Restaurante Essência in Porto

Originality of recipesDiscovery of new tastesFlavour of ingrédientsAnd a peaceful environmentOne of the best végétarien restaurant I ever tried !

A bit on pricey side but absolutely worth every penny. Seriously great food and great experience!!

Omg!!! What an incredible meal. We were looking for innovative inspired cuisine and this restaurant really delivered. It was a welcome option from the heavier food offered in Porto restaurants. It’s a bit out of the way but we’ll worth the Uber ride

Very good vegetarian restaurant with an extensive number of good options!We’ll repeat without doubt!

Amazing - if youre vegetarian and in Porto, make the effort to go. Photo shows one of the non-veggie options (scallops with beetroot tagliatelle), which was apparently just as good as the veggie food. Highly recommended.

Such a disappointment! We ordered 2 glasses of red wine, weve had better house wines at other establishments for a third of the price. We asked for couvert thinking the entrées might take a while to arrive (they did not, that part was surprisingly fast): We were offered 2 small stale bread slices and some tomato jam, citrus flavoured butter and olive paste - none of them appetizing so in hindsight we should have lowered our expectations by then. My main dish was well presented but it was probably the blandest dish I ever got at a restaurant. I ordered gnocchi pumpkin alfredo and my husband got the prawn risotto. His dish was slightly better, there were some hints of taste. We were still hungry but did not feel like ordering anything else. I apologized to my husband several times for picking this place for dinner. We ended up paying 55 euros, weve had way better dinners for half of it in Porto.

Vegetarian dining in Porto is not an easy experience so Essencia is a welcome delight. Fantastic, imaginative menu coupled with faultless service - one of the best nights we had in Porto. Restaurant also caters for non veggies too - the Scallop dish was sublime

Great food. Sometimes not quite enough quantity wise.

Great place. Food was tasty , i know its a vegetarian restaurant but i ordered a fish plate. Staff very polite and professional. Micaela was so kind and friendly. Highly recommend this restaurant

Food was of excellent quality!! An absolute delight for vegans and vegetarians - so many options to choose from. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a vegetarian/vegan fine dining experience in Porto.

Great food with a good range of dishes Catering for vegetarians, plenty of options to chose from starters, mains & deserts.

This restaurant is a delight for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike!Ive been to this restaurant a few times and every single time I leave wanting more. The food is delightful to the palate and looks amazing. The service is excellent, friendly and quick. I eat meat and dont have any plans to become a vegan or vegetarian, but if I did, Essência would definitely be on my top list of places to visit as frequently as possible!

One of the best fine dining experiences ever. It was amazing it was vegetarian. We have never forgotten our meal at this place and will definitely want to repeat it again. A romantic experience with fantastic food. Essencia was a wonderful surprise.

Superb food and service. Also a great ambiance. Beautiful patioVegetarian but eith non- vegetarian options. The Fench onion quiche was outstanding.

Food and service on a better level. We loved to be here and would always come back when in Porto. The Restaurant is a 40 minutes to walk from the city center, so I would recommend to take an Uber for that, its really worth the way.

Nice backyard terrace, friendly and courteous staff, delicious food and good menu for vegetarians. We had a great time.

Went for lunch to the executive menu (around 12€, no drinks or coffee included). Tried to make a reservation via email with 5 days notice, did not receive confirmation of the reservation but when I arrived at the restaurant they had my name under a reservation with the wrong number of people...Luckily I still got a tableIn the menu you can choose from 2 entreés, 3 main dishes and 3 desserts.The entreé I had was a vegetable soup, which was nice. For the main I had a Nero Spaghetti with sauted vegetables and it was... bland. The spaghetti lacked salt and it was a bit overcooked. For desserts they made a mistake in the menu and said they had blackberry mousse so we ordered it, but it was clearly raspberry mousse. So we changed desserts and it took a bit too long to do so.Overall is was ok, nothing out of the ordinary.

Nice food although the fish was full of bones ☹ , the lemon dessert was UNREAL

Simply the best was written in my travel guide. And that was true: excellent vegetarian food. Pleasant ambience. Great adventurous menu.Friendly (though sometimes hurriedstaff. Nevertheless. You will feel welcome here.

I have never had vegetarian food served in an exquisite manner as this place. Being vegetarian, it just lit my eyes up and taste buds into a different world. Great ambiance, friendly staff and worth the experience!

