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October 2007 report
October 2007 report
Ok - Taxwoman (TW) and I are back after another delightful 10 days in CVO. Here is what we got up to, restaurant wise 
Of course I appreciate this is all subjective but I hope it helps if you are looking for a meal out in the near future.
Day One: O Algar - Some restaurants go up and down but some seem to stay always the same and O Algar is one of the latter. Carlos and family provide a courteous welcome and some of the freshest best-cooked fish in the area. My sea bass was almost perfect and TW thoroughly enjoyed her seafood rice. The wine list could perhaps do with some useful expansion on the white wine front, as it is primarily a seafood restaurant, but the Perramanca went down a treat
Food/Wine - 8
Service/Ambience - 7 (the decor outside is basic but you can get a nice view inside is typical Portugese, dark wood,tiles and rather uncomfortable chairs)
Value - 7 (fish/shellfish ain't cheap these days)
Overall - 7.5 - a reliable restaurant
Day Two - Brasserie Marinha - A long time favourite of ours but this time we were slightly disappointed. Perhaps this was because this was the first time we had eaten inside but also because we found the service and menu a bit tired. The wine list also seemed a great deal more limited than it used to be. My starter of mushrooms and main of rump steak lacked any spark whatsoever. TW reported good prawns piri piri but was less enthused with her veal.
Food/Wine - 6
Service/Ambience - 6
Value - 6
Overall - yes you guessed it, 6 ( a lower than usual score)
Day Three - Mona Lisa - If you want pizza then this place has always been considered by us as the place to go. Also good is the large garlic bread for starters. The decor is basic (inside was too warm but all the outside tables were gone) and service a bit chaotic but hell this was a night off from "serious" cuisine. My only real criticism is the poor wine list - we stuck to beer.
Food 7/ Wine 2
Service/Ambience 6
Value 8
Overall 7 (stick to a relaxed regime of pizza and beer)
Day Four - A certain beach restaurant between CVO and Ferragudo whose name I am barred from mentioning by all my family because they simply do not want this restaurant from becoming too well known. This was lunch - you get the view and the fresher fish at lunchtime (yes the fish is that fresh !). The decor may be basic but this place has real style. The service is friendly but professional,the wine list (especially the whites) is one of the best in CVO and the range of fish/shellfish is unrivalled in the area. You simply cannot get Carabineiros prawns anywhere else and the Tiger Prawns were simply the best we have ever found in Portugal (yes even better than Rui's in Silves or even Porta do Santo Maria near Cascais (Lisbon coast) )
Food/Wine 9.5
Service/Ambience 8.5
Value 8
Overall 9 (if you like shellfish - this is as good as it gets)
Day Five - Primavera - After recent reports,including from en famille,we arrived somewhat nervously but overall this restaurant managed to maintain its position as one of the best in central CVO (if only just in that geographical location !). This was certainly one restaurant that attempts to say this is "haute cuisine". Service perhaps could be a bit sharper and our table in the tent was slightly dowdy. The scallops were reported a serious triumph by TW and my starter of salad of herring with range was a definite culinary success. The prawn curry was certainly different from the typical Brit curry. Winelist no better than average
Food/Wine 8
Service/Ambience 7
Value 7
Overall 7 (not quite as good as it seems to think it is)
Day Six - La Bella Vita - this was a debut for TW and I for this restaurant in the Clube Atlantico complex. This restaurant is distinctly more "modern" in appearance than most in CVO. The service was good and arriving a bit earlier than normal (7.15pm) helped beat the rush which seemed to result in lengthy delays for other tables. Amuse-bouche was a pleasant rarity in CVO, and TW considered her ravioli a great success. My beef fillet was good but not great. For a restaurant of this class,the winelist was a tad disappointing despite some Italian wines being present.
Food/Wine 8
Service/Ambience 8
Value 7
Overall 7.5 (would definitely go again but not didn't quite live up to the hype)
Day Seven - Roma's - How the mighty are fallen ! This place has quite simply gone down the pan from what it used to be. The extended indoors is frankly a mess and the outside tables now have a delapidated appearance. The food was poor from start to finish. The flambe at the tables is dramatic but the meat simply didn't live up to it. Winelist was ordinary.
