Restaurante A Tasca do Petrol — Restaurant in Monchique

Little bit of a trek to get to but worth it, warning though make a reservation and ask for the special dishes ahead of time or else you’ll be out of luck. The meal we had was still good, we got the mixed grill which is essentially assorted cuts of pork, and the lamb chops. Both seasoned beautifully, I recommend getting the tomato salad alongside if you do decide to go this route as the freshness it adds is much needed. Be warned the two meat dishes we got were a lot and we easily could’ve gotten away with just one main. The star of the show for us was desert, there was a honey cake and a 3 ingredient tart that is local to the algarves. Both were super tasty, the tart though was very unique. It was made of carob, almond and fig. Our server was slightly cold initially but warmed up throughout the night, classic tough guy sweetheart who has a prickly demeanour but secretly means well. Definitely chat this guy up, if you’re looking to interact with a truly genuine human being. It’s a family owned joint, go and show them some love and I promise you you’ll have an awesome...

We ordered “Assadura / Grilled Meat Monchique Style”. The dish consisted of pork chops cut into small bits and grilled with garlic and parsley. The taste was really good and the pork chops were soft inside (not red) and crispy outside. The dish was served with French fries and a tomato salad. The French fries were homemade and crispy and the tomatoes had a really rich taste. We ordered the white house wine which was fine. I had an almond cake for desert, very nice and not too sweet. I tried also some of the other deserts, such as the flan and chocolate mouse, and they were all really good. We got a free shot of Medronho, the local drink, strong and warming! Make sure to arrive early if you want all menu options, we arrived at 14:00 and some of the menu options were no longer available. The experience was great overall and for a good price, definitely recommend to go to this place for a nice lunch! Also make sure to...

Excellent food, good prices (for Algarve) and great team - a pity about the rude owner

We came 21:02 and they "close" at 21:00 but a man around 40 who seems to be the owner told us "'I'll server you anyway but only BBQ". However the attitude in the order and delivering process was so rude ("it's only half a Frango, it isnot enough" - I want to decide what is enough for me not the waiter!!) that at the end they didnt' want to return for the sobremesa and we decided to check out and leave - never coming back again.

We felt extremly "unwelcome" the whole time and should have left immediately after the rude "'I'll serve you" message....

It's a pitty as food is very nice, cheap and the place seems to be popular by locals all ages. The rest of the family who helps is very nice and attentive - not the boss!

2nd star is taken away as they don't take creditcards (which costs are very low in 2018, ca. 0,14%...