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Restaurants & Food in Alvor Portugal

Enjoy your holiday with some authentic Algarve food and drink.
Eating out in Alvor restaurants will add another delightful facet to your Algarve travel experience.

Alvor food and drink are varied and delicious, as you’ll discover.

Seafood Dishes

Cataplana is the local speciality dish, named after the brazen pan in which it’s traditionally served. It’s a wine-sauteed mix of clams, ham, sausage, onion, tomatoes, chilli, garlic and spices. A great favourite with many of our friends who like eating out in the Algarve (but note that ingredients can differ between restaurants).

Marine dishes that you’ll find in many Algarve restaurants are: Atum Grelhado (grilled tuna); Bacalhau á Bras (fried salt cod with potatoes, olives, and egg); Caldeirada (fish stew) and Lulas Recheadas (stuffed squid) which, to my surprise, many people recommend!

Shellfish (marisco) dishes are also extremely varied, and are based mainly on crab, prawns and shrimp. A popular example is Arroz de Marisco, which resembles paella, and contains clams, prawns and fish, with rice, onions, tomatoes and peppers.

Alvor Restaurants

Away from the coast, it’s no surprise to discover that marine life forms feature less on the menu.

Chicken and pork seem to be the staple meats throughout Portugal.

Monchique’s regional speciality is Piri-Piri chicken (which means that even Bournemouth can boast of its own ‘Algarve restaurant’)! The spicy tang comes from the chilli in the cooking oil. Popular with exploring holidaymakers, a piri-piri meal (with some local wine) in a ‘basic’ restaurant should not cost more than 10 Euros per head.

But you will also find casseroles based on lamb or kid, and seasonal game dishes with partridge, pheasant, quail… even wild boar(!).

And, if the exotic side of Algarve restaurant fare doesn’t tempt you, there’s usually something more familiar on the menu like Portugal’s version of sirloin steak, bifa á Portuguesa.

Other choices:

Arroz de Pato is a basic dish with a roasted mix of rice and strips of  duck.

Carne de Porco à Alentejana has cubes of fried pork and cockles cooked in a sauce of tomato and onion.

Faisão Estufado is stuffed pheasant marinated in wine and brandy.

Febras de Porco (pork fillets)

Leitão Assado (roast suckling pig)

Another regional dish is Caldo Verde (literally ‘green broth’) made  from potatoes, shredded cabbage and onions – and spicy chouriço sausage.

Local Wines

I know lots of wine snobs turn up their noses at the lack of ‘quality’ Portuguese wines, but hey – I always enjoy them!

When it’s really hot, I go for vinho verde, which isn’t actually green, you’ll be relieved to hear. It’s light and tangy and a good swig ‘resets’ my palate between courses.

While not to my taste, the white port (porto branco) is a popular choice served chilled as an aperitif.   A simple way to add something ‘extra unusual’ to a holiday meal.

By the bye, I’ve never spotted a Portuguese citizen drinking the famous Mateus Rosé, so if you ask for that when ordering in an Algarve restaurant, you might as well wear a sign that reads “Tourist”. (Of course, if you’re like me, your limited Portuguese and ‘dodgy’ accent may already have given you away).