Visiting Portugal: Vilamoura
Two weeks ago, I was enjoying some sunshine and relaxing time in Vilamoura, Portugal. And both sun and relaxation were had aplenty, as well as turning off the phones and catching up on reading.
I was really looking forward to also discover a new food culture since I had never been to Portugal before. The recommendations that were given to us at our hotel were clearly aimed at tourists and I was not going to have any of it. I do not like the idea of traveling to another country and not try the local cuisine. My idea of a holiday in a South European country is not to end up eating Chinese, Italian, Indian, French or Irish meals.
Thankfully, E. and I were really lucky with our food discoveries.
On our first day in Vilamoura, we were looking for a lovely place with Portuguese food for dinner. The restaurant we were sent to was meant to be Portuguese-International, but with beef stroganoff and lasagna on the menu, we were not so impressed. We decided to start walking towards another area of the town but quickly stumbled upon the most lovely little restaurant. It is called A Taberna Casa de Petiscos (petiscos stand for tapas).
Just imagine a small restaurant with long tables covered in red and white gingham table cloths, a menu filled with lots of small dishes to try, and most of all the most welcoming atmosphere!
We ended up eating there every day and each time we ate different things. Upon arrival, a lovely basket of fresh bread, olives and homemade tuna spread are laid out to get you started and to leave you some time to choose a few dishes. The very friendly manager Othelo shared with us his passion for food and fresh products. His enthusiasm for Portuguese cuisine was very contagious. All the dishes served in this restaurant have mainly an inspiration from the North of Portugal, and everything is made from scratch by a couple of chefs in the kitchen.
We got to try a lot of small dishes: sopa massada de cherne (fish soup), sopa da pedra (stone soup, a lovely rustic and homely soup with beans, potatoes, beef and pieces of sausages), fried horse mackerels, the most delicate and delicious homemade potato crisps, succulent pork tenderloin cooked with little pieces of pickled vegetables, delicious little codfish galettes, prawns omelet, etc. And the dessert we ate each time: arroz doce, a beautiful creamy rice pudding sprinkled with cinnamon powder.
This little restaurant is right in the middle of Vilamoura near the Marina and I would highly recommend it. Not only it is delicious there but it is good value too. And most of all, Othelo and the friendly staff were so wonderful to us that they really made us feel at home. One of the waitresses, Sue (a lovely British lady who has been living in Vilamoura for 25 years), even gave us some lovely recommendations for the farmers market, fish market and where to find some absolutely scrumptious pastries.
On Wednesdays, in Quarteira (which is a small town attached to Vilamoura beside the marina), there is the farmers market. We decided to make our way there early after our long morning walk. It was just so wonderful, all I wanted to do was stock up on a lot of fresh ingredients but I had to remind myself it was not possible. The market was a real feast for the senses: amazing colours everywhere, the smell of dried and salted codfish (bacalhau), putting your fingers through the many bags of dried beans and seeds, the sound of live partridges being bought by restauranteurs, and the taste of herbs, cheeses and chouriço (Portuguese chorizo).
Despite the fact I could not buy a lot of the fresh products such as sausages, fruit and vegetables, and beautiful cheeses, I still managed to bring back a tiny bag of items: some wonderful dried oregano, tiny dried chillies, and a small jar of piri-piri sauce. My story with the piri-piri in Portugal is quite amusing for others (by others I actually mean E.). I did not realise how spicy this is and on our first day I added too many drops of it to my soup. It resulted in tears pouring out of my eyes and me coughing a lot. This stuff is hot hot hot!! (Honestly, I only put something like 7 drops when it should have been a couple...)
May I say there are also some delicious little sweet things in Portugal! We were very lucky that Sue gave us two good tips for pastries. The first one was a wonderful pastry shop in front of the sea. It is called Pastelaria Beira-Mar and has little cakes that are to die for. I cannot really show you the said cakes since: first of all, I could not take pictures inside; second of all, the cakes were eaten really fast. We tried the famous pastel de nata (Portuguese egg tart) which was so lovely, and also had a little almond tartlet and a delicious piece of marzipan.
The second one was about the small cafe next door to A Taberna where they sell little cakes too but most of all, where the Brazilian chef makes his famous cakes lua de mel everyday. Lua de mel translates for honeymoon. It is a Brazilian dessert: a small ball of sponge cake filled with caramelised condensed milk and covered in shredded coconut. It was like a wonderful little piece of heaven and went really well with a refreshing pear nectar for an afternoon snack.
It is well worth it when you visit a new country to be curious about its culture and its food!