Calhou Restaurante

We had an amazing dinner in Calhou. The place is a bit far from the noise of the centre. Located uphills, the family business offers a well selected menu of traditional southern porturguese cuisine and napoletan pizzas.

The place is really beautiful. The wooden walls and decorations make the place really cozy. The service is quite good. We were helped by the owner, such a nice woman. She was all the time asking us about the food and really willing to tell us about the story of the restaurant.

This detail definitely makes a difference because she made us feel at home. Her husband is the chef. He follows old family recipes for all the dishes. We asked about why they decided to put a corner for napoletan pizzas.

The story was that the son decided to quit his job and go to Napoli to learn how to make proper pizza. On his way back, he convinced his parents about the idea of offering the pizzas in the restaurant. It was a good decision. The guy is a showman. While we were eating, we couldn't stop staring at him while he was working on the pizzas. He seems to be really passionate about it. We realized he was using real italian ingredients and the final result looks amazing. You could see the classical "corniccione" of napoletan pizzas.

We ate a pestinho of mackerel with tomato. It was quite good. Then, we tried cod with pepper, olives and potatoes. It was super tasty. Then, we went for the carne de porco alentejana. Oh god! It was the best!

It was a traditional stew of the Algarve region, made with pork, clams, pepper, onion, coliflower, pickles, roasted potatoes, etc. What a dish! The sweetness of the pork, the saltiness and marine touch of the clams and the sourness of the pickles and vinegar. It can not be compared with other stews from other parts of the world. It has a strong personality. Amazing dish.

We continued with a dessert called heaven's bacon. Kinda milk tart. Really tasty. The owner told us it is her who makes all the desserts everyday. We finished the dinner with two digestives: Porto Velho and Moscatel. Both really sweet and strong. They have a long list of spirits and digestives.

For those who want to try nice wines, the restaurant offers a wide variety of wines from both, Algarve and Porto.

Price is above the average of the town, but it is definitely worthy. A beautiful place where to have a quiet and romantic dinner.