Food and service were both exemplary. Wide range of delectable choices - highly recommend

If you visit Porto this is a great choice for vegans as the courteous staff and menu offer vegan options.I had dinner at Essência fine dining vegetarian restaurant that offers fixed lunch and dinner menu of appetizers, mains, and desserts, along with other several vegan options. Great ambience, impressive presentation as well as the taste of the gourmet food. The many vegan options are clearly marked in the menu. So if you are looking for a fine dining, this is the perfect place! I can say its one of the most romantic restaurants in the city. Excellent service and great value for money.

Me and my husband are on a holiday in Porto. This restaurant was on our list to try out, and it got bumped up because it also was recommended by a Porto local, and we were super pleased we made the time for it.The location is not near the tourist attractions or the centre, so taking an Uber was about 5-6€ each way. We ordered a bottle of red wine, starter to share, a main each and dessert to share and it costed about €60.Upon arriving we were shown to a table in their upper rooms, the place is lovely with pleasant ambient lighting. The waitress who served us was very friendly and polite although she didn’t speak English, we were able to communicate with some google translate help. She was super respectful of leaving most of the time for privacy and also being attentive when we needed. So 5* for the services !!The food was excellent, me being vegetarian, most of the trip my husband was eating along with me in vegan places. This place serves excellent options for vegetarians and sea food options. Super happy about neither having to compromise.The quality of food was excellent and portions and plating perfect.Would definitely recommend to anyone in or visiting Porto :well deserved 5starsThanks Essencia for the memorable evening.

Food was good but service was shockingly bad. We booked in advance and then we’re made to wait 20 minutes for a table. When I asked about our table a waitress rudely asked me to be patient “the table would be ready when it is ready”. Service throughout the whole meal was slow and inattentive. We had to ask for the bill twice and ask for the waitress to take or order. We came here for my birthday as i am vegetarian but it was a huge disappointment and not a great way to end my birthday.

My boyfriend and I visited Porto over a year ago and this restaurant is still one of the main parts of our trip that we rave about to everyone! We had 4 courses (started with bread and accompaniments- the tapenade was especially great), large smoothies, and water for the table, which came to 54€. We felt this was very reasonably priced for the amount of food and the quality of the meal that we’d had. The food was incredible, my boyfriend is vegetarian but I’m not, I had a lovely duck dish for my main course but the menu was so nice it wouldn’t have been a problem if there weren’t meat options available. The toilets were nice and very spacious which was appreciated as we were able to easily change out of our beach clothes from the day! The service was good, we particularly remembered how well an older waiter dealt with an unruly child that was running around their table towards the end of the evening.Thank you for a truly memorable experience, we would recommend a visit to anyone and hope to be able to return!

Good food, but not outstanding. I’m not vegan myself but took both vegan starter and main dishes, both were great.

Good vegetarian restaurant, very good food for the money as well, I would have preferred it with a bit more spices

You dont like vegetarian food? After eating here, you will 🙂.The 1st time I had dinner at this restaurant, I ate the wild mushrooms lasagna with spinach, it was delicious, with the right taste and texture. Each ingredient was cooked to perfection. I wouldnt complain if it had a little more quantity.The 2nd time, I ordered the gnocchi... Fantastic flavours, very tasty gnocchi and tomato sauce.Am I vegetarian? No, but its nice to know that there are new flavours to be discovered

Excellent restaurant. Great food yet cheap, options for everyone (veg or not), nice and helpful staff, skilled with languages, good wine and fruit juices, very nice terrace. Wonderful place all around.

Great place with vegan options

Best vegetarian restaurant we ever tried. Perfect service, delicious food (you have to try the saitan steakand a very nice ambient. We paid 50 euros for a bottle of great wine, a big, bottle of water, appetizers, two meals, one coffee and one dessert. We never had that quality and service for such a fair price anywhere else in our 2 week holiday.

Hands down the best vegetarian place in Porto. Unassuming, comforting and inventive food. Fairly priced. Everything in the menu is great, especially the pasta and risotto dishes. The staff is nice and kind. The ambience is inviting, cosy and refined. Great for group dinners and smaller gatherings. Added bonus that it is actually possible to find parking spots by the restaurant, a rare feature in town. Vegetarian or not, just try it out, you will not regret it.

