Restaurante Vistas Monte Rei — Restaurant in Vila Real de Santo António

We went with high expectations and in general we liked the experience. However, there were a few things that were disappointing. First and foremost we were faced with unexpected changes to the menu during service. Red mullet dish was replaced by scorpion fish. Coincidentally this was the worst dish of the menu... Not good at all. Also the first desert of the menu was changed to aletria and we were not even informed about this. Second, the menu is overwhelmed by Indian flavours. It's a matter of taste and we didn't enjoy this choice. A curry mango cream for desert was not the right choice for us. Third, the dishes where the Indian flavours were less present, lacked the freshness punch. The sea urchin dish was a let down. The sea smell and flavour were swallowed by the intense onion. Finally we missed meeting the chef during service. Actually no one from the kitchen came to the room. On the positive side the service was good, wine choices were appropriate and no meat was present in the menu. We think this is a menu under development and hope next iteration will be much better. We also hope the communication becomes more transparent. For the price (around 250€ per head without wine harmonization) in our opinion we had better Michelin star...

We had the most wonderful evening in this restaurant. From the moment we arrived at the restaurant, we were treated with care and attention that we had not experienced ever before. The restaurant was very quiet and there were only 3 members of staff, Sara the manager, the Sommelier and a waiter and all were exceptional. The service was professional but also friendly, and we had some great conversations with Sara and the Sommelier. The food was delicious, they only offer a tasting menu which is why we chose this restaurant, we also had the paired wines which we also wonderful. We took an Uber there and back from VRSA and I would highly recommend a visit to this restaurant if you are in the area. Absolutely...

Segunda experiencia en cuatro meses, y, nuevamente, sorpresa tras sorpresa en cada uno de los platos, varios de ellos insuperables. Una sinfonía de sabores en tu boca. El Chef Rui Silvestre lidera además un equipo sensacional, con la adorable Sara al mando, y gestionando la sala, Leandro en la cocina, y el sumiller José compartiendo su vasto conocimiento de vinos. La sala, con un gran ventanal al jardín, la vajilla, los cubiertos, todo magnífico. Merece ya una segunda estrella, y también una tercera, pues es, posiblemente, el mejor de Portugal en mi modesta opinión.

Tercera visita, y, tal como las anteriores, fantástica. La creatividad, técnica, presentación y calidad de los ingredientes, hacen que, desde mi punto de vista, hagan del Chef Rui Silvestre, uno de los valores más brillantes, si no el máximo exponente, de la alta cocina portuguesa. Muy bien secundado en la cocina por Leandro Lopes, y en la sala por la profesionalidad, a la par que irreverente simpatía de su Directora Sara Santos, bien acompañada por el sumiller José Mata. Toda una experiencia "cum laude"....