The One Restaurant — Restaurant in Lagoa

Fire the entire kitchen staff & everyone front of house. In fact, just shut this place down.

I went to this restaurant with my husband last night for a very belated date night (we have a 4 yr old so they don’t happen very often!) First up, the positives. The view is especially nice if you’re seated on the front row of the terrace. The wine was also delicious although we only had a glass each having had a very nice cocktail on the rooftop before we headed down for dinner. That’s where the positives end unfortunately.

We both had the tasting menu; my husband had the regular one and I had the vegan. It was €70 and €60 respectively so a good deal compared to most 5 star hotel restaurants. The tasting menu is 5 courses and at best they were ‘ok’. We started with bread and butter which felt odd in such a premium place. The butter was tasteless, I don’t think it was salted and when I asked for salt I got table salt in a shaker. Again, I expected something more special, like maldon or sea salt. From there we had 5 courses each of which was very pretty but desperately lacking in flavor. The first was 3 bites of quinoa and veges with edible flowers but there was no discernible flavor at all. The second was a very watery and tasteless pea soup, the third an edamame curry which was just really odd and the sauce felt cheap and under seasoned. A palate cleanser of tangerine sorbet with Prosecco was probably the best of the meal but not as good as my husbands plum sorbet and I’m not sure why we got something different when they were both vegan. Next up was a rubbery eggplant with watery tomato sauce on dry curried rice. That was inedible. As was the dessert (a beautiful but flavorless mound of mouse).

Every dish was placed infront of us with no description or explanation so we were left guessing what we were eating and generally feeling like there was no attempt at creating a dining experience here. My husband felt like his meal was better but overall just ok and neither of us would be inclined to ever return. We asked for the manager and after 3 attempts someone came to speak to us. They said the manager was off that night so I asked who was running the floor and he said ‘no one’. That felt painfully obvious. They removed my meal from the bill and our wine but the evening was a disappointment and we won’t be...

Starting with the positives. The atmosphere is lovely - dining on a veranda with the waves in the distance is wonderful. The waiting staff are very attentive, if not a little faulty-towers-esque in their approach. This however is where the 'fine dining' experience ends.

We had the sea and land starter for 2 and the rump steak for 2. The starter was okay. Whilst the small selection of starters aimed to encapsulate the culinary offerings of the Algarve coast, in reality it was rather underwhelming. Cold and limp calamari, a slice of thin ham with parmasan, diced apple and a splodge of balsamic and salty deep fried moray eel. There was nothing that wowed or stood out.

The most disappointing was the Rump Steak, which in the faulty towers fashion was paraded to us and then served onto plates. The steak was okay but underwhelming for the price (€100), the peppercorn sauce was nice but not enough to win back points. Beside the steak sat cold vegetables and what I can only describe as school dinner potato wedges. I've had steak for 2 at around this price before and usually it is a Chateaubriand with a choice of accompaniments (truffle fries or mac and cheese, roasted vegetables etc..).

Finally we finished our disappointing meal with a cheesecake, which again we'd had a much better version the night before at a local wonder of a restaurant - A Galé.

By this point I was already frustrated as the total cost for this tragic fine dining experience... €175 Euros.

This is with two glasses of house sparkling wine my parter had as I don't drink, but by the end of the meal,...

We came here for our last dinner in Carvoeiro and were seated out on the patio. Our view of the sea and terrain was a little obstructed as the row of tables closest to the glazing was lined with single diners - This felt like a miss on creating a romantic atmosphere for those of us who came in couples. As the evening progressed it became evident they were seating people in prime areas on a first come first serve - which again, hardly seems fair for those of us who book well (and I mean months) in advance.

The food was very aesthetically pleasant - I would skip the foie gras, and settle on the shareable platter that comes with a variety of items to sample. Oysters were delicious, as were the tempura and rolls. The porridge and sweet were on the gamier side, very interesting as far as exploring flavours goes but may not be for everyone. The mains were delicious as well, with a reduction that paired marvellously with the meat. The cuttlefish ink barley was also delicious and came in a very generous portion that we did not finish - but we did make quick work of the fish, which was...