O Zuca — Restaurant in Albufeira

Just really one corner away from the main plaza of Albufeira you can find this little gem. It feels like you've travelled from party-town to some old Portuguese Village...it's a different world. In the most positive way.

Tables inside or a good numbers of tables outside, where you should be prepared to wait in high season. We had our Bulldog with, so we took a seat outside. Service was fantastic, friendly and very helpful with explaining the menu. They got daily specials...some not on the menu. Just ask for it. We knew that they got grilled Squid somedays, so we tried our luck.

On the first night they didn't have any, but expected a fresh load on the next day. So we decided to dine here twice. On the first night we've had fried calamari, rice'n potatoes and shrimp. Salad on the side. All fresh, all good...not these frozen-rubbery calamari kind. Very down-to earth home cooking....meaning this as a compliment. Bottle of white wine with that. Prices are fair and the quality of the food and its ingredients high.

The next night we got the squids we hoped for, really fresh, simply but great prepared. Potatoes on the side as usual and a plate of fresh clams.

It's a brillant restaurant. Dishes seem simple and easy. But mostly these are the ones hard to pull off. And they did a wonderful job here. Authentic portuguese cuisine with a charming setting and a friendly and helpful staff. The Cataplana they served look tasty as well, but we didn't have time for another dinner here, since we had to move on...

This is a lovely and peaceful little restaurant just hidden outside of the main strip. The staff were really friendly and didn't pressure us when we were slow to choose.

The fried squid starter was delicious and the portions were very generous. I'm not a whitebait fan but my partner said it was nice, and again the portions were generous.

The sea bass was beautifully cooked (Watch for bones of course) with some lovely potatoes and a side salad of onions, cucumber, croutons and tomato.

The Francesinha is a whole other world of food. Imagine sandwhiches on steroids (in a good way)... covered in cheese and soupy sauce. The other half loved it!

Our daughter wasn't too fussed on the ribs but they looked OK.

The desserts all looked delicious but we were too full unfortunately!

Really reasonable prices too!

Update: We came back again and I've got to say the 2nd time round was even better. The cod fish bites were divine but you do get 4 so its a big portion (not that we were complaining).

The swordfish was really tender and the beef kebab was really delicious. Honestly can't praise this...

Don't let the pretty food fool you, the taste leaves much to be desired.

The cataplana, their signature dish, was overly sweet with poor quality ingredients. Not the fresh seafood you'd usually expect to have in this region.

I even went as far as to check with the chef and owner to confirm that was indeed their deliberate choice to overly sweeten the dish to cover the saltyness and lack of freshness from Ingredients and they went as far as to say this is how its usually servered.

Well sadly not for me. After charging 12euros for 4 people just for 'starters' and with the final bill coming to over 100 euros, it's more than you'd expect for a restaurant off the main Square.

It you want a sugary main with a side of excuses from the owner then this is your place.

The only saving grace was the pleasent waiting staff and service.

Otherwise, AVOID. A doughnut will leave you less of a hole if...