Portofino Grill Info
Amenities
Service options
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Kerbside pickup
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No-contact delivery
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Delivery
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Takeaway
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Dine-in
Accessibility
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Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Offerings
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Alcohol
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Beer
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Coffee
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Spirits
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Wine
Dining options
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Lunch
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Dinner
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Dessert
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Seating
Amenities
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Bar on site
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Toilets
Atmosphere
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Casual
Crowd
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Groups
Planning
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Accepts reservations
Payments
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Credit cards
Best KPortal Reviews
Is it me or just weird that all the raving reviews are written by a handful of the same people?
One of my most ‘interesting’ take away experiences.
My order: pork chop (MW), chips, salad, peppercorn sauce, coleslaw and calamari.
I ordered my meal and was kindly called by the restaurant to be told it was going to be late as they didn’t want my food to be cold and offered a free drink which I refused. I was also asked if I could have wedges instead of chips. That was fine. Italian restaurant = plain or herb, garlic seasoning right? I was impressed! All I said was “please make sure my food is hot”.
My food arrived. All hot and cold food except the pork chop (served in a fish and chip cardboard box) was packaged in the delivery bag. I checked the pork chop and it was tepid. I quickly stopped the delivery driver, informed him and he honestly reacted as if I’d asked him the theory of gravity. No problem! It takes two minutes to pan heat meat right? So I opened the rest of my order. Everything was cold. I tried to call the delivery driver and the restaurant countless times to return my order. But to no avail.
45 mins later I finally get through. I explained that my food was cold and very under pas, could they please come and collect it all as I’d like a refund.
My sauce was separated and solidified, calamari was greasy and cold, pork chop was cold an very undercooked (MR) potato wedges were cold, greasy with southern fried seasoning. No apology whatsoever!
Instead I was told that I was given a piece of carrot cake for free and I should be happy. Also that the food was hot “it was in a special heat retaining bag and doesn’t lose heat”. That’s fine if you don’t stack cold and hot food together. I was also told that was my fault ordering food from their restaurant on just eat because I’m too far away and I had a hidden agenda. Really! Apparently how you ask for meat to be cooked and how you get it is all ‘open to interpretation’. Nothing to do with meat bleeding out on your plate at all.
I’ve got to give this guy The Darwin Award for the dumbest question ever. “Was your cold food cold?” Well of course it was. It was very efficient in cooling the hot food. ????????????????????
God forbid if you raise the issue that southern fried wedges are not the norm in Italian cuisine. If you do, you’ll be told that Portofino is not an Italian restaurant. It’s an Italian fusion restaurant. Perhaps you’d like to check your branding. It clearly states Italian. I asked a fusion of what. He couldn’t answer. A fusion of Italian and....... Birds Eye? Iceland? GRUEL? Fking attitude! Denial!
Would I recommend this restaurant? Absolutely not! However the carrot cake was delicious or perhaps I’m delusional as it was the only edible food item. Needless to say I went to bed hangry.
Came here with my girlfriend had dinner together. Food was extremely tasty. The venue is quite romantic which we enjoyed very much, including nice piano music in the background. Very friendly catering. Price is on the higher end, but worth it. Definitely recommend.
Just had a delivery of possibly the worst food we’ve ever eaten! And not only was it greasy and like rubber, but a hair was thrown in for good measure! We will never order from here again!
I could write an essay based on the service and quality of food here but to sum it up.
OVER PRICED, TERRIBLE FOOD, VERY VERY SLOW SERVICE, ZERO ATMOSPHERE, BADLY STAFFED.
Have seriously had better meals at a greasy spoon cafe.
SO DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!
Plenty of more pleasant and cheaper restaurants in colchester to choose from.
I would not let my dog eat here its that bad HONESTLY!!
Booked a table for 4 a week in advance for 8pm on a Saturday night.... arrived to find the place almost empty and no staff in sight. After a few minutes somebody came over and said they were on their own and couldn't therefore do anything for us! So we were left at 8pm on a Saturday looking for somewhere else to dine! I understand things can go wrong but why not contact us earlier in the day to let us know the situation? Needless to say we won't be going back!
If you really care about your health you won’t go here. Food was barely edible. I wouldn’t recommend this place to not even my enemies, food was barely edible, dry, if you closed your eyes and chewed you wouldn’t think it’s food. Shocking performance!
What can I say :) After long week and hard day today me and my wife decide to try this restaurant which I spotted on the way past. The atmosphere, service, quality of food,... was absolutely perfect! It was more then we expected and definitely will came back in the future :) Thank you for a perfect service and make us feel so special. And food OMG just out of this world ????
Thought we'd give this another try after being there a couple of years ago. We weren't impressed with the atmosphere in particular and it hasn't changed. Food was the same i.e. good but not enough to get us to return again. Service was indifferent and plain forgetful at times - had to ask for more bread twice. Would've been nice just to be given enough bread to start with! With 2 waiting staff and only maybe 8 tables each they seemed run off their feet when they really shouldn't have been.
Atmosphere is odd with the very high ceilings. And the other people in the restaurant ranged from noisy 'old essex' dressed up like they were at a bad nightclub, to people in t-shirts and shorts who'd wandered in off the street. Won't be going back I"m afraid. Try Mimosa or Milsoms.
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