Social. Vinhos & Petiscos Quarteira — Restaurant in Loulé

We had fairly high expectations as this is pretty much the top rated restaurant in Quarteira. The restaurant is lovely, the staff too (despite forgetting a drinks order, leaving us thirsty until halfway through the meal), but the food was a little disappointing. A couple of dishes were very under seasoned and bland - not what you expect from Portuguese dishes. And - Portugal being a pork-lover’s paradise notwithstanding - it’s a bit of an issue when one of the party doesn’t eat pork, but is looking forward to a selection of seafood dishes that don’t necessarily involve octopus. An earlier menu we’d seen had more fish choices (e.g. salt cod croquettes) which had been replaced with a pork sausagey version. Some dishes were great (prawns, pica pau), but that wasn’t enough to alleviate the overall sensation of disappointment. Prices are still pretty...

The atmosphere is great—lively and a bit sophisticated. There are not many wines by the glass but they were pretty good. Most tables were drinking full bottles, which gives many more choices.

The big disappointment was the food. It’s an interesting menu but the actual food just wasn’t very good. We had the small squid in red wine, which was so fishy and just doesn’t go with red wine. We had the pica pau, which is supposedly the most popular tapa, but it was incredibly salty and rather plain other than salt (and I love salt but it was too much.) We had the octopus salad, which tasted ok but the octopus didn’t taste fresh. Lastly, we had the chorizo and quail eggs, which was quite good—the only dish we would recommend of those we tried.

We would return again for the vibe and a glass of wine, but...

We returned to our short winter break in Vilamoura/Quarteira this January. Immediately we checked if Social had survived the Pandemic. It had and we made a reservation for dinner. To our delight the high standards set by Bruno, the owner, had been maintained. We dined here on 2 of our 3 nights. The food is Tapas style, the wines and ports are carefully selected from the best of Portugals vinyards. The staff are friendly and attentive and the atmosphere is homely. Because this is Portuguese food at its best the restaurant is frequented by locals as much as visitors. If you are visiting Vilamoura/Quarteira or the surrounding area then a meal in Social will not disappoint. You can book online and booking is advised. Looking forward to...