My partner and I recently returned from a lovely long weekend in Bruges. During our stay we were very fortunate to have been directed to this lovely little restaurant. It truly was a great find, with a lovely warm atmosphere, great service, brilliant food (which I only wish i could sample again!) and even friendly clientele! If you are planning to visit Bruges, I whole- heartedly recommend this lovely restaurant!

History and Background

Originally my boyfriend and I were looking for De Botelier restaurant to have dinner on our first night in Bruges after seeing it recommended in wikitravel guide. However, after leaving our decision to eat a little late - we didn't arrive at De Botelier until almost 10pm - we were very kindly told that they were all booked up but redirected to a couple of restaurants around the corner, one of which was Porto Romano. By this time, I was tired and tempted to leave the restaurant and just grab a waffle on the way back to the hotel, nut my boyfriend convinced me to pop into Porto Romano just for a snack (knowing that I would not be satisfied by a mere waffle and subsequently strop my way through the night until the next morning - i'm awful).

We were greeted happily by who we assumed was the waiter (he was not only the waiter) and though conversation discovered that Porto Romano used to be the site for De Botelier until the owner moved premises about 6 months ago. Porto Romano is a family run business, with the husband waiting and hosting, whilst his wife cooks all the lovely food...mmmmmm

Location

Located at Sint Jakobstraat 50, 8000 Brugge, it stands opposite a small church and in the vicinity of a few restaurants well known in Bruges, such as Kok au vin and De Botelier. However, this little gem should NOT be overlooked. It is about a 10 minute walk (an actual 10minute walk) from the Markt.

Food

Porto Romano specialises in Italian and Portugese cuisine. I know you're thinking "i'm in bruges, so why would i want italian and portugese food? I want belgium and regional dishes!". This is exactly what we thought. However, this restaurant should not be missed and the true friendliness of Bruges is really captured by this little gem of a restaurant.

We were told (as a forewarning and in a very pleasant manner) that they did not serve pizza on saturdays and that due to how busy they had been that evening (because the restaurant next door was closed) they had run out of spaghetti. We sat down, feeling a bit sceptical about entering, but ordered from the menu nonetheless.

We ordered a bottle of Gewurtztraminer, my partner ordered the Dory (Dorade) served with a variety of veg and I had the garlic prawns served with rice. Just before the meal we were provided with complimentary garlic and chilli marinaded olives - yum yum yum!!. When the dishes came, they were not only large and well presented but it was also the probably the best food we had the whole time we were there (and we tried a LOT). The Dory fish was soft, moist and well seasoned. It cam as a whole fish, and although some do not like thins, i really do! My boyfriend thoroughly enjoyed it. My garlic prawns and rich were spectactular. I love shell fish so have had my share of good and bad seafood, but these were lovely. They were very tasty and each prawn had a little covering of golden crisp garlic on it to intensify the garlic. The rice was also perfect. I'm chinese, i grew up eating rice everyday, so i know when rice is done well. A BIG THUMBS UP. My mouth is watering just thinking about the lovely food that was served! mmmmmmmmmm

Service

I cannot fault the service. The restaurant is a family restaurant run by a husband and wife duo. I regret not getting the husband's name, but he was so friendly and took time to talk and banter with us despite being incredibly busy. His little restaurant of about 10 tables of various sizes (seating 2-5) was very busy that evening with all the tables being occupied. He spoke great English (as well as french, german, romanian and a little portugese!) and was very happy to communicate with us in ENglsh thankfully! He was efficient and friendly without being at all over bearing. At the end of the meal, we found that we were the last in the restaurant, still talking and enjoying our wine. At the point where we realised we were the last, we felt it was time to leave, but at no point did he rush us or make us feel as if we needed to rush. We were made to feel very comfortable and welcomed.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere was great, it must have been felt by all Porto Romano's clientele because when we walked in, some of the tables said hello to us with smiing faces and when tables left, they aid goodbye to us and each other - it was very lovely. Here in the Uk, you just try not to make eye contact with anyone outside your own table!! Much of the atmosphere has to do with the relaxed nature of the husband and wife combo - they run very well together and the whole restaurant feels it! If we weren't the last to leave, i could have happily stayed there much much longer.

Price

Food in Bruges is generally expensive. They have a 21% VAT and a 16% service charge generally built into the Bill (so the guide books tell me), so there is no need to tip additionally unless the service was really good and you want to (I think this should be the case everywhere - i.e. you should only tip if you bloody well want to and not because it's demanded of you). Anyway, knowing this, we gound the prices very reasonable. The bottle of wine cost €21, and the mains were €15 each. Starters were about €7/8 each and i'm afraid we didn't look at the dessert menu. All in al, a very reasonably priced meal for Bruges!

I would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant to all who are travelling to bruges.