Atlântico — Restaurant in Portimão

We had a most lovely evening here yesterday. We had looked at a number of other menus/locations prior to eventually deciding to stop here for dinner. It seemed like the nicest physical location, right on the beach, and had a nice menu, so in we went...

The host, Walter, was a huge part of what made the evening great, he was really chatty and friendly, and made the kids feel very special too. He was very helpful with the menu and answered any questions we had.

We sat outside for a drink first and then moved inside when it got a bit cooler, for our food. The location is superb, right on the beach, so the views are equally superb. The restaurant is bright and comfortable, and has loads of sliding glass panels that can be adjusted to let in/out more heat/air as required.

The kids are off the kids menu and had a burger and chips and nuggets and chips, all of which went down a storm. They also had milkshakes, but more about that later...

We had all seafood. We split the prawns in garlic for a starter, which were fab with some bread to soak up the oils. My wife had the biggest tiger prawns I have ever seen, and she was in heaven. They were delicious. I had a monkfish and prawn skewer with vegetables, which was also delicious. We had some desserts; a couple of chocolate mousse and a crepe with cream and MnMs - all demolished.

Espresso was great, and my wife had an espresso martini which she loved.

Now, the milkshakes. I wouldn't normally make a big deal about these but there's a principle to be noted here. One of the other staff prepared the milkshakes from fresh fruit etc. and brought them out to the kids. The kids absolutely loved them. But here's the thing, the guy came out to ask how the milkshakes were, and when the kids replied that they were excellent, his face lit up. He had clearly made a great effort to make great milkshakes, and he was delighted to see that they were well received. That is pride, pride in one's role and is something I love to see. For him, it wasn't just a milkshake, it was as important an item as the tiger prawns or the monkfish skewer and he made sure to put his best into it. This may seem like a trivial observation, but it's important. It's people like this who have pride in their roles, that make the service industry great and give people happy memories. For me it was the highlight of the meal.

There's not much more I can say really, we had a fabulous evening, with fabulous food and fabulous treatment. Highly recommended. Five stars. *

Oh, and check out the homemade Piri Piri...

0/10 do NOT recommend!!!

In short: the waiter was rude, we waited over an hour for our food and it wasn't that good.

EDIT: the reply from the restaurant says it all… We were not informed of the waiting time beforehand. Also we went sometime midafternoon (~4pm) no idea where this ”it was busy“ comes from. To make it absolutely clear: we paid full price for everything!

Long version: while ordering I mentioned I did not want the salad that came with my meal and was immediately questioned why. Thought nothing of it initally but in hindsight that was already pretty rude. After we ordered we were ignored for about 40mins, at which point I asked a random waitress to check on our food. Our main waiter came back to say that our food was being made now, when I asked why there was such a long wait, he said that was normal. I disagreed, mentioning that it was the first time during my vacation that we had to wait that long. The waiter was obviously annoyed with my push back.

My two friends went to the bathroom and while I was there alone, the waiter came back to "explain". He told me that it was normal to wait that long, especially during the summer and when the restaurant was busy (sidenote: for some reason there were a ton of waiters), once again I told him that had not been my experience so far and the restaurant was not busy. He got mad and told me that I should listen to his explanation, at this point I was annoyed myself so I interrupted him saying that I did not need an explanations that were just excuses. He walked away sarcastically wishing me a good vacation...

Two out of three meals were average and the spaghetti with seafood was good. Definitely not worth the wait and attitude from the staff.

Do yourself a favor and stay away. Some better options in the area are the NoSolo Água Portimão or the...

The Atlântico Restaurant was one of the places we dined at during our stay in Portimão. It is located near the beach and therefore has a privileged view. It can be a bit difficult to find a parking spot, but those who arrive early and don't mind walking a bit won't have any problems with that.

We dined there on a weekend evening (no reservation was necessary). However, I believe it would have been a better experience if we had gone for lunch since we couldn't enjoy the sea view or the terrace due to the windy night.

We ordered a bowl of Algarvian fish soup (only one), Algarvian-style squid, and a grilled pork steak, accompanied by a 1.5L bottle of still water. The total cost came to €62, without any starters or desserts.

I believe the high prices are due to the location, as the restaurant and the food itself are nothing special. The service seemed like a tourist trap, and the upselling done by the staff was quite disconcerting.

The Algarvian fish soup was the highlight of the dinner, well-prepared, and appropriately priced. The Algarvian-style squid was salty and a bit nauseating, and the French fries appeared to be frozen. The pork steak was well-grilled, but the quality of the meat was mediocre, considering the price.

In summary, it was not a very positive experience. The restaurant is overpriced, and the service is extremely focused on upselling, making it a tourist trap. I will not repeat or...