Petiscais — Restaurant in Olhão

Petiscais is located adjacent to the Olhão train station, so you might think that it would be very noisy, especially on their large, covered patio, but the local trains coast into the station and stop next to the restaurant, so the interruptions are minimally invasive. My wife did not even notice that two trains arrived and departed during our meal.

The menu is eclectic, having Portuguese classics with an international flair, pastas, meat dishes, fish, and even burgers. The prices are a bit high by Portuguese standards with entrees ranging from €10 to €38, but the food is tastefully presented and very good.

We started with the standard olives and fresh bread, accompanied by three spreads, butter, a mild tuna flavored butter pate, and hummus-style spread (€5).

For my main, I had the stewed pork cheeks (€16) in a plum sauce sitting tastefully atop a good portion of mashed potatoes and garnished with fresh herbs. The pork was tender, the sauce delicious and not overly sweet, and the potatoes firm, yet creamy. The portion was quite substantial and I left pleasantly satiated, but not stuffed.

My wife had the steak with beer sauce (€10), but being tomato intolerant, the chef kindly substituted the beer sauce, containing a hint of tomato, with a thinned, creamy gorgonzola sauce. The steak was good, the sauce a bit too runny, and the house-made 'chips', actually more like potato chips than fries. It was accompanied by a small, tasty salad on the same plate. For the price, she was quite pleased.

Our friends both had a pasta dish, bigoli pasta tossed with prawns and herbs in a unique sauce reminiscent of many Thai dishes I have had over the years.

The service was good, friendly, and everyone seemed to speak at least some English. The building itself appears to have been fashioned out of an old station warehouse updated into a comfortable dining room and large kitchen. The patio is also quite large with its own small bar.

Being just a short walk from our home, I was pleasantly pleased with our meal and wish we would have tried Petiscais much sooner than we did, having curtailed our restaurant ventures due to COVID and other unforecasted life events.

CombatCritic Gives Petiscais 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More...

I went here for a coffee with my friend, while she was waiting for her train to Faro. The waitor who served us wasnt so interested, probably because we just ordered coffee's.My friend left and i wanted a beer but noone came back to my table, in the end i didn't even bother. There was other people also outside. They asked for bill and it was brought out to their tables, i asked twice, never recieved, i ended up going into restaurant and paying someone else. It should not make a difference what i purchase, treat all customers with respect, i obviously didn't return to try the food,which is a shame because it looked nice, but the...

If you’re ever in Olhāo make sure to come to a beautiful family run restaurant called Petiscais. The owners are so lovely and attentive and made us feel very welcome despite being frequented by mostly locals. We didn’t feel like we stood out and they made us feel at home. The food was beyond exceptional and the prices were the cherry on top. The best seafood and sangria we’ve tried in the area. We have come several times already and will be returning before we leave. This place deserves more recognition and I would advise going to all the other restaurants you want to try first before coming here because nothing...