Trattoria 179 — Restaurant in Porto

Unfortunately we had a very unpleasant experience. We came without a reservation and asked for a table. The restaurant was empty at this point. The staff told us that they were completely full as we could see (??) and that we could only get a table if we would release it after 1h. Fine for us since we didn’t have a reservation. We ordered a pizza and a pasta. The pasta was so salty that is was impossible to eat and the pizza was average. The waiter didn’t bother to ask us why we didn’t eat the pasta but made sure to tell us that we had to release the table exactly after the hour even though there was still plenty of tables unoccupied and nobody had arrived from the reservations. When we told her that the pasta was unfortunately not eatable, we were told that that’s how a carbonara was supposed to be. I have had many carbonara in my life including in Italy and that was one the worst one I have ever had. Including the bad service experience. We should have known better when we saw a pizza with Pineapple on the menu. I wouldn’t...

Totally average "Italian" food for tourists and people who have never been to Italy. Nothing authentic.

The carbonara has cream in it. That says it all in terms of authenticity. And it was drowning in sauce. Lasagne was overcooked and burnt. The garlic bread pizza starter is the size of an actual pizza and way too big. Tiramisu was... not even close. I don't know what these other people got in the reviews here but ours resembled an Icelandic lagkaka. Weirdest tiramisu ever. And it didn't taste good. Affogato average, but then affogato is pretty boring even when done well. Veal dish was average. Carpaccio was okay and looked nice. My veggie fettucine was pretty tasty but that was it.

Wine selection, well, I can't always blame the place/staff but it was not good. Incredibly high in sulfites which left us all flushed and allergic. The don't seem to quite understand spirits either. It took 4 attempts to provide a vodka soda. Even when we asked in Portuguese.

Very typical mediocre...

Summary: A bit overpriced, small place, bad sangria.

The place is small with no view but cozy. The staff is great and very professional, I would say a bit above average. The location is not bad. The food is very good. The options seem all interesting with various types and combinations of flavours outside the regular boring plates you see everywhere. The only complaint would be that the portions sizes are just random. With this i mean: The ossobuco and the lasagne, for example, have similar prices but when the plate comes one is like double of the portion of the other. The saltimbocca was also a way bigger serving compared to the squid. The sangria should be in my opinion way more fruitty and sweet, it tasted like a white wine...