I am happy to be the first person to review this unbelievable restaurant on Yelp. Trip Advisor has…read moreover 170 reviews for this place and it's maintained its five star rating for a reason. Hands down this was the best meal in Porto by far. Before this place gets too popular, run--don't walk.
The service was impeccable. Every dish was perfectly explained to us when it arrived. The meal was paced perfectly as well (although my partner said dessert seemed a little delayed, but I didn't notice).
They offered (and we ate happily) 3 amuse bouches before we were served our couvert (bread and oil/butter). The first was a small aperitif size glass of broccoli cream (cold soup) along with a small piece of raw sea bass in some sort of vinaigrette on a beautiful little fish plate. Seriously amazing. They then dropped off heirloom cherry tomatoes with cashews. Flavorful tomatoes in December? You bet!
They serve 3 types of bread throughout the evening (a server walked by with a large tray of it and you got to pick which style) with Portuguese olive oil and olive butter. If I had one suggestion, I would say that the bread should be warm -- but the way they serve it, I think it wouldn't be possible.
We opted not to have their tasting menu for the main reason that I don't eat meat (fish, dairy, eggs are fine) and my partner doesn't eat veal which was one of the options on the larger tasting menu. We ordered 3 dishes to share -- the cheese board (4 cheeses: 2 sheep, 2 cow, all 4 were 'wow'), the shrimp stew which was filling and flavorful (and fortunately they came by with more bread to sop up the sauce), and the octopus which was fresh and cooked perfectly.
For dessert, we got another little treat on the house before our sponge cake with passion fruit sorbet arrived.
Every single course got 5 stars from us. Add to that the service and the atmosphere and you have yourself a winner.
This place will be found -- and will get crowded. Enjoy!