Bon Bon — Restaurant in Lagoa

Pros: The restaurant is located on a quiet place, has a peaceful terrace where you can see the Algarvian hills and offers a long variety of wines to pair with the menu. The menu is a well elaborated trip through starters, fish and meat with an interesting presentation. All staff members are attentive and quite correct.

Cons: I thought fair to give all positives in advance as this place is by no means a bad restaurant. However, we are here to judge a Michelin star place and that´s when things needs to be addressed under a different point of view. I started my Michelin restaurant journey many years ago, travelling through different parts of the world looking for that fresh unique experience. I have been lucky enough to enjoy Ramsey´s cuisine in London, David Muñoz in Madrid, José Andrés in Miami and so many others over the years. I feel BonBon is missing soul when it comes to deliverance. All seems to be in place but there is no fun to it. Dishes are served on an orderly manner but it all seems mechanical, artificial, unbranded. Waiters (which I want to stress are great professionals) seems stagnated on the old french concept of servitude without barely talking, using a low tone as if we were in a church or an opera house and dressed with classic 50´s jackets. We are in Portugal, they could have added some of the great portuguese humor, charisma and emotion whilst attending the tables. Sometimes I just felt they belong to an assembly line like robots and I am sure they have much more to offer. There is no story behind the dishes, only the presentation and the ingredients but not why and where all of that came from. Tables are dressed with sobriety and no uniqueness is worn into them, just a white cloth and that´s all about it.

Pricing seems to be unbalanced also, the average meal is 140 € which does not include drinks. There is only one fixed menu, no further options, no alternatives to it as if it was produced during the day and is a matter of preparing dishes giving a catering flavor to it. I appreciate the huge effort on bringing a long list of wines to the experience, but perhaps some signature cocktails and more sparkling wines will be appreciated (this is a minor suggestion)

Finally the views are uninspiring, yes they have a terrace but is mainly looking to a parking with private houses on each side of the road, could have much potential to it if used differently.

All things considered, if you are looking to challenge your senses I strongly advice to try other Michelin restaurants, however if you are in the area and you don´t mind the price, this is a good restaurant in Algarve but for me it misses several key aspects of...

Bon bon has a Michelin star, and now I know why... What divinely good food! Chef Jose Lopes is a cooking artist I often find a (9 course) tasting menu too much. Because everything looks alike. But here, every course is different. Own flavours, colors and structures. Saturday, Sunday and Monday also lunch! Bon bon is between Carvoeiro, Lagoa and Ferraguda, and the property doesn't look particularly nice. The restaurant is round, and (therefore) lacks some cosiness. That could be better. But once the food is on the table, you don't pay attention to it anymore. What a delight! And owner Nunu Diogo is a hospitality artist and wine artist. He knows everything about wines and likes to talk about them. From his large wine cabinet, he conjures up the most delicious wines. His international guests enjoy his stories! Together with his 2 assistants, Touweny (Brazilian) and Pedro (Portuguese) he provides a wonderful evening. His passion is to make people feel comfortable, and he can do that like no other. Bonbon has a beautiful tasting menu, 6 moments (135 euro) or 9 moments (155 euro) You can choose regelar, vegetarian or vegan. (Indicate this in advance when you book) The chef is great, and afterwards comes to ask how it was, which dish I liked best, and which dish I liked least.. I can't choose .. And I can't answer his follow-up question either. Which dish would you leave out if you had to skip 1. Perhaps the 2nd dessert. For me, 1 dessert is enough, but that is of course personal. Jose cooks just as well with or without meat. A gift that not every cook has. Perhaps his young generation is more open to it than the old cooks, who have prepared only fish and meat all their lives, and are afraid of the new challenges of the present time. A matching wine arrangement is highly recommended. 85/95 euros pp. Besides all the words of praise, a few comments. I think 6 or 9 moments is enough, so I wouldn't also serve amuse-bouches. That's just getting too much.. I would like to have bread on the table, with which you can scappet to get the last delicious flavors and sauces out of your plate. Nothing but praise. Warmly recommended. This restaurant is definitely one of the best in...

Really really disappointing. The evening started very well but was ruined by other patrons and an exceptionally slow service.

We had the valentines menu which was still delicious albeit very seafood heavy.

I felt as though we weren’t treated as equally as other diners in the restaurant. A couple sitting behind us who arrived after us were rude and tried to silence the conversation we were having on our table. Let me just say, it is a restaurant, there was a general chatter of voices as one would expect as every single table were having some sort of conversation. We were not louder nor quieter than anyone else but this couple seemed to have an issue with us specifically. My partner informed the waiter/host ( an older man in a black sweater) who was dismissive and obviously knew this couple as evidenced by the extensive greeting, cheek kisses and general talking between the couple and the host. Nothing was done about the matter and it soured the whole rest of the experience.

I’m not sure if it is because we are an interracial couple or our age being significantly younger than most of the patrons but we received weird glances and smirks from other tables and it made us feel exceedingly uncomfortable.

Additionally the whole dinner took 5 hours. We waited for 45 minutes between the fish and duck courses and 40 minutes between the dessert courses. The couple behind us who arrived after us received their duck course almost 15 minutes before us. A couple by the door arrived nearly 45 minutes after us and ended up on the same course as us - just an insight into the inconsistency in the service speed.

I understand that a tasting menu is extensive and can take time but being a chef myself with michelin experience I did not understand how it took so long especially considering it was about a 20-25 cover restaurant. This was honestly a bit distressing as I didn’t expect to come to dinner for 7:30pm and leave after 12am.

The waiters were brilliant and attentive however the host (guy in black sweater) was unhelpful when we expressed feeling uncomfortable and didn’t seem to care.

For over 500 euros, I expected to have a more...