Prato do dia . . . .

. . .  is nearly always our first choice when out for lunch or dinner.  Not only is the ‘dish of the day’ usually the freshest and best choice on the menu, but also quite often it is the best value.

Many restaurants offer a selection of three or more dishes of the day, and so you can still enjoy mulling over the menu. However if like us there are some days when even a choice of 3 or more feels overwhelming then there are two lovely restaurants in Olhão whose entire menu is only 1 or 2 dishes.

In fact this one is so good, I’ve mentioned it before  – Vai e Volta – and it so good I’ll almost certainly mention it again when we return in November. Their lunch menu is 9Euros and consists of grilled fish, Algarve style tomato salad, sweet & local potatoes and this incredible bread dish called Açorda à Alentejana. There is also bread, olives and just occasionally a squid salad to start.  The best bit though is their fish – perfectly grilled and it just keeps coming until you say no!  You will say no eventually I promise you, but sometimes it can take us quite a few platefuls before we do as we cannot resist their fish.

We’ve had Atlantic horse mackerel, sardines, sea bream, tuna, salmon, swordfish steaks, espada and others I have forgotten the name of.  The choice is incredible.   The only decision you need make it here is what you want to drink.  We tend to do what the locals do which is order a large bottle of water and a small carafe of red wine.

To find this perfection, which is run by the wonderful Maria João & José e o Gonçalo, you need to head for the Pingo Doce near the harbour. Once you have found the supermarket walk across to the far north west corner of the square that the supermarket is on. You should by now have your back to the cafe and the harbour will be off to your right, turn left and head west towards the much smaller square where the superb ‘Vai e Volta’ can be found on Largo do Grémio.

The second, only opened at the beginning of 2015 and fast became a regular haunt for us.  It was called Tasquinha da Ti-Alcinda and was found on Rua Almirante Reis, 131.  

Unfortunately as you may have gathered from the past tense it has now closed – very sad – and so as of August 2015 I am updating this post by removing the directions to it.  I have though left the pictures and everything else I shared back in April because it was such a wonderful place to go, and I don’t want to forget it.  If anyone knows what happened or if they have opened a new place anywhere then do let me know by contacting me via my About Me page.

The two women who run it are really lovely, and their tasty lunch menu includes soup, main course, glass of wine, dessert and coffee for just 7,50 Euros.  You only have two decisions to make – red or white wine, and meat or fish. Once you have made those two choices, you can sit back, relax and enjoy.

For more useful tips on eating out in Algarve, check out this helpful blog post I recently came across.

Bon appetit!