Every positive streak ends one day and for our great dinners at in Portugal it was last night at Real by Casa da Calcada https://restaurantereal.pt/en/ in Porto. It was far from a disaster but at the same time also not on the same level of any of our other dinners so far. The appetizers were the best part but the ribeye was very tough and chewy and full of gristle. We like monkfish for its firm and meaty texture but this one was like rubber and really hard to cut. And it was kind of ironic that they translate their chocolate cake as moist when it was so dry that it completely crumbled. Service was good but also inattentive, e.g. served the ribeye with the wrong sauce, we had ask for any beverage menu after ordering our food, the beverage menu or server never mentioned any cocktails as an option and we just saw at the end of the meal that another table was ordering them.
Overall, nothing really bad but also not a restaurant worth revisiting in the future.
Couvert - wheat bread, farmhouse bread, olive oil, butter, olives
Oxtail croquette
Grilled vegetables, goat cheese, pine nuts
Bolota black pork cured ham
Octopus, algarve muxama tuna, onions, peppers, parsley
Ribeye, wild pepper sauce
Tenderloin beef, wild mushroom sauce
Sides - sauteed asparagus, fried potatoes
Monkfish, risotto style cuscos, toucinho, asparagus
Leite-creme (queimado)
Moist dark chocolate cake
Portuguese pudding with egg yolk, lard and port wine
Mignardises