Where to eat in the Algarve, Portugal

Monte do Casal near Estoi 

As many of our regular restaurant review readers will know, most of our reviews are done on ordinary restaurants serving good food in a medium price range: none of the restaurants we write up know that we are going to write about them and probably only find out that there is such a thing, when one of you turns up with a print out in their hand.

This time, we were invited by Marcos Neto, the General Manager of Hotel Monte do Casal and Christine Silva, the Marketing Manager, to come and look at the recent improvements in the hotel and the extensions they have made to the gardens there.  Monte do Casal has an excellent reputation for its gourmet food served in beautiful surroundings so we were looking forward to this immensely.  Despite it being in the middle of November, we were able to take lunch on one of the sun terraces overlooking the lakes, in beautiful sunshine and with the sound of waterfalls playing in the background.

Everything about the service is perfect: the waiters and waitresses seem to get everything just right, from the way everything was served, to when it was served, with just the right amount of time between courses, wines arrived at the right temperature and glasses were filled at just the right time.
We opened with the couvert - delicious black olives, a mixture of nuts, melon wrapped in ham and tiny vol-au-vents filled with a gorgeous coronation chicken mixture.  This was followed by an “Amuse Bouché”, literally “amuse the mouth” of Seafood Bearnaise wrapped in Smoked Salmon.  This and the following course of a really creamy Lobster and Prawns Risotto were accompanied by an Alentejo white from Quinta do Carmo, a Rothschild/Lafitte vineyard which was just beautiful, (http://www.quinta-do-carmo.com/en/index.php ).  The meat course was Shank of Pork, wrapped with Bacon on Spring Onion Mashed Potato with an Orange and Cointreau sauce, served with Monte do Pintor, (www.montedopintor.com/pages/english/qsomos.htm) another Alentejo wine but red this time, absolutely delicious!  Much to our surprise but we thought it worked very well, Taylors Fine Tawny Port accompanied the pudding of Rum and Raisin Ice Cream on a Chocolate Tuile Basket.

Just occasionally, it is wonderful to have a truly memorable meal and this was one.  Everything was just right, the place, the weather, the company and the meal.  If you are looking to treat yourself or have something special to celebrate, then Monte do Casal is the place to do it.  We didn't see the bill, of course but this was really good food and whatever it cost, it was worth it.                                      John 2008 

www.montedocasal.pt
reservations@montedocasal.pt
+351 289991503

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

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