O Viriato — Restaurant in Portimão

Having read the glowing reviews about this place we went with high hopes. But we’re sadly disappointed.

The good points: We had a polite, friendly server. The resteraunt looks lovely and cosy, in a great spot by the coast but outside of the busy part. Seems like a good selection pm the menu, a little more pricey than other local restaurants which I don’t mind if the food is good. Olives were delicious, as were the potatoes and vegetables that came with my main.

The bad points: My grilled salmon came out very well done and very dry. When we tried explaining to the owner, he insisted this is “normal” and how “normal people” like it. I replied I’ve never had salmon this dry before and that there was definitely nothing normal about it. There was no apology, it was all “im right you’re wrong” type attitude.

He said he’d do it again, this time making sure it was medium. My partners tuna was also very dry but he didn’t bother asking about it. We called him back out and asked if he could at least keep it warm.

The salmon went from one extreme to the other. What came out was rare to raw and inedible. And for some reason the vegetables had halved in portion to just two slices of carrot and one small broccoli floret. My partners tuna came out and it was exactly the same, really rare to raw. By this point I was overly hangry, annoyed with the owners attitude, and had given up. So when he asked if I’d like another, I refused. My partner tried one more time and it came back exactly the same. I think the chef just looked at it and sent it right back out.

The owner only charged us for one dish, but there was no apology when we paid. The original server however was very apologetic which we appreciated.

Maybe the chef was having a bad day, or maybe it’s just better for meat there. Either way the managers attitude wasn’t great and we won’t be returning. I’ve also just read another review from someone who ate undercooked fish too in the last two weeks, resulting in gastroenteritis, so that’s...

Nice little restaurant which has an extensive menu selection written in: Portuguese, English and French language. Also the wine list has a nice variety of wines to choose from.

The restaurant has both outdoor and indoor seating.

We ordered seafood and started with a delicious prawn starter with a tasty sauce which had to be scooped up with the bread they brought along. The prawns were amazing and the sauce and the bread too was soft and doughy!!

My Dad had the tuna steak which was cooked to perfection, and came with a generous side of fries (it usually comes with baked potatoes but he asked for fries).

My Mom had the 'Dorada fish' which came with a lovely side of vegetables and many more seafood tasting sides. The presentation was lovely!

I had grilled octopus and this too came with generous sides from potatoes to another seafood dish made with bread and other yummy seafood. The octopus was cooked to perfection not chewy all.

All dishes where tasty and extremely well plated and presented. We ordered two bottles of wine and a dessert, so our average spend per person was around 30 euros.

The restaurant filled up very quickly, we arrived at around 7:20pm. You don't need to book a table but if you want to try their amazing food and you are a large table, I'd strongly recommend booking in advance.

On the menu they have an extensive selection of the Portuguese dish called 'Francesina' (apologies for the spelling) they have it with: pork, chicken or shrimps. I saw a lot of tables ordering it. I will definitely want to go back and try that dish too, which is really yummy!

The staff was very polite and courteous, the service was great.

Cannot recommend this restaurant more, I'm definitely...

Uma experiência muitos níveis acima do que costuma ser a típica cozinha portuguesa, comida digna de prémios. Comida divinal, acolhimento familiar e super acolhedor. Inicialmente pedimos azeitonas e pão (delícia de azeitonas) e o pão super fofinho, vieram as bolinhas de alheira com molho de mostarda (divinais) o molho com bastante corpo mas muito equilibrado, sem excessos nenhuns. A Sangria já estava a caminho e foi uma agradável surpresa, frutada, suave e muito fresca, com uma mistura de sabor e aromas muito requintados, uma bola de gelado de limão que misturamos e os grãos de café a flutuar, no copo ficou divinal, mas na boca ficou ainda melhor. O polvo à lagareiro estava super macio, mas ao mesmo tempo com a consistência que deve ter, no ponto do ponto, a acompanhar vinham umas migas deliciosas, vegetais salteados e couve, que completam e acariciam o palato de uma forma muito especial, dando um novo sabor a este prato, a batata doce frita às rodelas foi a cereja no topo. As bochechas de porco preto em tacho de ferro, não sei por onde começar, talvez pela apresentação que me levou ao antigamente da cozinha do meu avô em Macedo de Cavaleiros, o tacho de ferro com um molho a cobrir metade das bochechas e a ensopar as fatias de pão saloio, com um ramo de alecrim a aromatizar, um puré de batata que vinha à parte para não misturar os sabores, super cremoso e saboroso... Podem não acreditar, mas quase chorei de emoção ao sentir aquela mistura tão boa e equilibrada de sabores da verdadeira cozinha portuguesa, já tinha saudades de comer tão bem, sem excesso de temperos ou apresentação daquela que não se sabe o que é sequer a comida. SIMPLESMENTE DIVINAL!!! A sobremesa foi recomendada pelo simpático proprietário Sr. Zé (o senhor baixinho com cabelo encaracolado grisalho e um sorriso contagiante), um bolo de bolacha já premiado em Portugal como o melhor do país, (e eu que não aprecio bolo de bolacha), mas decidi arriscar e fui prendado por algo inexplicável, que apresentação super cuidada e uma dose mais que suficiente para os dois, aveludado com sabores superiores mas bem equilibrados, fiquei fã e hoje posso dizer que amei aquele bolo de bolacha, mais houvesse! Chegados ao café, um café sem amarguras, sem borra, cremoso. O Sr. Zé trouxe um "mosquito", 2 copos de vidro pequenos e duas aguardentes, uma simples e outra com mel, foi pena não poder trazer uma garrafa... Chegados ao final, a esposa do Sr. Zé (Sra. Paula) saiu da cozinha e veio receber os nossos elogios ao que nos apresentaram, um sorriso gigante e um coração cheio de amor pelo que faz e pode partilhar com quem lá vá. Recomendo muito mesmo!!! Simplesmente incrível e maravilhosa experiência que encontrei no meio de Portimão, onde a maioria dos restaurantes são artificiais e a cozinha direcionada para o turismo...aqui encontrei a verdadeira cozinha portuguesa e a paixão pelo que se faz e apresenta aos clientes! Grato a vocês por me fazerem viajar nas memórias boas da boa...