Oh. My. Sweet. Goodness. I'm in HEAVEN…read more I am hiking the "Rota Vicentina," which passes through Cercal do Alentejo. It's a really cute town that deserves a lot more noteworthiness. I stayed at a great and amazingly inexpensive hotel here and the owner's no-hesitation suggestion for dinner was this place. So off I went. The front is a bar so you're not immediately sure you're in the right place. Just follow your nose to the back restaurant area. There is a limited menu but if you take a seat and just put your dinner in the owner, Sheila's, hands, you will NOT regret it! I explained my gluten problem and she brought out a cavalcade of awesome dishes including a truly local soup and main dish of pork, pickled cauliflower, and oranges. This is the second time I've been served oranges with pork in Portugal and it's a brilliant flavor combination! My gosh, I'm exhausted from that meal. But it was so good I just had to write about it. I'm sure you can get a fancier meal in a fancier setting, but this was REAL, DOWN-HOME Portuguese country food and it was outstanding! I hope that other folks walking the Rota Vicentina and passing through Cercal see this and stop in. They will remember it for a long time!

The Passarinho is what I imagine life would be like with a Portuguese grandmother. You walk into…read morethe seemingly small restaurant expecting nothing spectacular to happen but then out pops the first friendly face of a small Portuguese woman who welcomes you to one of the tables in the back. We came at just the right time because within 15 minutes all of the tables were filled and everyone looked excited to eat. We recommend you accept their suggestion of a sampler plate of local cheese and don't forget a pitcher of "house wine". We ordered two entrées and were VERY full after finishing them. We watched sadly as our table neighbors (who had shared an entrèe) each ordered a GIANT slice of wiggly cake. Next time we will have to try that too! We paid 26€ for a cheese appetizer + pitcher of wine + bottle of bubbly water + 2 entrées. This place is great for anyone looking to really taste the local cooking and the best part is the really the elderly Portuguese women who not only cook but also serve you the food. Those are some really peppy ladies!

Nice place in the center of Vila Nova de Milfontes with a wide variety of fusion food. Great…read moreatmosphere and very high quality food. Apart from some fancy fusion food (Italian, Japanese, Malay, Indonesian, etc.) they also have some great burgers and steaks! My favorite is Mango Prawn Curry. Amazing!! For starter try their croquetes. Bom apetite!!!

At the recommendation of our accommodations we made a reservation at Ritual for dinner. The…read moreatmosphere and location are marvelous. The staff are top notch, quite helpful--making suggestions and answers all our questions. But the food was the star of the evening, honestly the best meal we had on our week long walk of the Rota Vicentina. Both salads were phenomenal, incredibly fresh cheese accompanied by wonderful vibrant produce. And the scallops were perfectly cooked, delicate, melt in your mouth. The curry was light and flavorful but didn't overpower the natural flavor of the scallops. Overall we had an outstanding experience and highly recommend you try Ritual.

Happened on here for lunch. Delicious food Service was good. Lots of locals eating there. Always a…read moregood sign

We stopped in Sines en route to Lisbon from the Algarve and had a lovely late lunch here. The…read moreatmosphere is nice, set in a renovated train station (hence the name, of course). They have a wide variety of seafood, all of which looked delicious, but we went for their special razor clam rice with fried squid, which was delicious (and huge! The half portion was honestly enough for two) We also got the veal stuffed with ham, raisins, and chestnuts in a cream sauce which was unique and tasty. Prices were an excellent value for the quality of the food, and they also have a menu of the day (lunch special) which is an even better deal for around 12e, which had either a fish or meat option when we were there (you have to ask about it, it's on the menu outside but not listed on the inside menu). One downside was that it was pretty hot in there mid-afternoon. We got there right at the end of lunch service so maybe they had shut off the AC? In any case, worth a stop especially if driving north to Lisbon (they have plenty of free parking too!)-would definitely return and maybe explore Sines a bit more as well (castle was cool and beach looked beautiful from afar!)

