and she politely spelled them out but it was hard to remember and making a decision on what to order became complicated. The lighting, tables set up, button on the table to call staff, the headset on the waiters - it all reminds rather cheap lunch place than a premium dining.

The food was just ok. The menu was clearly catering for those large sushi/sashimi platters, than for more sophisticated Japanese eaters. Not to be disrespectful to anyone working there (as surely they did their best) but the experience was really disappointing for us and overall the worst dining experience in Porto - if you go with...

This was a really strange restaurant experience. The food is excellent quality, and the interior design is lovely, but there’s a lot of small details that feel strange and off putting.

Firstly, there’s a weird digital tech thing. You need to be registered with a phone number at the front desk before you can go in, and then all the staff are wearing headsets. There is no WiFi, but you also cannot have a physical menu, instead you have to scan a QR code and engage in a fairly complex menu app- in which the ‘sushi’ section contains all things which are NOT sushi. None of this is super unusual, but you also have a bulky thing on your table which you press to get service. Together the vibe is less quirky Japanese and more over-complicated and rigid.

Secondly, there’s an odd detail about the place setting. You have disposable chopsticks in reused (slightly battered) card board boxes, which the bus boy then quickly collects- another bizarre complication. Why not just have nice quality chopsticks and clean them? Who knows. Maybe this is all Covid hangover mechanisms. You’re also given a plate which is a large block of manufactured wood with no rim (so soy drips off).

Finally, our food all arrived at once, which isn’t great when you have various things best eaten as soon as they arrive. By the time we’d finished our delicious miso soups, the superb dumplings were going cold, and by the time we finally got to the temaki, the nori was no longer crisp.

I don’t think you can go wrong with the food there, but maybe dine out. In spite of an amazing location and really fun interior design, the...