Porto Lounge - Bristol, City of

This was an on-the-spur-of-the-moment Saturday evening visit to a favourite restaurant (evidenced by my 14 reviews here on TA). Our plan was to walk the 2.5 miles to here from home, and then return by bus. In the end our walk was curtailed, because I became distinctly weary about 1.5 miles into the walk; so we continued our outbound journey by bus. On arrival we were able to sit a table in the smaller dining room. We actually preferred being seated in here as it was quieter (the piped-music in the main area was much louder). Being in this smaller room did not affect the table service which was, as usual, very attentive. We studied the menu and decided to order burgers: my Partner chose the ‘Chicken Kyiv Burger’ whereas I chose the ‘Lounge Bacon Cheeseburger’, both with fries. We had agreed that we would again have a bottle of the ‘Rebeland’ South African Chenin Blanc which we have previously enjoyed. This is a really pleasant wine with peach flavours and gentle hints of citrus fruits. At £24.95 a bottle this is reasonably priced (for a restaurant). My cheeseburger was tasty, a good patty well cooked, but the fries were no better than average, as sadly they came ready-salted. I don’t know what it is about restaurants that just assume that I want salt (which I don’t). I wish they wouldn’t, or better make it optional by supplying salt at the table for those that want to risk increasing their blood pressure. I must admit I find fries boring, and prefer chunky chips any day. The Kyiv Burger was “OK” according to my Partner, but she said she would not order it again. There was noting specifically wrong with it, but it wasn’t what was expected; but at the same time she couldn’t say what was lacking. Her overall summation was that it was “OK, but nothing special”. The meals were not inedible, but in comparison to our favourite 3 tapas plates: the Mini Pulled Brisket Chilli, the Spicy Beef Quesadilla, and the (now discontinued) Meatball Marinara: it ‘wasn’t a patch’. We would not order either burger again. We ‘did desserts’ tonight with my Partner choosing the ‘Banoffee Cheesecake’ which was (once again tonight) “OK” but the filling wasn’t dense like a traditional cheesecake; it was rather insubstantial and less satisfying. Disappointing. For my dessert I had chosen the ‘Passion Fruit Semifreddo’ which I was really looking-forward to. This sadly was not available, so I chose the ‘Warm Chocolate Brownie’ instead; and I wish I hadn’t bothered. To me this wasn’t a brownie, which in my (admittedly limited experience) is a chocolate sponge with a slightly hard outer crust and with a warm glutinous liquid chocolate middle. The brownie here was just a piece of dense chocolate sponge, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a few dashes of chocolate sauce. Disappointing. So for the fist time in our many visits to ‘The Porto’ we left unimpressed with the food.

We love the Porto Lounge and come often but our recent trip I didn’t like so much as the people next to us opened 2 tins of dog food spoon it into 2 takeaway burger containers and feed their dogs next to us with the smell of dog food while we were eating our food. I understand it’s a dog friendly place and totally get that but the dog food is it a step too far??

This year February is longer, and it already felt even longer with such bleak weather (either wet and warm, or dry and cold) so the days dragged-on. We decided we should take advantage of the Tapas Tuesday promotion here; being three tapas plates, and a glass of red or white house wine each, for a total of £12.75 each. So, we set-off a couple of minutes past 18:00 for Fishponds, on a bus, and arrived at the Porto just before 18:30. The Porto was heaving with people and the only seats available were either a sofa (not ideal as the low tables are not really suitable for eating), or we could have a high table with barstools (not ideal either as we find barstools, even well cushioned ones, most uncomfortable). It was however what it was, and we chose the high table. We studied the menu, chose our three tapas each; then I went off to the bar and ordered. I ordered two Mini Pulled Brisket Chilli, two Meatball Marinara, and two Spicy Beef Quesadilla (we do have similar tastes). For the free glass of white wine you can get glass of Verdejo house wine (worth £5.10). We do however enjoy the South African Cullinan View Chenin Blanc here, so I asked for an upgrade; this wasn’t a problem. Our wine was given to me at the bar, and the food orders would be brought to our table directly from the kitchen (I has pointed-out our table to the barman). The problem, a second or two later, was that a standard table had become available and my Partner was busy moving our coats. The kitchen would therefore have an order for the original table and not for our new table. The barman sorted it out for us, and our food soon arrived (at the right table). The tapas was super hot in fact the chilli dishes couldn’t be picked-up, at least without oven gloves; not a complaint just an observation. We ate the other two tapas plates and realising that both of our wine glasses were empty I returned to the bar to get a bottle of the Chenin Blanc whilst the chilli tapas cooled a little; that worked well. All three of our tapas plates were excellent choices, and it was difficult to nominate a favourite, but I felt I really enjoyed the Quesadilla most (on other occasions it could easily been another plate). My Partner nominated her favourite as the (super hot) chilli. We soon finished our food and sat back, relaxed, people watched, chatted, and drank our wine: the occasion was most agreeable. We mulled-over having a dessert, but nothing really appealed on the menu, so we didn’t. Once the wine was gone we departed for our bus (with unfortunately a 30 minute wait due to cancellations). A much enjoyed our visit here and the service was excellent: being prompt, pleasant and helpful.