This restaurant looks and it is suposed to be upscale, you pay for that too. But in the case of our group lunch, that was not dilivered. If you charge around 30 Euros for a a 3 coarse meal, for a small group, I expect a good experience. The food is well presented and it is visually appealing, but that changes with the first bite. The looks is not delivered in flavour. Sevice is ok, not very friendly or smiley but vot the job done. The flavour is missing, my Prawns and Curry Risoto, was over cooked a just didnt taste like it should, just plain, if I didnt see the prawns i would not say they were there. . My first course was suposed to be brie inside a croasted dough with a tomato sauce and honey. For my surprise i get Tomato and honey filling and no sine or flavour of the Brie. Called the waiter, but no decent answer, just an assurance that it was some cheese inside, but we didnt find any evidence of it in the 3 first coarse that we order. 2 of us didnt eat any more and no reaction from the restaurant staff. For me, the main point is that if you state in the menu, that you serve a Brie inside a crusted dough with tomato and honey sauce, the expectation is, that cheese is not only there, but that cheese is the master flavour and the tomato sauce is the addictional flavour, not the other way around! Overall, my exlerience was not a good one. My advice would be to improve the service and the flavour in the food.

The waiters are incredibly attentive and helpful. Communicating in English wasnt a problem either. Its a great place to spend a relaxed evening with nourishing food. You should definitely book a table, though, since it seems to be quite popular!

Even non vegetarians should love this place. Menu is great with veg and non veg options. I eat everything and love it every time. Presentation is nice, quiet, good attentive staff, terrace is a must in nice days. A hidden gem. Parking on weekdays is a challenge but worth the effort... Good for talking and conversation meals, dates and friends.

Vegetarian visitors and locals of Porto, this is your restaurant! Absolutely excellent in every way.This place does not represent everything that makes Porto Porto, but this cant be expected of a vegetarian restaurant. Portugals culinary history lies, after all, mostly in meat and other animal products.But for locals and visitors specifically looking for the very best in vegetarian cuisine, this should be your go-to.We enjoyed the pumpkin soup, mushroom risotto, gnocchi and especially the exquisite Douro wine.Service is sublime and prices are perfect. Situated outside of the historic city centre, but easily reachable if you stay there.Highly recommended!

Our first stop after arriving in Porto! World class food and service! We enjoyed ourselves here very much and hope to come back again before we leave!

Restaurante Essência is perfect for people of all diets! I have some dietary restrictions and they ensured that I was fully accommodated. The food was delicious, our server was amazing and the ambiance is fantastic. They have both vegetarian and meat dishes, as well as a great list of wines, beers and other beverages. Would highly recommend!

Cosy space with nice atmosphere, you have outside area available, excellent for summer nights like today 😀, you can choose from vegan, vegetarian and also meat/fish dishes. Quality food beautifully presented.Prices 20/25€ p/person.

Refined vegetarian food (with a few meat dishesat reasonable prices. This isnt your standard I could have made this at home type of place. All the dishes weve tried had a little extra that made it memorable. The cardamom tart is so good that my partner and I have been talking about it since we visited Essência for the first time last year. Luckily it was still on the menu!

Lovely and classy restaurant away from tourist centre. Worth the trip!!! The two of us had a 3 course meal, each choosing different options - all 6 vegetarian dishes were incredible!! And incredibly well priced too, considering the quality. Service was excellent and attentive. Highly recommend, especially for special occasions or if you want to get away from the usual touristy fare.

Cosy with good staff. Vegetarian menu with options for non vegetarians. A bit pricey but definitely worth it!

Vegeterian dishes taken to another level. Delicious.

Very good vegetarian restaurant with non vegetarian options. Also provide Vegan dishes.

The food is great and so is the service. The menu is majorly vegetarian, with a very good selection of starters, main courses and desserts. There are a few non vegetarian options (very good alsowhich makes it easier for group dinner if you have friends that are a little too reluctant to try / eat vegetarian food. Been there several times, and the quality of the food and service has been consistently great :)

Great and delicious dinner! The atmosphere is really nice, the service is so attentive, gentel and helpful and of cause the meals are delicious. They offer creative vegetarian and also vegan plates. But in case someone really wants meat or fish - this is also possible But absolutely not necessary. Prices are moderate, too. I can only recommend this place!

Wonderful place. And they have meat and fish dishes too. The starter sausage roll is amazing. The wine is super cheap and awesome. Grab a cab here about €10 from the centre.

Amazing place with the best vegetarian dishes you can find in Porto. Must try the seitan beef, amazing!

It was the second time and my opinion stay exactly the same... This restaurant its the best place that you can eat vegetarian food in Porto.

Beautifully presented food, excellent service, very good value. Popular which is great to see for a vegetarian place.