Em Carne Viva

We almost didn't try out this restaurant during our trip to Porto because of some of the bad reviews from vegans here, and it being a bit far from our hotel. I am so happy we decided to try it after all. It was amazing. We had the vegan version of the Portuguese tasting menu. Everything was flavorful and beautiful. The staff were friendly and helpful. The building and decor were charming. Everything about this restaurant was perfect. Porto is a lovely city, but it would have been worth the trip from London just for this restaurant alone.

Very nice decor, amazing glass work (my five year old loved the fish tank sink pump in the bathroom), and even better food! Worth the visit, and very helpful staff and attentive service. We had the asparagus appetizer and the mushroom ceviche, both great, the francesinha (I liked that it was not a faithful adaptation, the original is not such amazing cuisine...) and the "sem espinhas", which was a very creative nod to bacalhau, delicious in its own right. The options were mostly vegan, or easily adapted. My non-vegetarian father had no complaints (this is very high praise, my father complains a lot). The wine recommendation was good, and the caipirinha pie was divine.

My expectations were high for this one. The location and decor of the place are absolutely charming, so is the menu where almost every single item has "vegan option" as a side note. It's great to see variety and to feel like the kitchen is willing to adapt the dishes to fit your preferences.

However, that didn't seem to be the case. We ordered the vegan version of two dishes, and they both came "non-vegan" — mine with a poached egg, my mother's with cheese and cream. While we were waiting, we were also served an entree, courtesy of the chef, which had cheese in it. Now, we could simply just refuse it or send it back, but the problem here is that the staff assumed we ate cheese, even though we had just ordered the vegan option — which clearly flew over their heads. (Nothing that could justify that, it was a very slow day at lunch time.)

I was so disappointed by then that I didn't have the courage to rectify the waitress. I pushed the egg aside and went on eating. While the dish was pleasant, the flavours were trying too hard. Too saturated, far from the freshness you expect to taste in a dish that is mostly composed by vegetables. They used peppers everywhere, which was fairly uncreative and off-putting after a bit since peppers leave such a strong after-taste. Couldn't finish.

We tried the Caipirinha Pie for dessert and that won the whole lunch. It was lovely, nothing to point out.

Overall, I think they should be more careful about not crossing the vegan/vegetarian border. It also seems like they try too hard with some dishes but then fail with others, as I was reading other reviews about "bland tofu". Tofu is only tasteless if you have no idea what to do with it. And honestly, for how much they charge, they should.

For not much more than the standard vegan/veg lunch buffet prices in Porto (€24 including a coffee) we got amazing food on par with restaurants in NYC where we've paid four times as much. A starter pumpkin soup was super flavorful without any cream, the main was a grilled kebab with couscous (no sauce for the vegan version), and a raspberry cheesecake/vegan raspberry mousse. The service was kind and the waitress (who was vegan) was proactive in pointing how how a dish had been adapted.

Se come bien pero no es para el precio que tiene.

This restaurant serves vegetarian versions of traditional Portuguese dishes. Quite fancy, also higher prices than you'd pay in the average vegetarian restaurant. But the service is good, the food tastes great and the garden is a peaceful place to sit :)

We had lunch here and it was really nice. As I'm eating only fruits and vegetables at the moment for a detox, we asked them to make a salad for me which was not a problem at all and turned out really nice. The house is beautifully decorated and renovated and it has a beautiful garden. It's maybe a bit expensive but the food is really good. My boyfriend had the vegetable risotto and he really liked it as well. A nice restaurant in Porto!!!

I went there for a Francesinha. It was not vegan as it came with an egg. I don't know if the error was mine for not asking...

The flavour is nothing special. For sure you would find much better vegetarian food in Porto.

Prices are quite expensive.

The location and decoration is very nice, but that's it.

This place is quite fancy and the prices reflect that too.

I ordered the Francesinha which didn't look exactly as I expected it to with lettuce instead of vegan cheese and courgette and tofu instead of sausage. Overall, it was tasty and well-presented. My sister ordered the spineless tofu (which first of all, what is with that name? Everyone knows tofu doesn't have a spine and comparing it to fish is off-putting and not appealing) which was a bit strange. Again, it was very well-presented with petals and salad but unfortunately it tasted weird. I'm guessing they included some sort of fishy taste like nori but it really was just plain tofu cooked in the most simple way.

Still, I'd recommend this place if you've got extra euros and don't mind splashing out for a fancy lunch/dinner, but in my personal opinion, they shouldn't be charging that much for what I would describe as tasting half way between tasty and mediocre.

