Xarme — Restaurant in Portimão

Sleek design and an attempt at a sophisticated air is let down by crude cooking.

When you walk in, this restaurant is promising. Definitely a classier place to have dinner than many usual Portuguese restaurants. It's a "special night out" sort of place. There is outdoor and indoor dining, and in the height of summer, probably even more outdoors.

The menu itself is fairly traditional "fine dining" fare, nothing unfamiliar. We opted for two salmon starters, the Iberian pork loin, and Duck Magret. All sounded good on paper.

Both starters were good, although the clear winner was the smoked salmon on apple-walnut salad. The flavour was spot on and everything worked really smoothly together. The salmon tartare was good, but a little too much for a starter. It didn't mesh as well as the smoked salmon but still a solid appetizer.

Unfortunately, the mains were where we got let down. Everything was very overcooked. Plating was like any typical Portuguese taberna. Unrefined, and please don't slice my meat for me. I am not a child. A bunch of overcooked bland boiled veggies piled beside some meat. Worse is that the veggies were so 1970s. They almost looked like those frozen mixed veg you can buy at the supermarket. There was zero sophistication or skill to them. It was fairly surprising considering the feel of the venue and the more interesting plating of the starters.

The meats were very overcooked. Pork loin was dry and pasty. The duck was the same. Duck shouldn't be grey. Only two slices were at least slightly pink. If it wasn't for the drenching of the plates in sauce, it would be difficult to eat. The pineapple with the pork was a bad idea. It was just a giant ring of pineapple (core and all!) Slightly grilled. Pineapple and pork is good, but you've at least got to cook the pineapple until it's really juicy, softer, and caramelising.

The gratin potatoes were very good however.

All in all, they were pretty lacklustre entrees. I expected better.

Further, I don't know if it was an employee or the owner's child running around, but it was incredibly annoying. She would scream and cry if she didn't get her way, and half the time it was up to guests to entertain her. When I come for an Algarve-style "fine dining" experience, I don't expect to have the restaurant doubling as a daycare for overtired toddlers. I understand that sometimes unexpected things happen and parents are stuck with a kid suddenly when they need to work, but it didn't seem like her mother was actually working. She just sort of wandered around, in and out of the kitchen. If you must take your child to work, there must be better ways to handle it.

The server was really good at first, but by halfway through, he disappeared into the kitchen for great lengths of time. There were only about 4 tables occupied, so I understand there's not a lot to do on the floor, but a server should be visible more often than that.

We considered dessert but it turned out when we ordered that, although it's on the menu, they didn't have any pavlova that day. So we decided not to get dessert as all the other options were fairly unexciting.

The menu itself is very standard. Nothing very unique. No real creativity. So if you're looking for a midrange dining experience that could feel a little fancy if you want it to, this is it. You won't be shocked or turned off by any strange dishes or ingredients. It is not a restaurant for adventurous diners who want unique flavours or skilfully plated dishes. It's a perfectly respectable restaurant, especially if you just want traditional contintental fare.

I would love to give this place a second chance. Maybe it was just an off day. With better ingredients and a bit more skill, the dishes on the menu can be done really well even if they are not trendy modernist cuisine that is everywhere now, but this visit just wasn't on the level it could be. It wasn't a bad meal, just an average one. I look forward to giving it another...

We had the most fantastic Valentines evening here. The restaurant is very modern and nicely decorated anyway but for this evening it was decorated with love hearts and balloons.

We had a welcome glass of fizz and the free flowing wine all evening, all delicious. The menu was 5 courses and everyone was amazing. The fish kebab and beef Wellington were outstanding. The service was excellent, especially as the restaurant was fully booked and for 85 euros, amazing value.

We would have eaten here again if we had time as it was just so fantastic. The live music really added to the evening too. Highly...

This is a gem in the middle of Portimão. Delicious food, big portions, great service! The papaya with prawns as a starter was juicy and flavorful. The duck with mango just melted in a mouth, and the salmon, served in two styles with linguine nero, was perfectly made.

So take this chance to enjoy a great meal at a very reasonable price. Leave some room for dessert!

Oh, and the cocktails were made the right way, with great recipes - not the watery drinks typically served in nearby tourist areas. We took bloody Mary and Negroni. If this place were by the ocean, it would be twice as...