Food/Wine 5
Service/Ambience 4
Value 3
Overall 3.5 (a real sad night)
Day Eight - Leao de Porches - Mixed reports nearly led to TW and I not bothering to travel to Porches (about 6 miles via Lagoa). We were certainly glad we did. For a romantic dinner a deux, this place is the one in the CVO area. The interior remains unchanged, the service was perhaps the best we encoutered and the food was the most successful of the "haute cuisine" restaurants we tried. TW reported really good pasta and my Lobster Oriental was very good indeed. The wine list was better than most and the suggested choice of white wine of Covela special reserve was a real winner - new white wine finds in Portugal are rare for us
Food/Wine 8.5
Service/Ambience 9
Value 7.5
Overall 8.5 (well worth the taxi !)
Day Nine - O Patio - we had intended to go to Maximes but the menu looked rather dull and TW was in the mood for paella which was reputed to be good. It was quite good but the prawn starter was way overpriced as was the wine. This is definitely something of a tourist trap.
Food/Wine 6
Service/Ambience 6
Value 4
Overall 5 (nothing special and overpriced)
Day Ten - Elle and Ella - Our last night - had we left the best to last ? well almost - far and away the best meat (fillet steak and rack of lamb) we had in CVO and also the best red wine - Incognito by Cortes de Cima from Alentejo. This small "bistro" style place needs booking in advance even in October. Good service.
Food/Wine 8.5
Service/Ambience 8
Value 7.5
Overall 8.5 ( a great alternative for carnivores !)
So there we are - overall some really good meals and a few new finds with a few old faves on the way out but c'est la vie. CVO may not have the Michelin stars that Albufeira, Almancil or Quinta do Lago have but there are still some very good places to be found. There are of course a lot more restaurants than those reviewed above but I hope this points you in the right direction.
PS: Is this the longest posting on the forum !?
Of course I appreciate this is all subjective but I hope it helps if you are looking for a meal out in the near future.Day One: O Algar - Some restaurants go up and down but some seem to stay always the same and O Algar is one of the latter. Carlos and family provide a courteous welcome and some of the freshest best-cooked fish in the area. My sea bass was almost perfect and TW thoroughly enjoyed her seafood rice. The wine list could perhaps do with some useful expansion on the white wine front, as it is primarily a seafood restaurant, but the Perramanca went down a treat
Food/Wine - 8
Service/Ambience - 7 (the decor outside is basic but you can get a nice view inside is typical Portugese, dark wood,tiles and rather uncomfortable chairs)
Value - 7 (fish/shellfish ain't cheap these days)
Overall - 7.5 - a reliable restaurant
Day Two - Brasserie Marinha - A long time favourite of ours but this time we were slightly disappointed. Perhaps this was because this was the first time we had eaten inside but also because we found the service and menu a bit tired. The wine list also seemed a great deal more limited than it used to be. My starter of mushrooms and main of rump steak lacked any spark whatsoever. TW reported good prawns piri piri but was less enthused with her veal.
Food/Wine - 6
Service/Ambience - 6
Value - 6
Overall - yes you guessed it, 6 ( a lower than usual score)
Day Three - Mona Lisa - If you want pizza then this place has always been considered by us as the place to go. Also good is the large garlic bread for starters. The decor is basic (inside was too warm but all the outside tables were gone) and service a bit chaotic but hell this was a night off from "serious" cuisine. My only real criticism is the poor wine list - we stuck to beer.