It used to be my favorite vegetarian restaurant in Porto. I live here so I usually eat there once in a while, both lunch and dinner.
The food was amazing with a concept that I liked (traditional portuguese food but vegetarian). I think with time they lost this concept (risotto isn't portuguese) and the prices are high now if we compare with the beginning and with food quality. The last 3 times I went there they also took really long to serve me and the place wasn't even full.
The place is amazing (no doubt about that), but I think they wanted to change to an elite restaurant and they forgot the rest.
There are some vegan options, but I would recommend for sure the francesinha (you have to ask the vegan option).

I went here because everything my Veggie friends told me about the place. The place is really beautiful and worth checking out on sunny days/weather to enjoy the garden.

As for the food, not that well as I expected.
The Vegan selection is a bit scarce, and not worthy desserts to have there too.
I've tried the "Francesinha" and was a poor one, with only Tofu and some grilled veggies in there. Not their strongest plate.

I've promised I will go there for a second time to check another plate.

Definitely worth of visiting: the staff, atmosphere, surrounding, food as well - just excellent. The waitresses were absolutely terrific.

If you feel like having a different veg experience, go for Em Carne Viva. Vegan options were all good and next time I'll have the portion with seitan (Tasted it and it was unbeliveable!)

Will visit again.

The restaurant garden area is totally lovely and relaxed; like you're getting to visit someone's tastefully kept home. The inside looked just as good, if it wasn't nice enough to sit out.

Service was exceptional. The food was well cooked, well presented and imaginative. We visited for the lunch menu which we found surprisingly excellent value.

Stepping into the restaurant from the busy Boulevard outside feels like entering a calm oasis. Highly recommended - we were sad to leave when the meal was over! What a great place.

Adorei. Terminei a minha última noite do ano num local que me conquistou. Tudo aqui foi perfeito: o local, o conceito, o atendimento e a comida divinal.

Os donos do local são pessoas preocupadas e atenciosos pelo que estavam sempre a ver se estava tudo perfeito.E de facto foi.

Mesmo para um não vegetariano este é um espaço que eu recomendo porque é uma experiência para todos os sentidos e mais alguns. Espero voltar um dia, fora de uma época festiva, de maneira a que possa provar outros pratos.

Os pratos são luxuosos, preparados e confeccionados um a um com todo o rigor e qualidade.

Firstly I think the menus have been updated since previous reviewers visited, as vegan options are now labelled and the menu is in English.

The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated (although make sure you're looking for it on Avenida da Boavista rather than Rua da Boavista like we were...). The garden also looked really nice.

However, the food I felt unfortunately didn't quite live up to the expectations set by the surroundings. For starter I ordered 'Bulhao pato' mushrooms, which turned out to be mushrooms in a butter very garlicky which was OK but not amazing. To give you an idea of how garlicky apparently I still stank of mushrooms from several feet away hours later ): ): ):

For main I had the 'spineless tofu' (still have no idea what that is..) which I think also had a lot of garlic in it, but the tofu was cooked without any flavourings whatsoever. On a plus note though, the roast potatoes that came with it were great)

Some of the puddings sounded interesting, I would have loved to have tried the caprihana pie, however it wasn't vegan. The only vegan options were sliced fruit and fruit with yoghurt, which was really disappointing and felt really lazy in comparison to the non vegan options.

I was also disappointed to see
find out that there was only a single vegan wine on the menu which was a rose. At least one red and white option would have been appreciated.

However I should note that there was lots of choice among the staters and mains for vegans though.

Overall I don't think I would visit again

The concept is veg gourmet food so you can understand the prices. The presentation is beautiful and the food is so yummy! Also note the charming decoration.

Love their concept n happy to see non-meat food taken to a culinary level and presentation. Nice garden, atmosphere and good food. Take the tasting menu (58 euros/person) and pamper yourself. How often you get a 9 course meal vege dishes served at Michelin level?

Kind of upscale cuisine, but affordable. I had some tasty bread with olive tapenade for the starter. Instead of a soup I ordered caldo verde, some kind of Portuguese cabbage stew, which is usually neither vegan nor vegetarian. For the main course I had caramelised seitan in port wine. Everything was delicious, I would almost say perfect even the coffee. At least half of the main dishes are vegan and they also have a very low priced soup of the day.
Apart from the excellent food the restaurant should be recommended because of its pleasant atmosphere and the very friendly staff. Menu is Portuguese and English.
Updated from previous review on Monday October 06, 2014