Porto Ibérico — Restaurant in Vila Nova de Gaia

Be warned – Made to feel very unwelcome by not very smart or xenophobic restaurant owner. Perhaps both? We’ll let you decide. We certainly didn’t expect to hear this whilst dining out. "It is your fault, I have been respectful to you and yet you come to my country cause this problem and disrespect me”.

My wife booked this restaurant by phone on the Saturday morning for that evening. The Tripadvisor reviews were good and we were very much looking forward to what ended up as the worst restaurant experience I've ever had in my 55 years. If you are not Portuguese, we recommend you give this place a wide berth. We walked up from Graham’s Port Lodge but as we approached the area it felt more like walking into a council estate than the salubrious feel at Graham’s. When we arrived, our waiter was nice and the food was OK but we had had better the night before at Bilha Nova, which we thoroughly recommend by the way.

If you’re Portuguese, this is an OK place to eat, BUT BEWARE IF YOU ARE A FOREIGNER. It all turned very ugly when we came to pay the bill which was 81 Euros. It was only at that point we were informed that they don't take credit cards. They only take Portuguese cards not foreign cards. This in itself we have no major issue with. That is the owner’s prerogative and had we known at time of booking or when we arrived, we would have gone elsewhere. We do however have huge issue if we are not informed of this fact before ordering and eating the meal and we have an even bigger issue when we are then blamed by the owner when we can’t pay the bill and made to feel extremely uncomfortable. It totally ruined our evening and for the sake of the 31 Euros we were short (as we had 50 Euros in cash) it was handled extremely badly.

One has to question the restaurant owner’s motivations in this respect as he told us it had happened before and he had lost 300 Euros because of it. If that were true then surely a reasonable person would try to ensure the situation did not recur and make it crystal clear to foreign customers that THEY DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. Is he not very smart or does he just dislike foreign tourists and wants to argue with them? To be honest we’re not sure which?

He rejected all of our attempts to resolve the issue. To quote him "it is your fault, I have been respectful to you and yet you come to my country cause this problem and disrespect me”. When we said we didn’t know, his response was “there is a sign on the door stating that credit cards were not accepted so you did know” Well that was a lie. We pointed out that on Tripadvisor it says the restaurant takes digital payments and he said that was wrong and proceeded to blame Tripadvisor. Bit of a theme developing here. It is all someone else’s fault.

I walk down the street to the nearest ATM but I was unable to withdraw any cash. Not an ideal situation but I have a Wise account and can do a Euro bank transfer. It was now he got really nasty. He refused to accept a bank transfer unless it was immediate. He stated that all banks can do immediate transfers, which may be the case for same currency transactions within Portugal but not for Sterling to Euro International transactions. Santander quotes up to 4 days. We offered to pay the 31 Euros we were short in Pounds Sterling (cash) but he rejected that yet he offered no solution but one which wasn’t actually possible (i.e. an immediate bank transfer). Instead going into a tirade about how this had happened before and he had lost 300 Euros by someone doing a bank transfer which didn't go through.

After about 20 minutes of going around in circles with the restaurant owner and faced with no solution that was acceptable to him, we said “OK call the police and let them sort it out. If you won’t do that then we will leave”. Only then did he accept the bank transfer we offered which would take 3 days.

The situation was unfortunate but easily avoidable. Once it had occurred, a practical solution was the only way forward. There was no need for the restaurant owner to make us feel so...

Porto Ibérico delivers an exceptional dining experience that showcases the best of Portuguese and Spanish flavors! Nearly every dish we tried was memorably delicious.

The asparagus with jamon and cheese was a perfect starter - the saltiness of the high-quality jamon complemented the fresh asparagus beautifully, and the cheese added just the right richness.

The Pica-pau do mar (seafood pica-pau) was truly outstanding! The sauce deserves special mention - deeply flavorful with that perfect balance of garlic, olive oil and spices. The prawns were cooked to perfection - wonderfully fresh with that ideal firm texture that shows they weren't overcooked at all.

The octopus risotto had tender pieces of octopus distributed throughout the creamy rice, while the mushroom risotto, though flavorful with its earthy notes, unfortunately suffered from being too salty - the one miss in an otherwise stellar meal.

The veal truly lived up to its description - so tender it could indeed be eaten with a spoon! Clearly slow-cooked to perfection, allowing all those flavors to develop and the meat to reach that melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

For dessert, the banoffee pie was divine with its perfect balance of sweet toffee and cream, though it could have used a bit more banana to balance the sweetness.

Despite the overly salty mushroom risotto, the overall experience at Porto Ibérico makes it a must-visit in Porto, especially for the incredible pica-pau do mar and that impossibly tender veal!

P.S. they don't accept foreign cards here, so...

It's no surprise that this restaurant isn’t busy, and there are very strong reasons for that. First of all, it's located far from more populated areas, so you have to arrange transportation to get there. Second, they don’t accept cards, which is a major inconvenience! There's nothing on the menu indicating this, nor do they warn you when you order. You only find out when it's time to pay, and the waiter points out a tiny symbol by the door, which is so small and low down that it's nearly impossible to see, especially at night. When asked why they don’t accept cards, the waiter simply said they don't want to pay the transaction fees—a cost that any serious restaurant would consider part of doing business. After finishing the meal, I had to scramble to find cash to cover the bill, which was a frustrating experience. As for the food, while it was decent, it was nothing special or worth going out of your way for. It makes no sense to travel far just to face the inconvenience of not being able to pay with a card. If you happen to be staying nearby and have cash on hand, it might not be the worst option. But that explains why the place isn’t busy—they’re stuck in the past, refusing to pay a minor fee that every modern business accepts. If I had seen the reviews about their no-card policy beforehand, I would have avoided this place and saved myself the...