Where to eat in the Algarve, Portugal

Restaurante Quinta de São Bento in Foia - Monchique

The highest point on the Algarve is the wind swept top of Foia. Rising nearly 1000m above sea level, this mountain top is visible all the way from Albufeira to Cape St. Vincent. Last January, as we were heading for Portimão in the car, it was cause for an argument which went something like “What's that on Foia, it looks like snow ?”, “No, don't be silly, it can't be”. Well, it turns out it was snow - the first time in 50 years and, next day, the schools all closed so that the kids could be ferried up the mountain just so that they could experience playing snowballs for the first time.

It had been some time since we had taken a trip up there so, in better weather later in the year, we chose a clear day and drove up through Odiaxere, Monchique (well worth a visit if you have not been) and carried on up the Estrada da Foia to the top. Here we walked around, took the snaps of distant Portimão, that as usual turned out to be all haze and no detail, checked out the café and gift shop, where three coach loads of Spanish (yes, really!) pensioners were browsing among the masses of woollen garments for sale and took a walk among the metal forest of radio masts. Then as it was getting on for lunch time, we decided to get out of the wind and head back down to find somewhere to eat.

Driving downhill the views are truly majestic, and one of the first restaurants you reach on the downhill journey is the “Quinta de São Bento”. It's well back from the road and cannot be seen until you have negotiated their narrow drive and as we had never been there before, that was our choice for the day. Imagine the disappointment when we saw the three Spanish coaches standing in the drive. Oh well we thought, we would just have a look and then move on. The restaurant, as we thought, was heaving with people, loud people, singing, dancing and having a great time so we took in the incredible views down the valley from the balcony, walked through the beautiful natural gardens around the pool and were on our way back to the car when we saw a small hand painted sign for “dining room” pointing up a narrow path to the main house behind the restaurant. May as well have a look we thought and are we glad we did.

Through the open door, past the sleeping Labrador “guard” dog that looked up, wagged its tail and went back to sleep, we entered a sort of time warp and went back 100 years in time. We wandered down a hall way and were about to turn round, thinking we were in someone's private house, when we were greeted warmly and after being asked if we were French (???), shown to a beautifully laid table in an olde worlde style dining room. There were only three others in the dining room and we were quickly offered drinks and told the meal that day would be fish soup to start followed by either pork or duck. OK, no menu then?

The drinks, a carafe of house red and a bottle of water, arrived quickly, followed by what we thought were the usual couverts, a large basket of mixed breads, and a plate of slices of regional cheese with a pot of quince jelly. What a lovely combination and we were really enjoying this, when another large plate containing melon and dried ham arrived. This is good we thought but we weren't finished yet, this time two bowls arrived, one containing small pieces of hot pork in a broth and the other with liver and a hot, rich savoury sauce. At this point we slowed down; this was becoming a meal in itself and we hadn't started on our order yet. Oh no, another large dish has appeared, this time with slices of spicy sausage cooked and flamed in spirit. This is without doubt the biggest and best start to a meal we have ever had. The service at the table was impeccable, there just didn't seem to be anyone around yet as soon as we were finished, our server appeared from behind an immense dresser and the empty plates and bowls were quickly removed and replaced with steaming bowls of the fish soup. This isn't soup; it's a large cod steak in a bowl of pasta flavoured with coriander with a little fish stock around it.

Do these people think we have walked up this mountain? We made a promise to visit the gym a bit more often.

Although daunting, we manfully finished the “soup” and, after a brief pause, the main courses arrived. Thank goodness, these aren't quite as big a portion as we might have expected from the size of the previous rounds.

The duck was beautifully cooked, tender but with a crispy skin and presented on a bed of skinned, fresh, orange slices and covered with a thick orange sauce. The pork was roasted, thick slices of tenderloin, with apple sauce and glazed carrots. Both meals came with large helpings of duchesse potatoes.

Wow, what a meal. The wine and water were empty and we were about to ask for coffee when………. You've guessed it, we're not finished yet.

No-one had mentioned desserts but out came two thick slices of the usual Portuguese sticky cake, (I must find out what this is, really, sticky cake just doesn't do it justice), quickly followed by bowls of home made vanilla and almond flavoured ice cream and separate bowls of raspberry coulis.

While we took coffee, we were talking about the meal and how much we had enjoyed it; we were overheard by our server (owner, we think). She shrugged her shoulders and said “It is the family meal today” (Good grief, is that how they eat every day?). The price for this banquet was €50 for the two of us. Perhaps more than we would normally pay for a lunch but the surroundings, the service and the superb food made it all worthwhile. What we hadn't realised was that any drinks are included in the price of the meal and she expressed some surprise that we had made the carafe of wine last throughout the meal.

On the way out we looked in at the “office”. The phone was one of those big old black bakelite ones we haven't seen in years, the “calculator” was an abacus - you know, the ones with the balls on rails, the shelves were covered with leather bound ledgers, - not a PC in sight !  We half expected to see Marley's ghost.

Walking out into the bright sunshine we realised we had been there three hours, the Spanish pensioners were still there though and going strong. (They must have known that drinks were included). Someone had found an old squeeze box and there was a rousing chorus of Viva Espana (yes really) being sung, while some others were raiding the garden for sweet chestnuts which were littering the lawns. The Labrador dog had woken up and was busy trying to get someone to throw his stick for him.

What a lovely place.

Give it a try next time you drive to Foia top, but remember, although the “all drinks included” is tempting, it's a long drive back down some serious mountain roads and the police take a dim view of drinking and driving.                                                                                      Jackie & Tony 

If you would like to know more about Portuguese Food and Drink, why don't you dip into our Restaurants in the Algarve section and our series of articles on Portuguese Wines and Ports.  We also feature some Traditional Portuguese Recipes and a glossary of useful Portuguese food & drink words and phrases