Tapabento S.Bento — Restaurant in Porto

Imagine standing at the entrance of the restaurant, waiting, while many Portuguese families with reservations walk in. You keep waiting, thinking that it’ll soon be your turn. People continue leaving though you’re not being seated yet and your lower back start to ache. You see tables that were there for the entire time, sitting and chatting while drinking. You wait inside the restaurant because you’re afraid you were forgotten. Tables clear up and you get excited to finally walk in, though it’s taken by another family who arrived recently. 1.5 hours after arriving you’re finally seated. You already have three items in mind and ask for them, and find out that two are sold out! Disappointed, you choose other items on the menu. By the time you finish eating, you recognize customers who entered before you 3 hours ago who are still there. There are literally tables which sat there before and after you left.

I feel sorry for saying this since the owner and servers are very sweet (which I don’t doubt is why they have such high reviews), but I felt like we were forgotten throughout the night. If we knew the wait would take any longer than 15 minutes then we would not have stayed. On top of that there were so many tables that took a solid 2-3 hours to eat and chit chat, I wish the servers proactively gave tables their checks when guests finish eating so they can leave faster. I’m not sure if it’s a cultural difference, but in places like NYC where almost every good restaurant has a line for dinner, guests are expected to clear their tables within 2 hours max as a courtesy for other guests. Servers tend to the guests quickly to ensure this - give menus right when they’re seated, come back after 5 minutes for orders, and come back once the customers are almost finished eating to ask if they’d like the check. They also start cleaning your table if you’ve finished paying and are still sitting there. It’s also just better for business to do this. It seemed like here, people lingered around for a very long time.

For the food, presentation was good. The food ranking for me is: Salmon ceviche (sour lime sauce with chips and garnished with green onion, refreshing) duck (a little dry and the fruit need to be soaked in syrup to be sweeter but still good) fish soup (good and tastes as expected, I wish the the Cataplana was available)

Please just make a reservation days in advance. The painful wait and lack of available items poorly affected our experience and...

25th May 2023: The restaurant is amazing as always, I have been coming here since 2015, even there had some changes with menu, but here is always my favorite restaurant in Porto. The owner Isabel is always so lovely and hospitality, and all the staff is always really caring and helpful. I am happy that they told me they will move the restaurant to the station inside which is in front of the current location. It is really beautiful and well decorated with their personality. 6th April 2022: We have been coming to this place for more than 6 years, we always have one of the best experience. All the dishes are always outstanding, delicious with wonderful presentation. This time we came back after more than a year cause the COVID restriction in Portugal we couldn't visit the country so easy. I can see that they made some big changes, they took out some dishes from the menu like mixed seafood for the session they used to have it. Now they replaced with the new version as Fish and seafood Cataplana (Similer but not the same). Also, they added some new dishes like Steamed oxtail dumplings and Fried rice with eggs...etc... I have to say that the quality of the service and the dishes are still really good. But we also miss a lot of their old dishes, like Mixed seafood for the session. And they used to have some many menus you can read in different languages, especially also in Asian languages. I can understand that now there are really few Asian customers can come to visit cause the restriction of their own country to going back. I guess that they will add more languages again in the future as before. In the end for me this place is still my favorite restaurant in Porto when I come to visit.

This place is amazing, and the owner Isabel is a really lovely woman, if you come to Porto, you must visit...

We arrived right when the restaurant opened, and it was clear that this place is extremely popular—getting a table without a reservation seemed quite difficult. Luckily, thanks to the kind host, we were able to get a seat even without a booking. As the host was showing us to our table, he asked where we were from, and it turned out he wanted to give us a menu in our own language. I was pleasantly surprised by this thoughtful gesture—usually, even when visiting non-English-speaking countries, you have to ask for an English menu, but this place had menus available in so many different languages. That alone made me feel warmly welcomed.

The napkins and tablecloths were beautiful, and the interior decor was unique and charming. Our server, Alberto, was incredibly friendly. We’re from Spain and Korea, and he even used a mix of Spanish and Korean while speaking with us, which made the whole experience feel even more special. His kind and attentive service truly elevated the meal.

The wonderful lady owner, Isabel seemed to be walking around the restaurant making sure everyone was having a good time. She personally served the dishes we ordered onto our individual plates and explained how to enjoy them—it felt like being a guest at someone’s home, with a loving mother serving the food she made herself. She speaks Spanish, French, English, Italian, and German fluently!

And of course, the food was absolutely delicious. We were so full we thought we might burst, but still didn’t leave a single bite behind. It was a truly perfect meal—from the delicious dishes to the positive energy of the staff. If any of my friends visit Porto, I will definitely recommend this...