WINE CLUB RESTAURANTE & WINE BAR — Restaurant in Porto

We really wanted to like this place, and we somewhat naively trusted the reviews. The waiter was very friendly, the wine was good, as expected for 60 EUR a bottle, although not fantastic. However, the food was disappointing, which was actually true of every single dish down to the olive oil with a strange taste. We paid 40 EUR per person for food only, certainly not a cheap place.

EDIT: It seems that my review was too unspecific - my bad - so the owner of this place thought that I don’t like any food in Porto and hence suggests that I “go home” in their response. But in fact, you will easily find my review of another less expensive place in Porto that actually serves fantastic tuna and steak and much more on fine-dining level. So, hoping to give the owner some hints how to improve, here are some more details.

Old vines are no strangers to us. The wine was actually good, hence the picture, I just don’t like paying 60 EUR for a wine quality in the 25-30 EUR price range when bought in a shop, which means good but not fantastic. Easily checked online. “Fantastic” value for money would, for instance, mean to get a nice 45EUR Barolo or Garnacha for 60EUR, which is not at all uncommon in Southern Europe. Also, you would expect not to offend a place called “wine club”, or be suspected of ignorance, if you ask them to describe the difference between two wines on the menu.

I don’t have the habit to throw away meat if it is not too bad, so I ate the steak, which was okay for me, but not “yummy”. The part at the bone usually has a special taste. The person I shared it with did not like the steak at all however suspecting some spice they did not like. In addition, it was too well done given that we had demanded “saignant / medium rare”. All in all a mediocre experience for us at best. What they offer as “tuna tartar” is actually more of a salad with a lot of onions and too little tuna. A lot of the dish went back to the kitchen. They should seriously consider adding tuna while reducing the onions. The cheese in the croquettes might be considered a délicatesse by some, I assume, for us the cheese was simply bitter. The octopus “with pickles” simply tasted like the pickles and not much more. I actually liked the taste of the pickles, but then again I could have ordered pickles for that taste. I honestly don’t understand what “the olive oil is from Tagus, not Douro” is supposed to explain. I tasted a number of olive oils from 5 different countries, using oil from 2 countries every day. Nothing I know is even close to this “special” oil, which was rather thin, had no fruit, and not at all the spiciness of other olive oils, but rather something else that I find hard to describe. So, let’s just say, it was really not my taste – if it was still good – and taste for yourself if you are looking for something special. It would have been nice to be offered an alternative instead of just showing me the bottle “from Tagus” when I naively asked if they had put something else in to the oil. All in all, just as stated by a short french review a day ago (so after my original), this place is too highly priced for what you get.

For me, mediocre food at best and overpricing mean 3-1 = 2...

This was the best restaurant I have ever been in. The service and food were exceptional. It was a fine dining experience. We were there for Valentine's day dinner. The waiter was very kind and helfpul and he recommended very delicious wine. At first we had chicken empanadas with caramelised onions - it was amazing. For the main meal, my boyfriend had filet mignon - he said that it was the best steak in his life. I had Bacalhau à brás - a portuguese meal with cod, potatoes and eggs. It was a new meal for me but it was very tasty. I coudln't finish it because I was very full but it was exceptional. Then we had the sweet of the day for dessert. It was so good and we also got two heart shaped chocolates as a gift! As for the wine- it was the tastiest wine we ever tasted. This restaurant felt like a michelin star restaurant. I would 100% recommend this restaurant. If we'll ever come back to Porto, we will definetely visit this...

Fantastic place I stumbled upon one night, thinking my wife and I would have a simple glass of wine.

The owners (husband and wife team) poured us some truly remarkable Portuguese wines, ones that I had not tasted even after living in Portugal for years. Other restaurants and cafes in the area simply don’t offer this selection.

Since then, we have returned regularly to enjoy their wine selection, ambience, and kind hospitality.

In addition, their petiscos and small dishes are again wonderful presentations of Portugal’s highest quality ingredients and food products. Marinated tuna from the Azores islands, homemade codfish croquettes, carefully selected cheese platters, etc.

If you are in the area, don’t hesitate to stop in for a glass (or bottle!) of fine wine. You...