OMG! Meu Deus!
Going to Portugal for a holiday during my Summer holiday since central Europe decided to go into Fall weeks early, the best meal I have had was at Armezem.
Armezem opened in 2016 and is a nice addition to this tourist/surfer village on the most south-western tip of Portugal. They bill themselves as a BBQ joint as all the meat and Fish are cooked on an expo grill and cooked to perfection.
The service is friendly and efficient no matter how busy it is. We had a couple of servers tag team our table and one was funny as hell. They all speak English as it seems to be the lingua franca in Portugal. So if you are coming from abroad practice your English speaking and reading since the menu is in English as well.
We ordered a local seabass and another local fish called a robalo as well as calamari for starters. The calamari was fresh too, so it was very tender but the cornmeal crust went very soft right after it was brought to the table. The calamari is served with a house made tartar sauce.
Both fish were grilled and served in the butterfly configuration. The boiled potatoes were served on a separate platter all family style. It seamed like on purpose they put the plates on the side. The fish were both cooked perfectly. Tender, succulent, and seasoned. With the exception of sardines, I have yet to eat a perfectly seasoned fish in Sagres until going to Armezem. Well done chefs at Armezem.
We ordered a liter of Rose based sangria to wash it down, but you have you choice of red or white too. They have a full bar and selection of draft beers, but after being in the highest per capita country of beer consumers I decided to forgo the beer and opted for Vino. BTW, Portugal has the highest per capita fish consumption in the EU and top 5 in the world.
We were tempted by dessert so we ordered the Algarve regional special which was a dense cake made with figs, carob, and almonds. I really never cared for carob but in this dense fig newton type of cake it tasted more like cocoa.
I love this place and if it were in my neighborhood I would go on a regular basis. Amazing at Armezem! read more