A Casa do Avô — Restaurant in Albufeira

The place has a really nice aesthetic and a beautiful view, especially if you’re there for the sunset. The food itself was very good, and the waiters were kind and attentive.

That being said, the way the restaurant operates doesn’t make much sense. They offer both a buffet (unlimited servings) and a set menu (for those who don’t want the buffet). In theory, this is fine, it gives customers a choice.

The problems started with how aggressively the staff pushed the buffet option. I understand they don’t want to waste food or lose money, but the pressure was excessive. What made it worse was that what we believe to be the owner started treating members of our group poorly once he realized some of us preferred the set menu instead of the buffet.

Another strange tactic was constantly bringing bread to those of us who chose the buffet. The bread was tasty, but it felt like an obvious attempt to fill us up so we wouldn’t “eat too much” of the buffet food.

In my opinion, if customers are going to be treated badly for choosing one of the options, then the restaurant should just commit to one format, either a buffet or a set menu. Offering both clearly isn’t working and creates an awkward situation for both staff...

Stopped by here for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. The old farming décor was a warm and welcoming start to a delicious meal. Warm garlic bread and cherry tomato & mozzarella were a perfect combination and a perfect start to the meal. I had the Camarão Piri-Piri, which was 3 very large shrimps in an amazing piri-piri sauce. I went with the mashed sweet potato (silky smooth and tasty) as the side, normally comes with rice. The husband had the Peixe Grelhado (robalo) which came with mixed vegetables and fries (which they served extra crispy, exactly as he requested). He said his fish was delicious, nice charcoal-grilled flavor and outside crisp, with the fish most and delicious.

We were too full for desserts, but several sounded quite nice, so looking forward to trying one (or two) next time.

Service was great, we were waited on by the manager, who was very kind...

Excellent locally produced wines. Varied menu of authentic Portuguese dishes, generous servings and reasonably priced. The Med. Salad (€7.90) was wonderful and plenty for 2 people to share. My wife ordered the roasted wild boar (Lombinho Javali, €18.90) which mostly tasted good but the meat was bit tough and overcooked. I had the roasted chicken with rice, veggies and figs (Galina com figos (€15.90). It was delicious but the chicken pieces were overcooked and dry. All else was delicious and tasty. We are both certain that the meats were prepared well in advance and just reheated, hence dry and overcooked. Beautiful presentation of all dishes. The serving staff were pleasant but we found that the Manager, though knowledgeable was not very welcoming, but rather bit rough and somewhat impatient with foreign customers (his main client base). Not sure that...