Tua Madre — Restaurant in Évora

Let me start this review by saying I do not know the owners of this little restaurant nor have I ever met them, but today I ate there and it filled my soul, heart and stomach! Beautiful yet simple home cooking with rich and remarkable local ingredients, so carefully considered.

Next I will say that any of the (not many, but enough to make me want to write this!) reviewers here that state this restaurant is overpriced or serves tiny portions are a little bit, if not, a lot, delusional and really not living in the real world of hospitality and dining post pandemic in 2024. A world where ALL restaurants are struggling to provide dining experiences for others let alone one like this that provides an opportunity to discover more about food and a place than just getting a quick feeding.

I would kindly ask these reveiwers to a) do some research and b) have some respect for this place and the people behind it who clearly puts so much time and effort into sourcing ingredients from quality driven minds locally and as close to their restaurant as possible - obviously people who are trying to do better for our broken food system and planet.

This time alone costs more money than two minutes spent logging into a corporate food order site and picking what they want to arrive next day - likely frozen. Then the cost for these organic farmers to grow their produce given the state of the current climate, dealing with drought, risk of wild fire, extreme weather patterns and pests without the option to use chemical intervention or mass market, inhumane tactics. The restaurant has to pay some of that in order to provide real and honest food for their guests for their benefit, they are thinking not only about the planet but about the people they are serving.

Next add the cost of increased wages for a dwindling pool of people willing to work in hospitality after COVID. Fair given the cost that they have to pay to live these days, especially given the location of this restaurant in a part of Portugal that is so incredibly beautiful yet so many young people leave to go to Lisbon or Porto. The list goes on and I digress, but...

These days we should not be talking about whether restaurants are expensive or cheap but talking about their true value. Who grew what you ate? How far did it travel to the restaurant? Was it tampered with chemicals? All these things mentioned above.

I will end on a positive by saying BRAVO Tua Madre and to anyone in Evora for a weekend or passing through, please pop into this little place. Everything is made with love and it's some of the best homemade pasta you will eat in Portugal. Today we ordered 3 of the small plates and two large and it was plentiful and delightful! We had the pumpkin and sage tortellini - divine. The brioche and smoked river fish, heaven, zingy, fresh. I'm sad we were too full for the chocolate mousse but there will be...

Pros: The food was good, creatively cooked from ordinary ingredients which is not common in Portugal. The staff speak English well and friendly. Location is central. Have outside seatings. My husband enjoyed the food very much.

Cons: the price is expensive for the value. All dishes served in a starters/tapas/petiscos size but the price for each starter is the same for the whole meal in many restaurants in Portugal. A few slices of tomato and 2 small figs cost €9.5, you get the picture. Even the main course size is very small.

The food is good but nothing is special or amazing in my point of view. I've been to much better quality and way cheaper restaurants in Portugal. We've been living in Portugal for 3 years and would love to support local businesses.

At first I thought it must be expensive in Évora. Until I had lunch the next day in a nearby restaurant (€15 for a meal). And checked out other restaurants to make sure Ill give a fair review for this one.

They have maybe 1-2 tables inside. The rest are on the street which is good or not depends on...

Be sure to make a reservation for this place as it is small and special find in Evora. So you will want to get your table.

This place is simple and honest food. Everything is what is it without being pretentious or trying to be ‘fancy’.

The wine selection here is solid mostly low intervention labels though we opted for a less alcoholic option. The cider was perfect.

About the food: The pork shoulder was PERFECT. Very tender, juicy, full of flavour. The heart ragu had a nice texture and flavour but the dish was unfortunately far to salty and we could only eat half the dish. The ravioli was tasty but quite heavy. Pasta, butter, breadcrumbs, cheese, nuts, etc. when you had a bite with the balsamic it was a bit more balanced but overall the dish would have benefited from some more acidity.

We wish we could have had dessert but we were far too full. Service was great. Would recommend to all who...