In my quest for cheap eats around Dublin, I may have stumbled upon a place that ticks (nearly) all the boxes.
Cheap food? Tick. Great quality? Tick. Friendly staff? Tick.
Porto Belo is a tiny little Brazilian restaurant at 50 Pleasant St., just around the corner from Davitt’s pub on Camden St. It serves good, big portions of delicious food at really good prices.
Interior and Service
My good friend Cat and I first stumbled across Porto Belo when were going to a class near Camden St and wanted to try somewhere new for dinner. The decor was off-putting: plain white walls, plain wooden tables, plain office blinds. It reminded me of a canteen where I used to work. A Brazilian restaurant really should make an effort to recreate the some of Brazil’s carnival atmosphere. However, we were greeted with a friendly smile and soon felt at ease there. The service has been consistently good.
Starters
Our friendly and helpful waitress kindly suggested that we were ordering too much food. Foolishly, we ignored her. For starters, we shared five “Brazilian snacks” – simple and delicious little cheese or meat filled pastries. We also got Salpicao – described as a salad with potato, carrot, chicken, ham, cheese, mayonnaise, cream, pineapple, apple, raisins, potato sticks, herbs, and “chef’s personal touch.” This was a giant plate, crammed full of foods that would normally embarrassed to be seen together. Somehow, it worked. At this point, it dawned on us that our waitress’s prophetic advice about over-ordering would come true, and braced ourselves for the gorging to come.
If you can't make it to Brazil, try Porto Belo instead
Mains
The list of mains was really tempting. Cat had the Porto Chicken – juicy, succulent breast meat marinated in a blend of delicate yet robust spices. I opted for the Escabeche Fish 1, which was grilled fish in coconut milk and “dende sauce” (again, more gentle spices full of flavour). Both meals came with rice and mixed vegetables.
The Money Shot
Our bill came to €39.50 for two mains and two starters. On subsequent visits, I’ve skipped the starters and still left feeling full and satisfied. The most disappointing part of my visits, apart from the decor, is the lack of customers. With such great food, service, value and quality, this place deserves to be packed out of the door.
- Porto Belo is open for lunch during the week and opens for dinner at weekends. For bookings, phone 01-475-0239.
Thursday 5 March, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I’m happy you liked it! I’m a native so I go there occasionally to attack homesickness!
Starters are not part of Brazilian restaurant culture (I’m sure you can guess why….yes, portion sizes!). We will more often have some sort of “tapas” (we call it couvert: bread, butter, olives, grilled vegs, etc) while we wait for the meal.
I like the place but I think it is still lacking a few more dessert options in the menu.
Thursday 5 March, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I’ve often seen this place, but never ventured through their doors, mainly due to the look of the place. Thanks for the review, it’s now down in the books as one to try.
Friday 6 March, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I’ve often seen this place, but never ventured through their doors, mainly due to the look of the place.
Same here. Will give it a try now though.
Friday 6 March, 2009 at 7:25 pm
thanks so much for this! I lived in Brazil for a couple of months and have been looking for a night of recreating it! By the way – does anyone have a recommendation for a great argentinian place? more importantly – empanadas, the baked ones not the fried variety. Thaaanks 🙂
Sunday 8 March, 2009 at 11:25 am
I think the only Argentinean in Dublin is the Buenos Aires Grill. Never been there though, so I can not recommend…Maybe Peter can give it a try some day…
😀
Sunday 8 March, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Unfortunately you can’t get South American meat here.
Monday 9 March, 2009 at 10:05 am
I have a description of a visit to the Buenos Aires Grill up on my blog. (http://stitchandbear.blogspot.com/2008/12/buenos-aires-grill-dublin.html). We had empanadas there, but I can’t remember if they were fried or baked.
Thursday 9 April, 2009 at 12:23 am
I just passed this place tonight. It’s been closed for renovations but it’s reopening today (Thursday April 9) for lunches and coffee, and in three weeks time for dinners. It’s under a new name (which I forget: but I think it was something like “Salco Brazil”) and looks MUCH better inside. I’m looking forward to trying it out again. Let us know if what it’s like if you get there before me.
Thursday 16 April, 2009 at 7:42 pm
It’s called Sabor Brazil. And it looks like it now has an upstairs… I have high hopes for this place.
Thursday 5 November, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I haven’t been yet but some friends tell me it’s nice…
Sabor means Taste, in case you wanto to know!
Thursday 14 October, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Is this place still open? Tried calling them there but phone is permanently engaged…
Thursday 14 October, 2010 at 3:29 pm
I passed by Sabor Brazil yesterday and it was open. Seems to open sporadically though
Monday 22 October, 2012 at 9:26 pm
In order to make a reservation at Sabor Brazil I was required to pay a 25 euro per head booking fee which is non refundable but was then deducted from the 100 euro per head minimum charge at the end of the meal. The menu and the pricing system have changed from what it used to be since a number of people recommended it to me, it is now a 7 course tasting menu where you must order the full 7 courses which cost 100 euro and you are not permitted to share. These prices cannot be justified as the food just is not good enough. Its a fine dining experience where you are expected to sit down and spend a full evening here experiencing all the different influences of Brazillian food and the service is impeccable but I still felt the whole experience was ruined by the pricing. The restaurant is very small,it only holds 8 people and is beautifully decorated inside but we were the only 2 people there unsurprisingly as I was unclear to the pricing system before coming here. The food on the 7 course menu at no point blew us away, i found the chocolate soup desert to be the best thing on the menu,the other courses were a mixed bunch. Olives and a glass of proseccio to start with, then sushi which was just fine, this was followed by cheese balls made with a type of Brazillian flour and dip, there was then a layered potatoe and cod cake course, a pastry pouch with chillies and salsa followed, a beef course was next which was quite good but iv experienced far better elsewhere and then finally sorbet and a chocolate soup as i mentioned. The prices are crazy, the courses are tiny as it is a tasting menu, the food good but nothing amazing, the service and staff are very helpfull and endearing but there was no atmosphere as it was empty apart from us. The only saving grace to the shock of 100 euro per head which you can unwittingly become committed too after the booking deposit was that we were complemented a bottle of white wine and a glass of red each. I certainly will not be returning, its a shame this restaurant changed their menu to this extortionately expensive tasting menu as i believe this place was a lovely experience when it operated as a normal restaurant and i truly found the two men who run it to be extremely pleasant and friendly.
Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 9:19 am
http://www.saborbrazil.ie/Menu.html
€200 for dinner for 2 without drinks? I’d rather go to the Hibernian Club for those prices.
Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 10:27 am
Interesting… I see it’s rated number one of 1,105 restaurants in Dublin on TripAdvisor. Most of the reviewers seem very reliable as well. But, at those prices, there’s no way I’ll be in a position to decide for myself!
Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Except the beef fillet, there is nothing on the menu that justifies the price either.
Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 3:38 pm
On the face of it, I’d agree with you Nanazolie. But maybe it’s truly spectacular and good value and perhaps it deserves the title of the best restaurant in Dublin. It certainly sounds like an interesting place. I’m not convinced, but I won’t knock it until I try it – which I will do on the Neverth of Never in the year Never. It’s as far from a cheap eat as you can get.
Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 4:36 pm
To be honest, I can’t believe people are spending so much money on dinner in a place like that. Why not go to Shanahans or Chapter One instead?
Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Again, on the face of it, I’d agree, but maybe we’re missing something amazing and it just hasn’t had the fanfare of places like Chapter One. I’m skeptical too Claire!