A Velha — Restaurant in Abrantes

This wonderful restaurant will exceed your expectations in every way possible. The restaurant itself is gorgeous, modern while skilfully blending the character of the original building, this is no mean feat and is accomplished with style, elegance and a clear love for the building. The decorations, paint scheme and lighting all add to an ambience that is second to none in Abrantes and surrounding area. Even the crockery is tasteful. We ate on the balcony terrace with fabulous views over the city the hills beyond and the sunset. The service was professional, dignified and friendly without being obsequious. We loved the "sharing concept" and ordered 4 starters and 2 main dishes for 4 people. The choices were difficult as everything sounded delicious. And so it proved to be. Make no mistake this is a proper restaurant. The food was beautifully thought through, combining flavour, texture and visuals to produce what was quite simply the best food we have eaten since arriving in Portugal 4 years ago. The desserts were equal to the menu, both attractive and delicious. If you love food that is interesting and challenging, combining the best of Portuguese cuisine and ingredients with a modern twist (goats cheese ice cream, gorgeous btw!) and created with love by an obviously talented and creative team I cannot recommend A Velha highly enough. If you just want a huge plateful of "food" it's not for...

Must-visit. Typical Portuguese food with small (and welcome) adjustments. The food is excellent, generous portions, very friendly service, and the prices are low for what it is.

The outside setting is beautiful when the weather is nice - ample views of the town.

The oxtail croquettes are very tasty, extremely crispy, tender inside. Delicious.

The “ovos rotos” use home made French fries and slow cooked eggs. The result is a softer variation of a classic popular dish.

The “sopa da pedra” is rich, heavy on beans, with chorizo and different fatty meats.

The “pernil de porco” is roasted slowly after a crispy start, making it tender inside and flavorful. Was unfortunately too salty (easy to fix, chef).

The veal cheek was also very soft and a great match for the roasted mashed potatoes.

Desserts were very well made. We tried a soft and intense olive oil pudding and the chocolate mouse, which comes with welcome salt on top.

Overall, very good meal for affordable prices and a wonderful...

The Michelin Guide promises authenticity, culinary memories, and a chef’s personal touch. In reality, the service is closer to a simple tasca: appetizers are placed on the table without explanation and later appear on the bill. If a restaurant makes it into the Guide, you would at least expect some engagement — a word about the cheeses, the bread, the olive oil. Here, there was none.

There’s no menu available online, although updating one on Google would be effortless. Instead of culinary revelations, we were served a brioche snack with pork, mayonnaise, and pickled onions, a pork knuckle that looked impressive but was mostly fat, and overbraised beef cheeks in a harsh, unbalanced sauce. The terrace and the view are indeed wonderful — but for that, you could simply go to a café by the river, not to a restaurant listed in Michelin’s “red book.”

The paradox is clear: the Guide sparkles with stars, but on the plate we found only the shadows of...