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A Eira do Mel
This charming husband-and-wife-operation in Vila do Bispo (just a few kilometers from Sagres) is the perfect post-beach lunch spot. Chef Jose Pinheiro and his wife Isalia created a rustic-chic restaurant in an old farmhouse near the center of town. Antiques, checkered tablecloths and hand painted windows lend the dining room an intimate, lived-in vibe, which perfectly complement the local, slow-food dishes. Think tender rabbit in a red wine sauce, prawn stewed in nothing but olive oil and garlic and boiled quail eggs served with sea salt.
Grand Beach Club at Grand House
Grand Beach Club is a vibrant waterfront restaurant and beach club with great views of the Rio Guadiana river mouth and the Atlantic Ocean.
Grand Salon at Grand House Algarve
Located at the Grand House hotel, Grand Salon serves simple yet sophisticated cuisine alongside bespoke cocktails.
O Estaminé
Its immediate neighbors on the sandy dunes of Ilha Desert are mostly fishermen’s huts, but O Estaminé still draws quite the crowd for its superb inventory of fresh seafood. Located on a desert island roughly 30 minutes from the mainland of Faro, the restaurant is surrounded by crystal clear waters that telegraph an otherworldly experience. Solar-powered and featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, the restaurant is the perfect setting in which to tuck into such dishes as simply cooked clams and sea bream.
Ocean Restaurant
Another one of the Algarve’s Michelin-starred restaurants, Ocean (in the Vila Vita Parc Resort in the town of Porches) might boast the most glamorous dining room in the area. The intimate, chandelier-adorned space (which can only first 35 guests) is done up with mostly white furnishings, from the tables to the curtains that frame large windows looking out to blue waters. Diners are expected to complement Ocean’s style by donning elegant eveningwear, making this seaside restaurant the ultimate special occasion outlet. In the kitchen, Austrian Chef Hans Neuner and his staff prepares well-rounded tasting menus with mostly local and largely organic ingredients. Typically salty sardines, which come from the nearby town of Sagres, are tempered with pear, vinegar and onion for a flavorful appetizer.
Willie’s
German-born chef Willie Wurger’s eponymous, Michelin-starred restaurant in Vilamoura (in Central Algarve) is one of the hottest tables in the region, especially because Willie’s has been awarded that star every year since 2006. While there’s no shortage of fresh seafood in the menu, what makes eating here so spectacular is that dishes are inspired by Central European cuisines—a rarity in the area. The pan-fried monkfish on a mustard-cream sauce is a unique standout.
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