Dinner at P4 na Baixa

Featured image above from grupop4.pt.

It had been a while since we went out for a nice dinner, so when we went to Porto recently, we decided to celebrate both our birthdays and our anniversary in one special occasion.  Mike had made a reservation at P4 na Baixa (“P4 Downtown”) a month earlier.  He chose the restaurant based on reading TripAdvisor reviews, which were overwhelmingly favorable.  Still…you never know, but we were game to try something new.

The restaurant is on the Rua de Sá de Noronha, a narrow street near the Universidade do Porto and the Igreja do Carmo, a baroque church with an elaborate facade of azulejo tiles. 

When we arrived at the restaurant, the hostess told us that we could only have our table for two hours.  It was another sign that traditional Portuguese restaurant culture, where you can sit all day and all night if you like, is slowly being replaced by customs familiar in the US, like an emphasis on “turning tables”.  It was off-putting, but we soon got over it.  

Inside, the restaurant is small, dark, and cozy.

We had studied the menu online before going to the restaurant, so we had a good idea of what we wanted. The food was excellent.

Our waitress, Beatriz, was quiet, but friendly.  She offered to help me select wine because the wine list was only in Portuguese.  I’m sure she thought we were tourists.  I waved her off, but quickly realized that I needed her help.  We gave her our order for food and she recommended Esporão Reserva, a red wine from the Alentejo region in eastern Portugal. At € 28, it was almost the most expensive wine on the menu, but it turned out to be worth every penny.

We shared two starters. One was a tuna tartare with avocado, toasted sesame oil, wakame seaweed, and ponzu foam. The other was a salad of avocado, tomato, mango, and arugula with a red onion vinaigrette, peppers and coriander. Both were light and delicious.

For our main course, we each chose steak, something we don’t often order in restaurants in Portugal.  But the options here sounded interesting.  Mary ordered a steak with a sauce made from mustard and Licor Beirão, a popular Portuguese liqueur, and a salad.  Mike’s steak had a sauce made with butter, queijo serra (serra cheese – a traditional sheep’s milk cheese that dates back to the 12th century) and Port wine, accompanied by jasmine rice.  

Both dishes were perfectly cooked and delicious.  Mary’s mustard sauce bordered on being overpowering, but backed off at the last second.  And when we think of a sauce made with cheese, we see globs of yellow goo slithering down a piece of overcooked broccoli.  But the sauce on Mike’s steak was fine and warm, with the cheese and butter adding a rich, subtle flavor that nicely complemented the meat and the Port wine.   

Throughout the meal, Beatriz checked back with us, pouring wine and topping off water.  This was unusual, as servers in Portugal tend to only come around if you wave at them.  She was easy to talk to and laughed with us.

There were two pleasant surprises at the end of the meal. 

First, one of the other waiters brought us two shot glasses of chocolate tequila.  We had never heard of such a thing, but could smell rich chocolate coming from the little glasses.  It’s also something we would never order – me being from the “liquor shouldn’t be flavored” school of thought.  But having tried it once, we’ll probably have it again.  

Beatriz retrieved the bottle from the bartender so Mike could take a picture of the label.  It was from Mexico.  This is something we’ll try to find in one of the specialty stores in Lisbon. 

The second surprise was the bill.  We had booked the table through thefork.com.  When Mike completed the reservation, the site said we would receive a 30% discount on our meal.  We didn’t expect to get it, but also decided not to ask.  Mary’s logic was, “Look, we enjoyed the meal.  Leave it at that.”  But when Beatriz presented the bill, there it was.  Our total for the evening – less than € 100.

We left smiling.  And left Beatriz a nice tip.

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We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at P4 na Baixa. Great food, attentive service, and a warm, relaxing ambience. If you’re looking for a nice dinner in Porto, make a reservation and give them a try.

What new restaurant have you been impressed with lately? Leave your review in the comments below or with a note via the Contact Us form.

Have a great week / Tenha uma ótima semana

Mary and Mike

The Cook and The Writer

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