Restaurante Casa Velha — Restaurant in Loulé

I can summarise my views on Casa Velha as - they are trying very hard and too hard! We went to Casa Velha for my hubby’s birthday. I wanted to treat him with a romantic and fine dining experience for a special occasion. The place was definitely romantic and has been renovated to high standards. The atmosphere, ie. dinner under the skylight and an olive tree, was delightful. The chef made a real effort with the plate’s presentation. It was a real treat for the eyes. But not for the palate as the combination of flavours did not quite work for any of the dishes we had. It felt the ingredients had been chosen more for how the would look on the plate, than for how they would complement each other. The portions were also small, which meant we were both a little hungry at the end; I can’t remember the last time this happened in such a place. In addition, we were surrounded by folks who clearly had been trained to be polite and pay a lot of attention to their guests. As a result we had someone almost constantly at our table asking for something. Effective service is about knowing when to come to the table and to enhance the culinary experience of the guests; here it went too far on the « being present side ». I would probably be more sympathetic if it weren’t for the price - the tasting menu pricing was at the level of a Michelin star restaurant. Having done two of those during the week, Casa Velha has...

We discovered the new concept of casa velha tonight. We’ve been going to the restaurant for over 20 years. unfortunately the first experience wasn’t as we would have liked it.

Some very nice waiters, and some other pushy ones felling up the glaces non stop when water and wine were still quite full.

Asking for advice They told us to take 2 to 3 dishes per person to share but they told us when ordering if it was too much or not enough. The waitress said is was the right amount. We were 4 and we had 3 “starters” and 5 “mains” and one vegetable dish all to share. We had too much .. and could not finish the last 3 plates. May be some people eat more that’s quite possible ! but we find the food wasn’t refined enough for the price.. it was all very heavy and not enough freshness in most of the plates.

When asking the bill the waiter gave it to us and stayed behind me the whole time I was having a look if it was correct. Which unfortunately it wasn’t. 2 glaces of wine were added (24€) (this all in Portuguese so I wanted to make sure it was correct) when we said it was a mistake he disappeared and came back saying they where taken of. No apologies …

Hopefully other people have a better first...

The food was the best I’ve had on this trip… a menu that let the flavors of Portugal come out, whether it was seafood, beef, poultry, or the vegetables - a dash of brine, rich stocks, herbaceous notes - I should also mention the house-made bread plus the seasonal pumpkin jam as unexpected gems. We shared the sumptuous cod stew and the lightly-fried chicken as mains… appetizers were the bread, shrimp, and goat cheese.

While there was a spectrum of wines from all the usual locations, we settled on the Arvad Reserva Negra Mole since we had visited the winery earlier in the week. Nice to have a wine from the region that could tie it all together and the Reserva had the appropriate punch.

The rice pudding was so light and refined… usually it is a clumsy, eggy dessert that is charming in its own way, but this was all air and cream… the fluffy sweetness was balanced by a hint of citrus… solid dish.

Lastly, I must recognize the outstanding service by Miguel and his team of servers (including Leonardo and others). They were circulating, attentive, and had good guidance on the menu… always refreshing to see a service team who can qualify a patron’s by flavor profile and steer them down...