Where to eat in the Algarve, Portugal

Restaurante O Tiago in Budens

It must be catching!

The last two restaurant reviews have started with comments on the walks we sometimes do and what happens?  Everyone starts walking.  Even Margaret and John (Algarve Retreats bods) are now into Julie Statham's famous walks and they may even include the story of a trip up into the Serra de Cao elsewhere in this month's newsletter.

So enough of our walks, this month we would like to tell you about a small and very friendly restaurant in the village of Budens.

It's easy to miss Restaurante O Tiago.  If you don't know it's there, you could bypass Budens and the restaurant altogether.  After all, what is there at Budens?

The main reason people stop at Budens is to visit the EcoMarché supermarket or the petrol station situated on the East side of the N125 between the Burgau and Salema junctions.  It would be a shame to miss this tiny village, because its natural Portuguese charm, its friendly inhabitants, a village church where you will find the last resting place of Les Gray (remember “Tiger feet” and MUD?) and Restaurant O Tiago make it a place to put on your list of visits.

O Tiagos is easy enough to find.  Park at the church in the village square and if you are facing the church, it's just behind you on the left.  Watch out for the small brown dog, which seems to live somewhere in the square though.  It has a habit of running up behind you, bumping into your legs and running off at great speed.  It's never been known to bite but it is a bit off putting at first.  It's best to book your visit to O Tiagos: even though it is off the normal tourist routes, it's very popular with those in the know and being small the 8 or so tables soon fill up, even out of the normal holiday season.

On our last visit, there were 6 in our party and the unlucky drivers were sorted out straight away.  A bottle of house red was ordered straight away and passed around while the menus were scanned. The house wines are excellent.  Oiro Da Beira, a rich and fruity Dao at €7 is a real treat (for those not driving - thanks Jackie).

Couverts at €1.50 per head include carrots in garlic, olives, cheese, paté, bread and butter are presented well and make a great hors d'oerves.  The portions are generous and it's tempting to eat too much before the starters arrive.

For starters we chose melon and parma ham at €6.5, vegetable soup at €3.5, egg mayonnaise at €4.5 and clams at €7.5.  This is only a small selection from a wide ranging menu of starters including salads at €3 to €4, and many other tempting dishes at €7 to €8.

Another bottle of wine (and water for the drivers - shame!), and the main courses started to arrive.  O Tiagos has many house specialities and it's not easy to decide what to have.

We had chosen ……

“Monkfish o Tiago”. Chunks of meaty white fish done in a white wine sauce with clams and prawns, and served with boiled potatoes and salad. €11

“Stone fish on the grill” x 2. If you haven't had stone fish before, do try it but be warned, it's a big meal.  The fish steak is a foot across and about an inch thick, a wonderful texture and a great taste. This is served with peas, carrots and roast potatoes. €10.50.

“Chicken piri piri” .  A whole butterfly breast of chicken with one wing and one leg was served up. They might as well as made it the whole chicken and this was served with a salad and chips! €9.50

“Steak on the stone”. 16oz of 2” thick rump steak sits, sizzling, on a very hot flat stone on a board, with mushrooms, onions, a baked potato and side salad.  If you are not feeling warm before this dish, you soon will be.  The heat from the stone makes this a popular choice especially if you are there in the winter, when 2 or 3 servings of this meal are quite enough to heat the whole restaurant -  €17.50

and finally “Pork Chops a Tiago” cooked in a cream sauce with sultanas and pineapple and served with peas, carrots and roast potatoes. €10.50.

As you can imagine it takes a while to work your way through that lot and show appreciation by clearing the plates so, at this stage, we thought we had had enough.  We were about to say no to the dessert menu, when our waiter tempted us with fresh Portuguese strawberries and ice cream at €3.  These are not the hard, woody tasteless strawberries imported from Spain, but small sweet and juicy berries just like you get at home in the UK and two of our group couldn't say no.  Ah well, back to the walking tomorrow.

With coffees and cappuccinos at €1.50 to finish, we called it a day and asked for the bill.  All told, €143 for 6 people.  That's about £16 each in English.  This is great value when you consider the quality of this meal.  It's certainly a restaurant to be recommended, the only problem is someone's got to drive -or you could get a taxi, enjoy another coffee and maybe a brandy from the bar, while you wait.

PS. If you are into fishing, try and have a word with Stella and Elvira, who have been slaving away in the kitchen preparing these great meals.  Elvira doesn't speak much English, but there's nothing she doesn't know about fishing.  On a fishing trip to Cabanas Vehlas, betweem Boca do Rio and Burgau(where Parque da Floresta have The Blue Wave Restaurant) some time ago, we were amazed that Elvira knew exactly where to cast to pull out a fish.  She got more than the rest of us put together and Stella came a close second.

Thanks for the great meals and the fishing lesson!

O Tiago is open for dinner Monday to Saturday, closed Sundays.  Stella has a 24 hour notice specials menu which includes some of the famous Portuguese Bacalhau dishes.

Local telephone number: (00351) 282 695 081  Mobile: (00351 917 271 145) Largo da Igreja 5

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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