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Portal Restaurant & Bar

Address:	88 St John Street EC1M 4EH
Tel	020 7253 6950
Email:	info@portalrestaurant.com
Website:	Visit Portal Restaurant & Bar website
Price: £44.00	Wine: £15.00	Champagne: £44.00
Opening Hours:	Mon-Sat 12N-3pm 6-10.15pm

Square Meal review of Portal Restaurant & Bar:

Portal opens the door to sophisticated cooking & superior wines from Portugal. While requisites like bacalao (salt cod) & arroz de polvo (octopus rice) are well represented, dishes are lifted far above the rustic into modern renditions better suited to the funky surrounds of the modern dining room. Sardines, for instance, come roasted & adroitly stuffed between warm slices of bread with tomato or plated with red onion escabeche & potato gratin. The introduction of vegan & gluton-free options impresses, but the highlight of the menu will always be the braised ‘bisarro’ (deliciously tender meat from a rare breed of pork). Slow cooking is a speciality & so, some complain, is slow service. There’s also a chic wine-themed private room & a buzzy bar serving Portuguese tapas.