Cais Wine&Tapas Bar — Restaurant in Loulé

We first came to Cais in July 2020, when we were able to travel from the UK back to Portugal for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Our regular Quarteira Old Town haunt had closed down, and we walked past this one, thinking it looked rather cute...

...and my god, it's some of - if not THE - best food we've ever eaten, and not just in Portugal. We've come back multiple times on each trip we take. Sitting inside or outside it's a dream. This trip alone, in December, we've come 4 times in 3 days.... probably come nearly 20 times in 2 1/2 years.

The daily specials are phenomenal. There's always a meat special and a fish special, and we just order one of each - sometimes never even asking what they are. They are always as fresh as you can get, beautifully cooked - with incredibly sauces and sides (their chips are heavenly - light, airy but with a divine crunch/texture) - and desert included all for around 9 euros a head. (They should charge more, really. We'd pay it!). Perfect squid, perfect duck rice, perfect bacalhau, perfect tapas, perfect pork orange, perfect dorada (sea bream)... perfect everything.

The Cais House Burger is absolutely the best burger in Portugal - crumbly, moist beef, american cheese, egg, bacon, lettuce and tomato on the softest bun! Salivating just thinking about it.

But my god, I've saved the best for last... you have to ORDER IN IT ADVANCE (a day or so) but we've tried a lot of Cataplanas and nothing comes close to this. HUGE muscles, prawns, copious amounts of both plus clams and pork in the most spectacular broth - there's not enough bread in the world to soak it all up. The sweet peppers in the bottom are a meal unto themselves. Order this and you'll sleep well for a year.

Needless to say the owner and chef(s) are the nicest people on the planet. I have a soft spot for their chocolate mousse (all their deserts are handmade) and he made is special for me even when they didn't have it on the menu. Their wine selection (as befitting the name of the place) is spot on, and when my partner particularly loved their house wine he went to the shops and bought bottles specially for her to take home.

You may think I'm related to these guys in some way by how amazing this review it, but there's nothing of the sort - just as big a fan of this restaurant as a person can be and REALLY want to make sure they're still around the next time we come back...

Please go. You...

My partner and I have been coming to Cais since around the time they first opened (about 2 years ago). We absolutely loved it from the first visit. The food is always delicious, the staff are kind, the service is great, and the atmosphere is really lovely.

The restaurant is located right at the entrance of Quarteira’s old town - so about a 5 minute walk from the oceanfront away from the tourist traps. It first caught our eye as it has a beautiful outdoor seating area with plants draping over the entrance.

Cais has a mix of foods depending on what you’re in the mood for, including a daily lunch special which typically includes a traditional Portuguese dish and/or seafood plate (fresh right from the nearby ocean). Every lunch special we have had has been fantastic. They also have a selection of tapas which are all excellent and great for bigger groups where everyone has slightly different tastes. Their burgers are fantastic, and they do the best Cataplana we’ve ever had (way better than the restaurants on the sea-front and better than the more upmarket or ‘fancy’ restaurants on offer in Quarteira and Vilamoura). It’s so good you should order it in advance. They also make all their deserts fresh and have different ones each time we visit (my particular favourite is their Passionfruit mousse).

The seating outdoors and indoors (either in the main restaurant or in the bar) has a lovely atmosphere and nice music playing. It is always calm and suits us when we come as a couple or with friends/as a bigger group. It’s so nice to sit outdoors in the summer, with the gentle breeze especially because it’s not as noisy as the restaurants on the seafront with the club music playing.

If you eat anywhere in Quarteira during your stay, don’t miss out because this place is a MUST VISIT! We can’t wait to come back and thank the owner and his team for always providing...

My wife and I ate here twice on our honeymoon. It was the only restaurant that we visited twice because the food was so good, and the people were so lovely. Excellent value / price. We tried lots of different things from the menu and each was a good as the last. The Pica Pau, Hunting Sausage with Scrambled Egg, Cuttlefish Strips, and Chicken Wings were all fantastic. We also had the specials of the day - Meatballs with Spaghetti and Sea Bream which were both superb too. The wine was also wonderful and very reasonably priced. We spoke with the owner Diogo and the head chef Carla for a long time about the history of the restaurant and how things are going for them. The people are really great people and they deserve for the restaurant to be a huge success. We would definitely recommend eating here! We will be back next year on our anniverary. Thank you Diogo and Carla for 2 fantastic evenings at your beautiful restaurant!...