Portuguese cuisine is perhaps not the easiest to take upmarket, but this elegant Clerkenwell fixture - when not striving too hard - does a pretty good job of it.

The Venue
St. John Street is a charming thoroughfare of old pubs, restaurants and office buildings; a lamb chop’s throw from historic Smithfield Market. Fergus Henderson’s revolutionary nose-to-tail-eatery, St. John Bar and Restaurant, is the street’s most famous, but Portal has a loyal following too.

An attractive, well-stocked bar where City types bray over dry sherries and white ports gives way to an even better-looking, black and white, 80-to-90-cover restaurant, the bulk of which is housed in a stunning modern conservatory where cool and curvy, retro chairs sit atop a herringbone woodblock floor.

The Atmosphere
There’s a distinct whiff of glamour here. The moneyed crowd is quite dressed-up, although some of the suits are probably City gents who haven’t had time to nip home after work to dress down. Service is sharp but friendly and helpful; the wine waiter, for example, is keen to suggest wines to match each dish, although his descriptions can expand to lecture length whilst your food cools.

The Food
From a list of ten starters, ‘Portugese’ crab salad (actually caught off Devon, £10) is a fresh-tasting mound of delicately flavoured crabmeat, spilling out of an ice cream cone and dressed in a suitably restrained dressing. Whether the cone adds much is debatable, although one could argue it delivers a contrasting crunch. The garnish of a blackberry, a raspberry and a physalis is an unnecessary nod to 1980's pretension. In contrast, broad beans with garlic emulsion and Iberian presunto (£7) couldn’t be look plainer in its earthenware pot. The beans aren’t skinned but are just about small enough to get away with it. The meat is salty and porky but the garlic emulsion is a bit lacking both in punch and quantity.

The priciest main is Devon wild turbot with lemongrass cream and stir-fried veg at £30. It takes nerve to mess about with fish that posh but Portal carries it off with aplomb. The fillets are just cooked through and nicely seasoned, whilst the lemongrass sauce is, thankfully, subtle. Just about every vegetable you could name - including white asparagus - is included, and whilst al dente baby parsnip wouldn’t be missed, the undercooked half fig with inedible stalk is just plain silly.

Braised bisaro (marinated pork, £23) takes 28 hours to prepare, and every minute is worth it. Incredibly tender and attractively smokey, it sits on an intensely pea-flavoured puree, with roasted baby peppers completing a triumph of a dish. Sauteed potatoes with garlic and olive oil (£3) are in the Mediterranean style; unpeeled, halved, new potatoes. They're very nice, as long as you’re not expecting Granny’s crunchy roast spuds.

From a list of eight puds plus cheese, most with suggested wines, the chocolate fondant with orange and Greek yoghurt ice cream (at a steep-ish £8) surprises by not being warm. It still has a liquid centre, however, and is nice enough, although eclipsed by its fabulous and very yoghurty ice cream. There’s a terrific selection of unusual ice creams and sorbets, with a three-scoop, £7.50 portion featuring Bailey’s, chocolate and cinnamon, all texturally impeccable and tasting simply but winningly of their principal ingredient.

The Drink
When you can pay £200 for a bottle of dessert wine, you know you’re somewhere that takes booze seriously. Portal offers more than 50 wines, sparkling options, Madeiras and ports by the glass, and boasts a huge and predominantly Portuguese list of bottles from the fairly high entry level price of £21 to £750 for a 1980 Chateau Petrus 1er Cru Classé Pomerol. A 2008 Monte da Paceguina (£11/£35) is top quality and worth the price, fresh and crisp yet with delightful softness, too. A 2007 Quinta do Portal Colheita (£7/£26) also impresses with its tingly vibrancy. The dessert wines are definitely worth saving space for too.

The Last Word
This slick and glamorous yet friendly and relaxed restaurant is perfect for a special night out. Occasionally, it tries too hard to posh up simple dishes but much of the food is delicious, and oenophiles will surely swoon.

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