O Palheiro — Restaurant in Vila do Bispo

I have been here several times in the past year, and it is our 'go to' place for seafood when we head to the West Coast, especially when the perceves ( barnacle) season is on. Our most recent visit was on a dreary day, and the open air restaurant extension on the other side of the road was closed, until summer. We went upstairs in the main restaurant and were greeted like old friends by the owner and his wife and introduced to their new baby, produced since our last visit. We were 4 so straight in for the perceves which were plump and squirts and tasted of the sea. Delicious! Next the fried Moray eel skin which was rather like a fish version of pork scratchings, and came in long crunchy strips. We had also ordered mussels, which were tasty but disappointingly small compared to their shells. As our last mussels had been huge succulent green-lipped mussels in Dunedin, New Zealand these were the only let down. We finished with the fine texture and flavour of fried baby cuttlefish, which were juicy and, much to my joy, accompanied by a large plate of hot chips. Totally stuffed, the bill came to about €20 per head including drinks. A nice...

The worst service I have ever experienced in Portugal. Don't come here on a Sunday because other places in town are closed and they are dishonest enough to take more clients than they can serve. They did tell us we would have long to wait, but when we heard we would have to wait one hour for food we were going to leave and find another place and they didn't let us, saying it would take 45 minutes. In the end, it took about 1h30 to get food and the food isn't even that great. Seriously, don't come here unless you have absolutely no other option - and even so you might be better off ordering takeaway pizza....

Uma surpresa, em Vila do Bispo, 2ª feira, de regresso a Lisboa, via N125-A22-A2, ultrapassada a 14a hora do dia ( rigorosamente 14:25h à chegada ao Largo da República)e num "desespero" para almoçar em família ( 7 adultos e 1 criança). Procura, não procura... Deparámo-nos com um restaurante, simples, meio cheio, meio vazio, de esquina e com montra(s) pouco recomendáveis.... Entrámos e perguntámos " se ainda serviam" um grupo....A resposta, educada, simpática foi "sim, servimos todo o dia até às 22h". Lista consultada, veio a segunda surpresa, após uma "visita desastrosa" há uns valentes anos atrás ao célebre ( vá-se lá saber porquê e, sobretudo, para quê?!) Café Correia, de muito má memória serviçal , gustativa e gastro. Uma lista rica, suculenta e tradicional de um restaurante típico "sea food" nesta zona. Escusado "dizer" que a "prática comensal" foi simplesmente perfeita : Perceves, Feijoada de choco, Dourada Grelhada "com todos e tudo aquilo a que deveríamos ter direito", lulinhas fritas à Algarvia, tudo "caseiro", bem servido e com uma qualidade que tem raros dias assim, mesmo nos ditos "restaurants criativos encartados" . Pode ter sido "sorte de principiante", contudo, em breve iremos comprovar se foi sorte ou é habitual. Revisita garantida ao Palheiro, um dia destes, concerteza. 5*, com distinção, como se...