This place rocks! With a five stars out of five average on Yelp, based on just seven reviews, I was hesitantly optimistic, but I found that my hesitation was completely unfounded after eating only one meal at Albufeira Gourmet.
Can you say Chicken Piri-Piri? Sure you can! Albufeira Gourmet does Chicken Piri-Piri and much, much more. We started with some bread (€1), butter (€0.60) and local cheese (€2) - €3.60 for what the restaurant across the street charges €10 for - then ordering the daily specials, one Chicken Piri-Piri (€6 - 1/2 marinated chicken) and one Maminha (€8 - 250g of thinly sliced marinated beef), both coming with fries, rice or salad - we chose fries. We also ordered a mixed salad (€1.50), a 1/2 "jar" (liter) of red wine, and a passion fruit soda.
The chicken was as awesome as I had heard that Chicken Piri-Piri can be ... savory, spicy, juicy and succulent. I usually do not prefer my chicken on the bone, but it was so tender that the meat almost fell off. The seasoning was superb, not too spicy and with just enough kick that my heat-resistant wife did not complain and I, adding some extra Piri-Piri hot sauce, was pleasantly satiated.
The Maminha was thinly sliced, delightfully marinated, and as tender as a whore's heart (I can say that on Yelp - TripAdvisor does not allow such euphemisms and that is why I am no longer a TripAdvisor "Top Contributor" - kiss my ass TripAdvisor!). We have had more than a few steaks in Portugal, most of which were much more expensive than this, and this was the most flavorful and tender to-date ... HOOAH!
The fries were plentiful, crispy, and piping hot and the salad fresh, although I would have preferred the Tomato Salad, but alas they were out. The owner, Jorge, our server, André, Jorge's wife Sandra, and their daughter Leonora were as nice they could be, all speaking excellent English except for Leonora who was a little shy.
We finished our delightful meal with Sandra's delicious, homemade Creme Caramel (€2.50), a rich, creamy dessert that was as good as it could be. We have had some great meals in our 3 weeks in Portugal, but Euro for Euro, this was the best meal we have had by far, having paid just €27 for dinner for two, including starter, entrees, and drinks.
We returned a couple days later and bought 500g of the Maminha (€12) and a whole Chicken Piri-Piri (€10) along with two orders of fries (€1.50 each), one salad and one tomato salad (€1.50 each), a 1/2 liter of wine (€5), a Lipton Mango Iced Tea (€2), and two Creme Caramels (€2.50 each) for a total of just €40. We ate at one of their three indoor tables (they have more outside, but it was a tad chilly) and took enough home for dinner the next night. Did I tell you that THIS PLACE ROCKS? OOH-RAH!
CombatCritic Gives Albufeira Gourmet My TOP RATING - 10 BOMBS OUT OF 10 - And A Spot On My "WALL OF FAME" ... More Bombs Are Better! read more