We passed through Vila Nova de Milfontes during our "Rota Vicentina" hiking trip and our hotel…read moreowner strongly suggested we visit this place. It was a good choice and I could clearly see it is popular with locals and visitors alike, and that the food is really solid. The interior is awesome and includes a fireplace with sofas! Our appetizers were delicious: a simple salad, pimientos de padron, and local sheep's milk cheese. I didn't love my main - it was roast lamb and potatoes, but what part of lamb it was wasn't explained to me very well. It seemed like throwaway cuts of ribs and vertebrae. It was very nicely seasoned and roasted, but it wasn't choice cuts, there was much more bone than meat, and I felt it wasn't worth the premium price they put on it. My girlfriend's food (Portuguese style steak) was excellent - so good that I packed it up for lunch on the trail tomorrow!!! The real star here was the service, which started a bit slow but was attentive and careful about my gluten issue! One thing I appreciated was that when we asked for a wine suggestion, we didn't get sold the most pricey bottles of wine on the menu. Rather, our waitress suggested one of the more inexpensive items on the list and it was really really solid! And as a post-meal snack we got a small sack of walnuts and a nutcracker! Bottom line, I didn't love my main dish, but I saw how good everyone else's was. Overall our meal of 3 appetizers, 2 mains, and wine cost about €85, which is expensive compared to every meal I've eaten thus far in Portugal outside of Lisbon. That's cheap compared to back home in DC of course! Get ready to open your wallet but if you are used to expensive meals, this will be well worth it!

The ambiance was good and service was fine. The food was so underwhelming. I ordered the roe salad,…read morewhich I normally love, but this time it was so full of vinegar I couldn't appreciate it. But I finished eating it thinking: ok maybe the next item will be fine. My husband ordered some whole squids fried and they were ok. For the mains I ordered a kind of bread porridge because I had something like it at another restaurant and loved it. The waitress seemed to warn me against ordering it : "This is very..plain. like a porridge. Very...typical portugese. You still want it?" It was unfortunate that it was just like she said. The porridge had an uninspired texture and the shrimp was overcooked. My husband's meal was a fresh fish and veges and potatoes. The ingrediants are fantastic but I couldn't get over how lackluster everything i had eaten so far was. What do I say? It wasn't awful. I ate the food but i found myself thinking i would have been more satisfied if we made food at home. It was just fine. But for the price?? It hurts my heart. This was just boring.

Great view and good fresh sea food. The coffee is strong and the beer taps flow. I would recommend…read morethis place for people that are visiting and want a nice view while enjoying a few drinks/coffee or a snack. But if you wanted something more filling come during the evening for their full menu. We had what Café Rita was serving for lunch.

We happen to be staying in the small town and stopped in for dinner. The staff is so nice but the…read morefood is incredible. The MoMos make my mouth water as Im writing this review. The Saag Paneer and Chicken Tikka Massala is to die for. Please take the time to go here if you are passing through and I positive you will have the best Indian food you have ever tasted.

Happened upon this family-run restaurant after a cold windy hike on the Fisherman's Trail. It was…read morequiet but welcoming. We were tired, thirsty and hungry. The food was delicious and the service was wonderful. The staff was friendly and attentive. We just wish we could have eaten more! Hope to return.

Lovely sea food restaurant, overlooking the beach. The menu is simple: clams and grilled fish. Lots…read moreof it. All fresh and very tasty. And lovely pies for desert. Staff are friendly. Atmosphere is relaxed, no nonsense and low key. The place is filled with locals, which is always a good sign. Really, you can't go wrong here.

Arrived in town and came straight to this restaurant. Best sunset and best grilled Salmonete ever!…read moreExcellent service thanks to Joaquim!

We stopped by this town on our scenic drive south to Sagres, and came across this nice little…read morebakery and cafe that serves bread, pastries, salad, sandwiches, and soup. None of the young ladies working at this eatery could speak English, but fortunately one spoke French so I could communicate with her. She told me about the food options besides coffee and tea, so we both got a soup of the day which was a very delicious cream of vegetables soup. I could not believe that full size bowl of soup costed on €1.30 each! After the soup we wanted a little more food so we got a small chicken pie and a small duck pie besides a very nice slice of chocolate cake. Everything was very good and costed less than €5 in total. It was a good quick stop for a light lunch/snack before we continued our drive down south.