A Taste Of Albufeira

Whenever I think of portuguese food I'm ashamed to say my mind goes directly to Nandos. Admittedly they do the best piri-piri chicken I've come across in the UK but there's so much more to Portugal's cuisine that isn't perhaps as famous as other countries. Their cuisine seemingly revolves around fresh fish that are caught off the coast, hearty stews and various meats served with either rice or potatoes and salad. 

We mainly ate at our hotel where a buffet dinner was prepared every night, the highlight being the salad bar where you could expect at least 8 different salads every night. As much as I loved the variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, I was travelling with my grandmother who unfortunately is a very picky eater. As we were paying around 22 euros a night for food she couldn't eat we decided to head into Old Town in search of something she could and hopefully for a much better price.

The first restaurant we happened upon was right next to the beach with a direct view of the sea (and a man who I'm quite sure was posing when I took this photo haha!),  Café Oceano. It looked quite well priced given it's location and offered a wide selection of grilled fish. We ordered a bottle of Mateus to share whilst we looked out at the view and waited for our meals.

 I'd gone for the tuna steak, a favourite of mine that I don't often get to eat at home. When I do, it's definitely not this good. It was beautifully cooked, the flecks of meat practically melted in my mouth and the flavours sang. I just wish there had been a little more salad and less chips.

Once a week the hotel we were staying in has a  BBQ poolside party, where they clear away sun loungers, set up a spot for a band and cook the food outside. The only downside to eating out here is the amount of flies that attack the buffet once the food has been out for a while, so of course we headed straight to that table as soon as it was available and piled our plates high with salads and grilled meats. Noticing that they were serving grilled sardines, I decided to be brave and give them a try as they are also a portuguese delicacy.

It's pretty intimidating and also quite gross eating something that still has it's head attached but I continued nonetheless. I managed to scrape away enough of the bones to try some of the meat and was delighted to find it was actually really good. However, that big eye peering at me and the fact that it was full of bones meant that it ended up seeming a bit like too much hard work. I gave up in the end. I'm fairly sure you can maybe eat the bones as they are so small but I didn't fancy choking on one to test this out!

We finished our meal by watching some traditional folk dancing whilst draining this bottle of red. It was one of the nicer portuguese wines I tasted whilst out there. 

Favourite Restaurant

As mentioned earlier, it was quite difficult finding anywhere to eat with someone who can't eat onions/lemon/pretty much anything on the menu so we were delighted when we came across Urban Pizza, tucked into the corner of a street heading up to the beach. Within minutes they had whisked us out of the hot, dry heat and sat us near the air conditioning, taking our orders for a drink.

When the time came to order I went straight for the piri piri chicken, having craved it from the moment we set foot in Old Town. It was different to what I expected as it was a chicken breast (pictured above) and not on the bone but it was delicious all the same. Juicy meat covered in the ideal amount of spice, served with a crisp, crunchy salad and washed down with a glass of white wine. Perfect.

 If you're ever in Albufeira make sure to check this restaurant out. They serve mainly italian dishes but some of Portugal's staples too, the service is impeccable and the food is excellent. Nan couldn't get enough of her carbonara!