Taberna Algarvia 31 — Restaurant in Lagoa

This place has been recommended to us by friends who were here two weeks earlier and they loved it. We have been two times here during our stay at the Algarve. The first time we came by we were greeted with a warm welcome and a in depth introduction to the menu. We weren't so sure how we should order to have a broad experience of the fresh selections on the menu. But here the staff was a great help and recommended us the tuna steak to share as a starter and get the Dorada as main dish. The portions were very generous! And taste wise it was a great experience!The service was very forthcoming and we were checked on ever so often whether we were content with the food. We got recommendations for drinks by the staff as well. We experienced the staff to be very competent in explaining the menu and having great knowledge about the food that they serve. These people know what they are doing! To say the least for the chef. What an amazing person. After we got the check we stayed for almost another hour just to have a friendly chat with the chef. Because we came during a rather calm evening, he had the time to chat with us and did so happily. He explained us a great deal of things about his process of cooking and choosing ingredients and gave us Tipps for our further vacation around the Algarve. Most surprising to us. He spoke more languages than we could together. Very fun evening, highlight of our vacation! We came by for a second time. The meat plate and ribbs were great as well. After the plate was served to us the waiter spotted one piece of meet which was a bit too raw. He made us aware of it, apologized and it was immediately taken to the grill again. No further explanation needed. Great service and one of a kind awareness for the guests. We are looking forward to come by for...

Spent 2 weeks in Portugal, and this was our most disappointing dining experience relative to the overall reviews. We were looking forward to a traditional Portuguese meal, but it wasn't meant to be.

We were provided menus but not informed beforehand that many of the menu items were not available. Maybe the available items were on the chalkboard (shown in the photos), but no one mentioned that to us. We started ordering from the menu, and literally, the first 6 items we tried to order were not available. I guess there was a language barrier because the waitress didn't try to provide any guidance and was not helpful. It became a game to try and order. (In hindsight, we should have just left at that point as it was already a poor experience.)

The restaurant is unique. The kitchen is designed to look like a home kitchen open to the dining area. It's nice, and I understand the approach, but when you have to wait 32+ minutes for your food to arrive, it doesn't seem to be efficient. It's also frustrating when you're waiting that long for your food and the owner/cook is enjoying beers and sausages with his friends.

As our 4th or 5th option, we ordered a ribeye to be done medium. It came mediun rare. I sent it back and asked for medium well. 5 minutes later it was brought back and it was almost medium. I get that it's difficult to get the internal temp accurate on a wood burning stove. Investing in a meat thermometer would be helpful.

They obviously knew we were tourist. No one working in the restaurant was friendly, welcoming, or interested in trying to provide a good experience.

We stopped at Burger King on...

If you're looking for true Portuguese food, this is where you need to be. Firstly, the atmosphere is lovely, gentle music playing in the background and the decor is lovely. This place is a family ran restaurant and it's nice to see photos of the family up on the walls. Even though tonight they were a little short staffed we were still made to feel incredibly welcome. You can see that the staff here work very hard and really care about their customers. The food is obviously fresh, my fiancé had the Lulas and I had the maminha. Our meals were delicious. I also has the caramel/almond tart which tasted like a daim bar...home made and so unbelievably good. I was glad my fiancé is allergic to nuts so I didn't have to share it haha. All in all I would definitely recommend coming here and I would come back myself. Thankyou for a...