SESMARIAS - Donato's Italiana

[dakar]

This Italian restaurant ( by water tower)seems to be bucking the trend with plenty of punters tucking in to Italian
dishes. Can readers please give their views on standard of food during any recent visits.

With thanks in advance to respondents.

[charles hewitt]

Excellent, freshly cooked, pleasant staff and good value.

[widge]

Fantastic Pizza & Pasta offers at very reasonable prices. Friendly staff & quick service -that's why it's so busy. We live nearby and walk there at least twenty times a year, please don't tell everybody we might not be able to get in!

[EMM]

Its always busy in season , parking can be a bit of a nightmare.

[Craig]

I agree with all of the above -- good food, prices and atmosphere.

Craig

[snaj1]

Good quality food at reasonable prices, excellent service.
We stayed around the corner last September and we will definitely
be visiting in August.
Very family friendly too.

[Bruce Wallis]

Is it a "proper" Italian restaurant, or just a pasta and pizza place??

[widge]

It's not sophisticated soyou won't find the cuisine as refined as Bella Vita. The choice is limited as well, so for example there are few fish dishes and from memory no veal (they do saltimbocca but with pork fillet).

So it's not a "Special Occasion" restaurant but it's great for a fast friendly supper with the family.

[SJ & RE]

Sounds a good place for a visit,thank you for information and the recommendation

[Canada]

The lamb and robablo are really good and the prices are reasonable. The staff is excellent and "the Boss" is always around and hands on. I see most people ordering the pizzas as they are around 7 Euros and huge! The house white wine is not very good to my palat but they have others on the list. Sat urday night at 10pm the Karioke starts and it seems to be popular and the singers are not too bad.

[Bruce Wallis]

Was that before or after you forced yourself to drink the wine

[tricky]

We love it too, good quality food at very reasonable prices. In my mind the best everyday italian in Carvoeiro.

[Graham]

In our opinion this restaurant is almost as bad as Rei da Prais (sorry, really bad spelling) at Caneiros beach - I don't think anyone should ever go there

[widge]

Interesting conclusion Graham.

I think Rei das Praias has become grossly over priced and the service is just too slow and casual to make it a special experience. The offer has hardly changed in 5 years.

Donato's is right at the other end of the spectrum, very affordable & plenty of urgency about the service.

Which are your favourite restaurants?

[Graham]

Hi Widge - it all depends what I am after -

Rai das Praias is my wife's favourite. I don't actually eat seafood or really like fish but she loves the Tiger prawns. I usually have the steak and I think it has now actually become one of the cheapest fillet steaks in the area - which sort of offsets the wallet busting price of the Tiger prawns. We often choose to come here as a last night with guests (you know - the one where they pay )

If we plan a night out in town (i.e. we want a meal before we go on to see Ray playing in Mungos on a Thursday) then Castello would be my first choice.

If we are out with another family with young children then Villa Medici is always a hit - because of the play area at the back the kids are not 'tied' to the table and can stretch their legs and play with other children inbetween courses without annoying anyone.

On a 'golf took a bit too long, I can't be bothered to cook now' sort of evening then Donatos would be my choice, especially for the price. We had friends over at Easter who were staying at Val de Lobo who were amazed that dinner for 9 of us (4 adults, 5 kids) including wine actually cost less than they had paid for just the 5 of them that morning for breakfast in Val de Lobo!

We are also big fans of Ele & Ela - I think some of the fusion dishes are very different from the average food that is around. Again, we usually take friends but only so I have someone to talk to as my wife is usually too busy drooling at the waiter (though apparently he was better with long hair if he is reading this!)

If the kids have been really good (not very likely but it can happen) and we want to give them a treat we will go to the L'Orange. Jan has recently added a children's menu that is just so much better than the normal chicken and chips offering. My two (aged 7 and 9) love the fillet steak cooked rare with veg etc and at 11 euros I think it is a great bargain for the portion size and quality that they get.

In the winter we also like Olea de something (Leon?) in Porches - but it can be a bit stuffy inside in the Summer and we have not yet been when the terrace is in use.

One of our issues is that most restaurants open too late to take the children. It is getting better as they get older, but even last year for them to go past 6pm without being fed was courting disaster. The choice at places that open early is very limited (O Salmao, Villa Medici and The Island Cafe are probably the only three that we can rely on) and I never understand why more do not open early - get the first sitting through at 6pm and out by 8pm and you can turn your tables at least twice. Also, if you have people in at 6.30pm you are much more likely to spend the evening full - no one likes walking in to an empty restaurant and the ones that get early trade seem to fare much better than the others.

Places that are on the hit list to try this summer are Taste and the Brazillian restaurant at Porches. We will also try and get to the restaurant at Silves which e-Richard raves about.

Based on the above, other suggestions for new places to try would be welcome

Graham