Seated us at a table, let us order and then 10 mins later told us we had to move as they needed this table for a larger party. Should have appropriately reserved the table and made that clear before seating us there. Poor planning and management.

It has been a while since we visited the ‘Porto’; in fact this was our first visit to their new premises, which opened at the beginning of February this year. We have dined many times at the ‘old Porto’; which was undoubtedly our most visited restaurant of all time. The ‘new Porto’ is a stone’s throw from the old, much smaller, premises that we knew so well. On our arrival here today, at 14:00, most tables were taken, but we still had choices. We chose a table right in front of the bar; in the middle and about three-quarters of the way down the main dining room. Certainly this new place is larger, a lot smarter, and the tables are more generously spaced. It is definitely an upgrade to the former location. We absorbed the attractive view and the ambience, which was convivial and pleasing. If, however, the other (much smaller) room had offered us a table, we would have taken one in there. We studied the menu which is, of course, the same in all ‘Lounger’ restaurants. ‘Loungers’ offer really good fare at very reasonable prices. The food is generally very good and our favourite plates are undoubtedly the tapas. We needed to decide on the wine we wanted to order, and there were two wines that we fancied; both white (we only drink white wine). One was a South African Chenin Blanc, and the other was a Spanish Verdejo. We decided to sample a glass of each and then order a bottle of the one we liked most. Trouble was that, when the order arrived from the bar, the barista couldn’t recall which was which. We tasted both and preferred the one with the stronger zesty flavour. We asked for clarification and the barista poured another small sample for identification purposes, and we were able to order a bottle of the one we preferred. This was the ‘Cullan View’ Chenin Blanc at £21.50 (this is a good price for wine in a restaurant). We sipped our wine, studied the menu for tapas plates to order. Then we went to the bar and ordered our first three (and shared) plates: ‘Mini Pulled Brisket Chilli’ with mature cheddar, spring onion, chilli and yoghurt. A lovely savoury plate with such great flavours and textures, with the chilli-heat et al. This was my personal favourite, but only just with the … ‘Meatball Marinara’: Beef and pork meatballs in a rich tomato and pepper sauce, with veggie parmesan. The meatballs were quite firm, but not overly-so. The savoury flavours were enhanced with a lovely rich tomato and pepper sauce. ‘Spicy beef Quesadilla’ (kay-sa-de-ah) with mature cheddar, and a spicy tomato dipping sauce. This is a Mexican dish, and here it was a folded wrap of the meat and cheese filling, served with a chilli jam, and a little picked cabbage. This was the surprise plate for us, and was equal to the meatballs in how it pleased our palates. We ordered sides of gallic flatbread and fries to accompany these plates, and a little later we called for six more tapas for sharing. We ordered the same three plates, as before, plus: ‘Patatas Bravas’ with roasted garlic mayo; a good filler, and much needed with the second bottle of the same wine as before. ‘Cheddar and Sweetcorn Fritters’ with chipotle chilli jam, these were good, but not particularly our favourite plate. We wouldn’t order these again. ‘Mozzarella Arancini’ with a red pepper sauce, surprisingly good, but again not our favourite; we would be unlikely to order this plate again. We did have desserts with my Partner enjoying the ‘White Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake’ with a berry compote and maple mascarpone. I chose the ‘Warm Chocolate Brownie’ which I can’t say was particularly good, it lacked the runny chocolate middle which is the sign of a good brownie; it was just over-baked. We were sat at our table for about two and a half hours, eating or just relaxing and chatting, and drinking our wine. The service was very good. The food was mainly excellent, but two or three of the tapas plates could have been much hotter (and I don’t mean chilli hot).