PortuCale Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Newark

You can't go wrong by going to Newark for very good authentic Portuguese. There are so many of them. PortuCale is one of them. We went there for lunch and this restaurant and bar is a neighborhood favorite away from the many restaurants typically located on Ferry Street. They do have on site parking which, is great since street parking can be very challenging. When entering into the main entrance you will be in the bar with tables but, if you want you can request other rooms going from bar to formal, to casual to outside. Since it was raining we requested the casual away from the bar but, overlooking the outside. By the way the outside looks inviting with a waterfall, lighting, canopy, arborvitae, tables and flat screen television. Something we would try when weather permitting. We requested a pitcher of red sangria with little ice and made stronger than usual. We shared the Portucale Sampler. It is a sample of their most appetizers. It's served tapas style with grilled octopus in a garlic sauce, shrimp in garlic, roasted chorizo and roasted potatoes. This was a winner and easy serves 4-6. It's a meal alone for 2. The various breads made this appetizers taste even better. For our entree we had a choice of over 20 for the day. We chose the grilled pork loin with sauteed onions while I want barbecue baby back ribs. The pork loin was juicy and not overcooked. The onions gave it a nice touch with bread. The baby back ribs were moist and not tried with a nice charcoal char. Both entree were served with rice and fries. We barely finished our entrees since the appetizer was so filling. So it was brought home. The portions served are more than enough and you will bring it home. We finished with excellent cappuccino. We were served by waiters we knew who worked at other local Portuguese restaurants so it was nice to be remembered. We plan to...

My husband and I purchased a Groupon which was an amazing idea 💡 Our Groupon came with 1 appetizer 2 entrees and a small pitcher of sangria. They need a little help in the service area (all explain). We walked in and was seated immediately (by an open door in January) I asked if they could close the door because I was cold and the door was directly behind me. The server told us “no, just move”. When I repeated it back to him to ensure I heard him correctly he said well it’s gonna get hot if we close the door. Ok so we moved away from the door. Two more couples was seated 5 mins after we arrived. After he explained what our Groupon consisted of, we placed our order for the Wings and wasn’t given an option(red/white) for Sangria. We waited patiently. The other two couples who can in after we did and was seated after us, was given bread and their sangria (which was white). The server came back with red sangria and poured two glasses (no biggie). I noticed he wasn’t gonna bring us bread unless I asked so that I did. He brung it out immediately. It was ice cold with a side of butter. I asked if he could warm it up and that he did. While we waited for our entrees a group of 3 walked in and was seated. I noticed (because they was seated right beside us) that they received a specials menu. So I asked the server for one because we wasn’t given or even was offered any specials. Our meal was very delicious 😋. Once we were done we asked for the bill and he gave it to us but never offered us coffee or dessert (but gave the others a dessert menu) we kindly tip the guy (the Groupon paid for our meal) and left. Will I return? 🤔 maybe if I have another Groupon. Oh and by the way parking sucks .. the have a lot but it is extremely small (one way in...

Came to check in before heading out to the airport. The main front door doesn't work or better, it's locked with a piece of wood and no sign saying to use the side door. If it wasn't for a customer eating inside and pointing it out to go around. We would had broken the glass door from pulling it so hard.As for the service, could be better! The waiter didn't know a passion fruit juice. We ended up having something else. Even after that he had a sour attitude. Meanwhile, he kept checking on his big table next to us where a bunch of patrons (men) kept talking loud and cursing out in Portuguese. Disrespectful while having women eating there. As for the food, we had what they called Polvo à açoriana 🤔. That is new to me! Because I'm açoriana and i NEVER EVER had octopus with broccoli! It's not a vegetable that we grow or even care in the islands. The dish was tasty, could have a few more potato's, the octopus was tender but the outside could had been less slimy. The bread and olives were delicious! As for the service, there is more to wish for. His attitude was DO NOT CARE for these 2 people, didn't bothered checking on us or to offer another drink. Which it would had been ok. He still got a good tip bc the place was clean, the food wasn't that bad. Just his service...