RESTAURANTE — Restaurant in Portimão

Surprisingly, when we tried this restaurant for dinner, there were only 2 other tables there. I don't understand why because it was a very solid meal, with a lot of attention to detail and flavour. And finally, some dishes that offered more than the same old stuff you find at every other Portuguese restaurant. It's still Portuguese food, but taken up a level for those looking for something different or a bit classier.

It's not quite true expensive fine dining, but it definitely is attempting to bring up the standard of food and the dining experience. Plating was creative and colorful, which really helped prime the tastebuds. (People eat first with their eyes, as the saying goes.)

There were a few items they didn't have, like the tacos, where they offered to do the same filling but on bread. That was really weird. A taco is a taco. Bread is not a suitable substitute. Otherwise, the starters were tasty. Fried octopus was cooked absolutely right and seasoned really nicely. Tigermilk whitefish ceviche was delightful and fresh. The mix of textures was so important, and worked excellent together. I was really impressed by the starters.

Mains were pretty decent. One of the best cooked steaks we've had here. Leitao (pork belly) was also carefully prepared and roasted to maintain both crunch and juicyness. A little heavy on the mash but lots of hearty sauce to compliment it.

We were hesitant about the passion fruit dessert as it has white chocolate, and neither of us are fans but honestly, it was also really well done. The often sickly sweet, synthetic taste of white chocolate wasn't found and it was a beautiful presentation and not overly sweet at all. Excellent dessert choice. The biggest weakness of the meal was the creme brulee which was over-cooked to the point the custard was scrambled and very dense, making it an unpleasant texture to eat. It was a shame, because otherwise, each item we had ordered was well made.

Service was professional. Prices were definitely reasonable for the quality and portion size. It was almost 5 stars for me. I think if I go again, it may hit that mark because it's very, very close.

And as a bonus, they have a parking lot! It's somewhat rare for restaurants to have this so it was much...

Excellent service! Mentioned to the owner that we do not consume alcohol and if we could have it removed from a starter dish (razor clams) and it was no problem. Our main dishes were a bit delayed and the owner explained that the dishes contained alcohol in them so the cooks had to remake everything from scratch; this was a very appreciated gesture as we did not think to inquire further about the main dishes! The codfish and cracked wheat dish was well flavoured and the fish was very succulent. We had our dinner at 9:30/10 and the restaurant only had a few extra tables so would recommend booking in advance (can be done through The Fork app). I liked the paper placemats and asked if I would be able to take my used one home and the owner gave us two fresh ones! Great...

1 ⭐️ = Service 1 ⭐️ = dessert That’s about it… Don’t be attracted by the photo, the menu always change and was clearly for a photoshoot. Half of the menu not available. Ceviche ok, but over acide and over salted Razor clam… very boring, not that fresh Camembert, it’s cheese Boar over cooked, mash potatoes 🤢, if you had to much garlic to pass, I would rather have a garlic bread please. Most insulting part… when they asked and we shared our opinion they offered us (2 person’s) a glass of wine. And when the bill came, they charged us 1 of the « complimentary » glass! 🤣 We would expect more specifically because of the location… Every clients around us have something to complain about. Not saying it’s bad. It’s just… we’ll…...