Mato à Vista — Restaurant in Albufeira

Feel totally ripped off. I was charged €42.50 for Dorado (golden bream) - for ONE PERSON!! And it was the blandest, most uninspiring piece of fish I’ve ever had.

My local resteraunt in portimao charges €17.50, which is consistently excellent. The most I’ve paid is €23 and that was served in a proper fish and seafood restaurant right on the beach with ocean views. I get some places may charge a little more but it has to be justified, which in this case it wasn’t.

At first I thought they had made a mistake and charged me for 2 people, but the server explained that the price was €90/kg(!!) and it was because it was golden bream, it was from the sea, and it was fresh. Every good restaurant I’ve eaten in serves fresh fish from the ocean, this was no different.

Adding to that, the Dorado was meant to be grilled, like it is at most other places. It was white with no colour and tasted very plain, more like it had been roasted. There was a distinct lack of any chargrill flavour, it was under seasoned and extremely bland. The skin was soft and soggy. Really poor quality overall and tasteless in comparison to everywhere else I’ve had it. On top of everything it was smaller than average too. Even the accompanying vegetables were underwhelming. A few carrots, small pieces of broccoli and plain boiled potatoes. I’ve eaten in many other places where even the veg is tastier.

Normally Dorado when grilled and butterflied is bursting with flavour, has some lovely dark chargrill colour to it, and has that distinct barbecue taste. The skin is crispy too. This is the standard and what Mato o Vista served was no where near this standard. I have Dorada most times I eat out. I’ve lived in the Algarve for 6 years so Id like to think I’m pretty clued up on how it should look and taste.

In short, I’d basically been charged more than double the average price for a poorly cooked, small piece of fish and some sorry looking veggies. For the same price I can get a huge fish platter for 2 people in many reputable fish restaurants!

I argued these points and the server knocked €7 off. But €32.50 is still extortionate for what I received.

Mum had a stew which was €28, she said that was very average too and way over priced for what it was.

I’ve been to Mato a Vista several times before, for years. It’s always been on the more expensive side but never like this. The food standard was always way better too. Maybe they’ve over spent on the aesthetic upgrade and are now trying to compensate with the menu prices? And have sacrificed quality in the process?

Aside from that the restaurant itself is a lovely looking venue, especially outside with all the lights and new decor upgrades. We had 6 different people serving us which I’m never a fan of, feels very impersonal. It took an age to catch someone’s eye to pay the bill too.

I loved my cocktail though and would come back just for a drink! Definitely not for food though, unless they make some...

Pooring in a simple ordered a 'copo vinho tinto' of 18€ per glass without price warning should be judged as criminal or admosphere breaker at the least.

Let me explain. My wife and me wanted to celebrate her 65th aniversary and we wanted to do this with a nice dinner. Since we visit the Mato a Vista for 20+ years and like really the (renewed) cuisine we choose this restaurant. We know the place and it is our restaurant of choice when we have something to celebrate or have friends over. So we made a reservation. When asked what we wanted to drink we ordered a cup of coffee, a Fanta and a glass of wine. As usual, even with a simple wine, my wife was asked to taste the wine first. Which she did. For the first time in years she made the remark that she didn't like the taste. It was on the bitter side of taste. So the (for us new) waiter said, 'one minute, I'll get another one.'and let my wife have a taste again. This one was OK to her so she got a new, different glass. Anyway, the food was really good, as we expected, and we had a good evening. When I got the bill it looked OK. So we payed. However, when home I looked again and noticed that the 'replacement wine' was valued at 18€ per glass. So I was unpleasantly surprised. It tasted good and we had a nice evening but the waiter (for me new and with a bit of an attitude ) should have mentioned that this was a far more pricy wine (if it was). Now you might ask me, 'should I have mentioned it when I noticed while paying' I must admit that I would not have done this because it would have spoiled the pleasure and celebration mood of my wife. Also, I never had a bad experience at the Mato a Vista so why should I worry about this while having a romantic celebration of someone for his 65 anniversario. Anyway, I feel bad to write this but It made me feel awkward this next day and certainly want you to know this and make shure this is not going to become a standard way of doing business if someone doesn't like the taste of the first wine.

So, resumé, ....the food was good,, the other waiters and waitress too but for the wine policy there is more to learn. Would I go back? For the food, yes. Would even recommend it. For a drink or a celebration,? I might think twice. As said, I don't want my wife to feel upset on her birthday but she would have felt 'being taken advantage of' if she had known. And that is a spoiler on an occation like this.

Update: Its now april 2025 and no reaction ever from the restaurant. After three years, nothing. Heard another story from a ‘victim’ and he mentioned it at the moment itself. Reply was, you didnt like the housewine so you chose this. So I wont go there anymore. Restaurant Paraiso is just around the corner. So, thats...

At first glance, the ambience seems extraordinary, but it doesn't make up for our disappointment about our stay there: we didn't make a reservation and were initially put off in the waiting area. According to the waiter, we were only supposed to wait there for five minutes, but after 20 minutes we actually had the impression that we had been forgotten in the waiting area. After a brief request, we were finally allocated a table. We didn't have an assigned waiter, each time someone else came. Without us having ordered anything, a lady came and placed starters on our table. As my wife is pregnant, she asked if the cheese served was made from pasteurized milk. The person answered in the affirmative. We tried the cheese and were skeptical. After asking two more waiters, we were proved wrong. The bread also tasted as dry as if it was from the day before yesterday. When we asked if we could have butter with our bread, the waitress replied that she didn't speak English. We simply lost our appetite. The prices of the fresh fish for the main course are also totally opaque and, in our opinion, totally overpriced: we paid almost €40 for one single (!!) king prawn, which didn't even include any side dishes. For us, this stay was much more frustrating than enjoyable....