Food 7/ Wine 2
Service/Ambience 6
Value 8
Overall 7 (stick to a relaxed regime of pizza and beer)
Day Four - A certain beach restaurant between CVO and Ferragudo whose name I am barred from mentioning by all my family because they simply do not want this restaurant from becoming too well known. This was lunch - you get the view and the fresher fish at lunchtime (yes the fish is that fresh !). The decor may be basic but this place has real style. The service is friendly but professional,the wine list (especially the whites) is one of the best in CVO and the range of fish/shellfish is unrivalled in the area. You simply cannot get Carabineiros prawns anywhere else and the Tiger Prawns were simply the best we have ever found in Portugal (yes even better than Rui's in Silves or even Porta do Santo Maria near Cascais (Lisbon coast) )
Food/Wine 9.5
Service/Ambience 8.5
Value 8
Overall 9 (if you like shellfish - this is as good as it gets)
Day Five - Primavera - After recent reports,including from en famille,we arrived somewhat nervously but overall this restaurant managed to maintain its position as one of the best in central CVO (if only just in that geographical location !). This was certainly one restaurant that attempts to say this is "haute cuisine". Service perhaps could be a bit sharper and our table in the tent was slightly dowdy. The scallops were reported a serious triumph by TW and my starter of salad of herring with range was a definite culinary success. The prawn curry was certainly different from the typical Brit curry. Winelist no better than average
Food/Wine 8
Service/Ambience 7
Value 7
Overall 7 (not quite as good as it seems to think it is)
Day Six - La Bella Vita - this was a debut for TW and I for this restaurant in the Clube Atlantico complex. This restaurant is distinctly more "modern" in appearance than most in CVO. The service was good and arriving a bit earlier than normal (7.15pm) helped beat the rush which seemed to result in lengthy delays for other tables. Amuse-bouche was a pleasant rarity in CVO, and TW considered her ravioli a great success. My beef fillet was good but not great. For a restaurant of this class,the winelist was a tad disappointing despite some Italian wines being present.
Food/Wine 8
Service/Ambience 8
Value 7
Overall 7.5 (would definitely go again but not didn't quite live up to the hype)
Day Seven - Roma's - How the mighty are fallen ! This place has quite simply gone down the pan from what it used to be. The extended indoors is frankly a mess and the outside tables now have a delapidated appearance. The food was poor from start to finish. The flambe at the tables is dramatic but the meat simply didn't live up to it. Winelist was ordinary.
Food/Wine 5
Service/Ambience 4
Value 3
Overall 3.5 (a real sad night)
Day Eight - Leao de Porches - Mixed reports nearly led to TW and I not bothering to travel to Porches (about 6 miles via Lagoa). We were certainly glad we did. For a romantic dinner a deux, this place is the one in the CVO area. The interior remains unchanged, the service was perhaps the best we encoutered and the food was the most successful of the "haute cuisine" restaurants we tried. TW reported really good pasta and my Lobster Oriental was very good indeed. The wine list was better than most and the suggested choice of white wine of Covela special reserve was a real winner - new white wine finds in Portugal are rare for us
Food/Wine 8.5
Service/Ambience 9
Value 7.5
Overall 8.5 (well worth the taxi !)
Day Nine - O Patio - we had intended to go to Maximes but the menu looked rather dull and TW was in the mood for paella which was reputed to be good. It was quite good but the prawn starter was way overpriced as was the wine. This is definitely something of a tourist trap.
Food/Wine 6
Service/Ambience 6
Value 4
Overall 5 (nothing special and overpriced)
Day Ten - Elle and Ella - Our last night - had we left the best to last ? well almost - far and away the best meat (fillet steak and rack of lamb) we had in CVO and also the best red wine - Incognito by Cortes de Cima from Alentejo. This small "bistro" style place needs booking in advance even in October. Good service.
Food/Wine 8.5
Service/Ambience 8
Value 7.5
Overall 8.5 ( a great alternative for carnivores !)
So there we are - overall some really good meals and a few new finds with a few old faves on the way out but c'est la vie. CVO may not have the Michelin stars that Albufeira, Almancil or Quinta do Lago have but there are still some very good places to be found. There are of course a lot more restaurants than those reviewed above but I hope this points you in the right direction.
PS: Is this the longest posting on the forum !?
Nix - not quite as good or useful as a G and T 
Can I add that this posting was dedicated to Ballysaggy Jane - a legend in her own lunchtime. Despite purchasing and wearing my Forum badge from the ice cream parlour beside Sully's I was not apprehended by any other similar badgewearers and we had hoped to meet Ballysaggy in particular ( we know she was due in CVO sometime in this October). Still TW recovered from this disappointment when she met Claudio, the hunky South African waiter at Elle and Ella's !!!!!
Can I add that this posting was dedicated to Ballysaggy Jane - a legend in her own lunchtime. Despite purchasing and wearing my Forum badge from the ice cream parlour beside Sully's I was not apprehended by any other similar badgewearers and we had hoped to meet Ballysaggy in particular ( we know she was due in CVO sometime in this October). Still TW recovered from this disappointment when she met Claudio, the hunky South African waiter at Elle and Ella's !!!!!