On the second day of my recent holiday I decided to have dinner (well it was late afternoon) at O'Patio in CVOs square. As far as I can remember...Ive never eaten there before..so thought Id give it a go!
One of the waiters brought over large fish...he called it 'stone bass' ?(not absolutely sure of the 'stone' word..maybe you can put me right)..it was cut into large steaks.
I hadn't had this before..and being a fish lover ..I said okay.
For the meal I had a starters of mushrooms with herby/garlic dressing(small bowl)..pieces of bread/butter...small sprite...then...
the bass with couple potatoes/courgettes/carrots...
for dessert...small slice of strawberry cheesecake..and a coffee
it was an 'okay' meal..but wasnt terribly impressed...
but then came the bill of 31 euros....
do you think this was correct? or was I 'stung' ?!
When I told my friend (who I stayed with)she was furious.and so were Portuguese friends..what do you think?
Do you pay more for being close to beach? or was it because I 'Looked the tourist'?
I must say..that after being 'told off' for paying this..I felt pretty stupid

Fish like that is usually sold by the kilo, fish IS expensive, evenso 31 euros does sound far to much. Did you get a bill?

stung?……..depends how you look at it…..your friends, who live it Algarve, say you were….but my guess is you paid the menu price for everything……30ish euros is what I’d expect to pay in a place like that……

I know its not a fair comparison but the other day we (2) in Alentejo had a starter of bread butter cheese and slices of salami-type sausage….followed by bbq’d garopa…..which is, as far as I know, the most expensive fish served by the steak/slice….chips and salad, a bottle of medium price wine followed by coffee and one brandy (shared)…mmmmm.....for a total of 28 euros (+2 euros tip)

Incidentally….a way to get best value for money…..two courses each for about 30 euros for 2……is to order one fish dish to share as a starter, followed by a meat course (or whatever) to share…..they normally give you extra food and giving you a plate each for each course is never a problem…

At those prices our flights and accommodation works out cheaper

Ellie….also….two tips…..soft drinks are more expensive than wine….and secondly they will always put bread on the table and, if you do so much as look at it, you will be charged….if you don’t want it, tell them and they will take it away….I’m unsure of the law, but I think touching the bread means they can add a cover charge to the bill….(grey area)
…oh and one other thing…. "small slice of strawberry cheesecake"…..if you want to eat cake, go to a café
I don’t discredit O’Patio…or anyone….it’s just the way things are in Portugal….and not just for the tourists, for everyone….

Oh.....is that: done to, or, done for?

Yes Guest..I did get a bill...and now..looking at Diggers words...I can see that I probably wasn't 'stung'...and as you say...fish does come expensive!
I like the sound of a 'sharing' platter....but then I was alone..so would have had no one to share with
But being the first time Id dined out alone I was naive..and not looking at prices .properly.. you live & learn
But to tell the truth..I dont feel inclined to go back there.
Thanks for tips Digger .

Hi Ellie, must say when my daughter and I were out in April, we did look to go to O Patio but when we looked at the menu outside thought it very expensive in comparison to the other restaurants in cvo, so we havn't been there. I know people on this forum have raved about it, but we have always found it half empty when walking past it, when others have been full.

I have eaten in O Patio on several occasions, and never been there when it was busy. It certainly is expensive, especially if you go for the more expensive fish/shellfish dishes. However on the plus side I have always found the food very good

I find that all the restaurants by the beach quite expensive and not the best to be honest.

I had lunch opposite Smilers on Saturday and the food was ok. I had garlic prawns for starters and I could have sworn that they were frozen. Bit annoying considering!

I ususally definitely try to stay away from the restaurants around the beach but at lunchtime it's sometimes difficult to find anywhere else open.

Anonymous wrote:I find that all the restaurants by the beach quite expensive and not the best to be honest.

I had lunch opposite Smilers on Saturday and the food was ok. I had garlic prawns for starters and I could have sworn that they were frozen. Bit annoying considering!

I ususally definitely try to stay away from the restaurants around the beach but at lunchtime it's sometimes difficult to find anywhere else open.

Guest,

is that usually or definitely that you try to stay away from these restaurants

Hello prawn eating guest. As they are no prawns in the sea around these parts, you will be extremely hard pushed to find a prawn in any restaurant that hasn't been frozen. Most of the prawns (the decent sized ones at least) will have come from Gambia, Madagascar, or the the China seas somewhere.

The restaurants at the beach are over priced for what they serve.

Now anybody know where you can buy Big Queen Scallops?

Big Queen Scallops? Isle of Man!