Restaurante a fonte — Restaurant in Lagoa

I was recommended this restaurant from a local bar owner and was told the Bife à Portuguesa was the best in the Algarve. Well as a local Portuguese citizen who speaks fluent Portuguese I spoke to the waiter in Portuguese to order drinks…he responded in english…15 mins later we received our drinks. The restaurant was empty as we chose to eat at 7:30pm bare in mind and had made a reservation. I then spoke again in Portuguese to order couvert and mains…the young waiter spoke again to me in english…I proceeded to say I am Portuguese and from the algarve he looked at me blankly…no apology no response just continued speaking english.

I confirmed that the waiter was indeed Portuguese himself.

We ordered 2 Bife á Portuguese, Chicken piri piri and a vegetarian spaghetti. To add, we asked for the chicken piri piri to come with no sauce/piri piri the waiter assured me it came on the side. And for the steaks to be one rare (bloody) and one medium rare.

Myself and others in my party have ordered Bife á Portugueses before the waiter proceed to explain that because they are cooked in hot dishes the steak will still be cooking on arrival. We explained again in Portuguese we understand we have had them previously.

On arrival of the food, the chicken piri piri was covered in sauce not on the side. And both steaks were overdone…neither of them were close to rare. In addition the sauce was very very salty.

After clearing our dishes, we expected to be asked if we would like any desserts or coffees but the waiter proceeded to ask if we wanted the bill.

Overall it was a great shame to experience such arrogant behaviour as a local. And abysmal food. I can see this is very much as a tourist focused restaurant trying portuguese delicacy but as a native this...

This place looked really lovely and so did the food but the waiter unfortunately ruined our experience. We went for dinner last night and the waiter was quite rude. We are foreign and learning Portuguese and were testing out our new skills. The waiter would not speak Portuguese and made rude comments such as "you're not butchering it as badly as other people". I'm not sure if he was joking but it just came off as a bit unkind and rude. During the experience the food was ok but the service was exceptionally slow for us, compared with other people even trying to pay took good chunk of an hour. I don't know if we did something to annoy the staff sorry if we did but I can't think of anything? it all was a bit of a strange experience and dampened our evening a little. Food was ok, but my friends kebab came out cooler than she would...

Was recommended by a tour guide and I absolutely loved this place. Although there isn't a sea view, its tucked in a quiet and quaint corner that's just as charming. Very chill very vibe 10/10.

I'd say they're pretty understaffed so patience is key but the wait is totally worth it. Nonetheless, the waiter was still very detailed and catered to every need. Came here for the cataplana and 10/10. Had the clam cataplana and it came after about 15-20 minutes piping hot. Such a unique and unforgettable experience. The fries were also really good and ofc the bread, olive oil, and pate combo always hits. Major vibes that they gave us the bottle of balsamic vinegar and oil too and not just a serving.

Couldn't have found a better place for lunch on a day trip. 10/10

There's also a discount Mira Mira next door that's super worth...