Talho Santa — Restaurant in Porto Moniz

When traveling between the lighthouse at Ponta do Pargo and Porto Moniz, this is a must-stop!! We too smelled the wood fire and grilling meat as we drove by. If you are hesitant to invade a very local spot as a tourist, don't worry as the proprietress begged us to leave a review suggesting she really would like more tourists to stop. On the right side is the butcher shop. One chooses which meat they would like grilled. It seems one orders either by the multiple of 100 grams or just a half or a whole skewer of steak, pork, large or small sausages, or boneless chicken. I am not a fan of the ubiquitous boneless/skinless chicken breast, but this was perfectly grilled and delicious. One can also get spatchcocked grilled chicken. There are plenty of beers and wines at very nice prices from which to choose. As best I can tell there are no salads or side dishes but just delicious, perfectly chewy bread with salted butter. After the meal, one can go across the street for a delicious coffee at Bar Proverbio. The proprietress there lived in England for 15 years so can help English-speakers with whatever they wish. There is also a well-stocked market @Bar Proverbio so we got nice accompaniments for the raw Picanha we bought at Talho da Santa to grill at home. If you ask nicely, the proprietress @Talho da Santa might also give you a small bag of rock salt as it is the correct and only seasoning to use to properly grill your meat at home. Meat lovers who like to wash their meal down with nice wine can't do better than...

TL;DR - great meat, nice staff, great price, good atmosphere, accept cards, big parking lot and public bathrooms right behind the building.

Today, we stopped during our drive along the northwest coast and, it delivered! First, English is not a problem. Second, they only do espetada, and they do it well. We got a meal you could call "a solid steak", with no issue. A single portion feeds two no problem. Even though we didn't opt for one I noticed a wide selection of wine. Lastly, the staff was great, engaged, and visibly proud of their work. Loved it, I encourage everyone to stop by. If you don't like their meat just send it to me!

On the somewhat constructive side, the espetada they serve is so big the last pieces get cold before you...

If you are visiting around Porto Moniz, this is by far the best place to eat and the best food experience to have. It is a family restaurant/butchery which will ensure the freshness of the meat. We were 4 people and wanted to order 3 Espetadas but we were recommended to take only 2 as it will be more than enough for us. It sure was. We went out with full bellies. The meat is cut and seasoned there and before cooking it we were asked by the cook how would we like the meat. (We tried medium and medium-rare - both are best choices) You can buy wine by glass or bottled beer. For 2 Espetadas, 1 portion of fries, 1 portion of polenta, 3 beers, 2 glasses of wine and 1 pepsi we paid 50 euros, which was a great...