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Porto - Galician seafood in West Town

Porto - Galician seafood in West Town
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  • Porto - Galician seafood in West Town

    Post #1 - March 10th, 2020, 5:06 pm
    Post #1 - March 10th, 2020, 5:06 pm Post #1 - March 10th, 2020, 5:06 pm
    Anyone been? There's been a lot of hype, so I'm curious.

    =R=

    1600 W Chicago Ave
    Chicago, IL 60622
    (312) 600-6338
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #2 - March 10th, 2020, 10:42 pm
    Post #2 - March 10th, 2020, 10:42 pm Post #2 - March 10th, 2020, 10:42 pm
    We went! It is curious and interesting. Two full menu pages of imported tinned seafood served straight in the tin; plus two pages of composed dishes featuring fresh seafood, house cured seafood, and tinned seafood.

    We ordered composed dishes: uni toast, galician stew, razor clams, hake rillette, baccalao dumplings, roasted romanesco.

    While there is some cleverness and some tastiness, with 1 exception (rillette, which was excellent) the dishes were just unbalanced - not enough brightness, not enough texture. The uni was drowned out by soft brioche and (unpleasantly cold) cauliflower puree. The galician stew was one note and uniform texture. The razor clams were fine but served atop seriously mushy canned white asparagus. The baccalao flavor was muted to begin with, and then served in a rich egg yolk cream. It is a funny concept: a pricey, fancy place centering canned food - and there just needs to be greenery and citrus and crunch to liven things up.

    Notably, there is only 1 vegetable dish on the entire menu (no sides of veg, no salads), and it was cooked to almost mush and in a very oily preparation. The menu desperately needs a bright, acidic, crunchy salad, but the individual dishes also need balance.

    Our tab with these dishes, which is 5 starters and 1 main, and 4 drinks, was $225 pre tip, so not cheap either.

    The place was pretty busy, and the decor is over the top, so it is kind of an experience.
  • Post #3 - March 10th, 2020, 11:51 pm
    Post #3 - March 10th, 2020, 11:51 pm Post #3 - March 10th, 2020, 11:51 pm
    annak wrote:We went! It is curious and interesting. Two full menu pages of imported tinned seafood served straight in the tin; plus two pages of composed dishes featuring fresh seafood, house cured seafood, and tinned seafood.

    Thanks, for the detailed notes. I appreciate them. The focus on the tinned seafood kind of reminds me a wee bit of Quimet y Quimet in Barcelona, though, Q&Q is masterful at it and famous for it.

    Made a reservation for later this month and am deciding whether to see it through or nuke it. I haven't been impressed by any of their other spots, so that's factoring into this decision, too. But again, the details you've provided here are really helpful. Maybe a drink and a bite or two -- rather than a full meal -- is the best way to proceed. Gonna mull this over for a bit. Thanks again.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #4 - March 11th, 2020, 7:28 am
    Post #4 - March 11th, 2020, 7:28 am Post #4 - March 11th, 2020, 7:28 am
    ronnie_suburban wrote:Made a reservation for later this month and am deciding whether to see it through or nuke it. I haven't been impressed by any of their other spots, so that's factoring into this decision, too. But again, the details you've provided here are really helpful. Maybe a drink and a bite or two -- rather than a full meal -- is the best way to proceed. Gonna mull this over for a bit. Thanks again. =R=


    In the same, uh, boat as you, Ronnie: later-this-month reservation, skepticism given middling meals at other restaurants in the group. It was Mike Gebert's profile on Fooditor that nudged me towards that reservation: the chef is drawing from Josh Niland's techniques and seems to be committed to sourcing preparing seafood at a high level. We'll see.
  • Post #5 - March 11th, 2020, 9:54 am
    Post #5 - March 11th, 2020, 9:54 am Post #5 - March 11th, 2020, 9:54 am
    Wixter stocks a decent selection of tinned items for a make-at-home version:

    https://www.wixtermarket.com/product-category/tinned/
  • Post #6 - March 11th, 2020, 10:43 am
    Post #6 - March 11th, 2020, 10:43 am Post #6 - March 11th, 2020, 10:43 am
    annak wrote:Our tab with these dishes, which is 5 starters and 1 main, and 4 drinks, was $225 pre tip, so not cheap either.


    Wowee!

    We had drinks and apps at Beatnik maybe a couple years ago. I loved the interior, my wife thought it was a bit much. Really liked some cocktails, others just OK. Thought the apps were just OK. Didn't think the tab was commensurate with what we received, but they have a lot invested there. FWIW this wasn't recent, things may have really improved. We live not that far from here and pass by frequently and they seem to be doing well, weekends are hopping.
  • Post #7 - March 11th, 2020, 12:36 pm
    Post #7 - March 11th, 2020, 12:36 pm Post #7 - March 11th, 2020, 12:36 pm
    The Yelp reviews are all over the place....
  • Post #8 - March 11th, 2020, 4:00 pm
    Post #8 - March 11th, 2020, 4:00 pm Post #8 - March 11th, 2020, 4:00 pm
    I second Wixter for premium tinned conserves. Excellent selection.
    "In pursuit of joys untasted"
    from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata
  • Post #9 - March 16th, 2020, 6:12 pm
    Post #9 - March 16th, 2020, 6:12 pm Post #9 - March 16th, 2020, 6:12 pm
    spinynorman99 wrote:Wixter stocks a decent selection of tinned items for a make-at-home version:

    https://www.wixtermarket.com/product-category/tinned/

    I believe that's the same brand that Fahlstrom's sells, both for dine-in and retail.
  • Post #10 - September 30th, 2021, 3:35 pm
    Post #10 - September 30th, 2021, 3:35 pm Post #10 - September 30th, 2021, 3:35 pm
    I went to Porto this week with a couple friends. I was super excited to try it, but then I started reading the reviews and was a bit nervous. Overall, as mentioned above, I found the food to be a bit uneven. For the price of the meal, I would have expected a bit more consistency in the food/seasoning. Service was great, very friendly, great explanations of the food and wine. The presentation of the dishes were gorgeous. The space was beautiful. We started with cocktails next door at Beatnik, they make an awesome za'atar fig old fashioned.

    As for the food at Porto, the best thing we ate by far was the Beef Tartare, it was absolutely delicious, the perfect two bites, stunning presentation, I think our server mentioned it had XO sauce on it. We also loved the Jamon Iberico, and my other favorite thing was the charred octopus, it was smokey and tender and delicious. The charred seasonal vegetables were also really good, a mix of mushrooms, artichokes, carrots and watermelon radish. The wood fired oysters were ok, but a bit too salty. We tried the tin of yellowfin belly and it was good and came with a few slices of very good fresh bread, but it would have been nice to have some kind of salt or seasoning to add to it....it was just a fancy tin of tuna. We also tried the whole Turbot, which they present and then bring it back fileted. The sauce on it was very garlicy butter sauce, but the fish itself did not taste good, maybe I just don't like turbot, but it tasted very strong to me, it was everyone's least favorite dish. They recommended some very good Spanish wines, which we enjoyed. We didn't do dessert because nothing really caught our eye. I don't know if I'd go back...maybe for a cocktail and some beef tartare.

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