A SHORT FISHY AUTUMN TOUR OF THE ALGARVE IN COVID TIMES
- Miguel Renoir Spanish Guides
- Oct 1, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 16
Our first stop is the beach town of Praia da Rocha. I last came here in 1998. I noticed that the main strip does not resemble that time. It is now full of karaoke bars and shops selling tourist ware, apart from the classical Bella Vista Hotel and Spa.
We spent our first two nights at the,
HOTEL DA ROCHA Four Stars
Avenida Tomás Cabreira, 8500-802 Praia da Rocha, Portimão
+351 282 424 081
It is a nice, clean hotel with friendly staff. The swimming pool is small, and there is no sun after about 4:30 pm/5 pm. A front-facing room has a fantastic view of the beach, Atlantic, and sunset.
Our first evening meal was at,
ATLÂNTICO
Areal da Praia da Rocha, 8500-000 Praia da Rocha
+351 969 211 962
This Restaurant is set on a fairly new wooden promenade on the beach at Praia da Rocha. It serves fish, seafood, rice dishes, and cocktails. The sunset across the beach in the evening is stunning. The service was friendly and entertaining.
Lulinhas (baby squid) with chips
Arroz corvina (stone bass with rice)
Our first homemade piri-piri with whisky sauce, tread very carefully!!
and our first, of many, vinho verde alvarinho.
Our next lunch, the following day, was heading further west to,
Restaurant O CAMILO
Estr. da Ponta da Piedade, 8600-544 Lagos
+351 282 763 845
This is an excellent fish and seafood Restaurant and worth travelling to. As you walk in, a large selection of fresh fish is on display. They grill it on charcoal, and they will not overcook it. You will need to book, as it is very popular.
We had a Portuguese sparkling wine, Soalheiro Alvarinho
Followed by homemade sardine paté.
Octopus and clams
A large solha (similar to turbot) €50 a kilo.
House flan
Finished with a glass of Madeira wine.
The restaurant overlooks Camilo, a great beach. There are steps down to the sheltered, sandy cove, divided by ochre-coloured rocks and a dug tunnel. The walk down and up is strenuous and could cause shortness of breath.
After two days in Praia de Rocha, we moved to Albufeira for one night. I expected this to be a bit too touristy but was pleasantly surprised, although that may have been because it was only 25% of its usual capacity for this time of year due to COVID-19. During an evening stroll around town, we came across many live music venues with excellent performers. There were no club music places anywhere.
We stayed at,
HOTEL COLINA DO MAR Three Stars
Rua Maria Teresa Semedo de Azevedo 3, Albufeira
+351 289 588 260
A cheap hotel (€37) with clean rooms and friendly staff. It is on a steep hill, though, so it is not suitable for everyone. It is only 5 minutes from the old town and does have a small swimming pool on the roof.
On our lunchtime walk, we came across a fish spa, so we decided to give it a try. €10 for 15 minutes, and you'll have new feet!
We then headed for the main beach and stopped at,
RESTAURANTE O FAROL
Praia dos Pescadores, Albufeira, Portugal
+351 968 023 363
The red-roofed place on the beach.
This location is right on the beach, with friendly staff and good service.
We had a large Dorada (gilt-head bream) at €45 per kilo and chips and salad.
Another pleasant bottle of Vinho Verde and a few hours looking out across the beach soon passed.
The next morning, we headed further east to Olhão, which is 12 km past Faro and stayed at,
REAL MARINA HOTEL & SPA Five Stars
Avenida 5 de Outubro, 8700-307 Olhão
+351 289 091 300
A good standard hotel, with indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a decent gym.
Make sure you book a room overlooking the pool, which offers views across the street to the Ria Formosa Natural Park and the Atlantic Ocean.
On our first 10-15 minutes from the hotel stroll into town, we ended up at,
VAI E VOLTA
Largo do Grémio 2, 8700-343 Olhão,
+351 968 027 525
Tucked away in the old merchant's area of Olhão, this rodizio (grill) only opens for lunch and serves charred and skin-bubbled all-you-can-eat fish with potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, salad and açorda (stale bread, olive oil and coriander) (all for €12 pp). The owner and master of the grill wander from table to table with a tray of just-charred horse mackerel, salmon, sardines and bream, begging customers to eat more and is quite shocked when you say, "Sorry, we are full".
Anchovies, tuna mayonnaise and olives
Açorda, salad, sweet and regular potatoes.
Sardines and Dorada
Sardines, Dorada and Horse Mackerel.
House rosé wine.
We spent the evening in this pleasant town watching football on TV in one of the bars.
Olhão is a fishing town obsessed with sardines.
Old and new buildings mix together.
Stork nests are famous in this region.
The hostel opposite this one is even named after them.
Time passes slowly here.
The next morning, we walked into town and visited the fish market.
Loja, 43, Dos Mercados Municipais, Avenida 5 De Outubro, Olhão, Faro
+351 289 817 024
There is a good fish market where you can see, amongst other things, the litão, a fish cured with salt in the sun and one of the emblematic dishes of Olhão. Get there reasonably early; the stalls are packed away by 12.30 pm.
There is also an excellent fruit and veg market next door.
We then headed across the road to,
CAFÉ BAIANA
Avenida 5 de Outubro 2D, 8700-302 Olhão, faro
This place is scruffy, but it is an authentic taberna, tiny, with no other attraction than your good, experienced nose dictates, full of talkative locals. You are served as many sardines as you can eat, accompanied by some tremendous homemade chips, sweet potatoes, a fresh pipirrana salad, and jugs of house wine. All the food keeps coming until we say enough! Two and a half hours have passed, and the bill for 3, €20!!
We had our usual bottle of Vinho Verde.
The sardines keep coming..........
Sweet and regular potatoes.
House salad
They even gave us some piri-piri chicken to try, which we saw someone eating at another table.
After two nights in Olhão, we headed for Spain, but before reaching the border, we stopped off here,
MARISQUEIRA FIALHO
Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, EM1339 1090E, 8800-102
+351 281 961 222
Skirting the Ria Formosa, this lagoon-front restaurant in the little hamlet of Pinheiro is housed in a rather ramshackle restaurant building. It offers dining with wonderful seafood and rice. Most of the tables are placed outside on a sand-strewn single-track road.
The little marisqueira is equally famous for its grilled fish dishes, clams, and cockles. Most of the customers sit inside, leaving the outside tables with a view over the lagoon for the tourists lucky enough to have found this little gem.
We started with our last vinho verde of the trip.
Followed by Ovas Escada (whiting roe salad), sadly, not to everyone's taste.
Peixe rei frito (fried sand melt)
Almeijas boas de viveiro (sea farmed clams)
Arroz de marisco (seafood rice)
Looking out across the Ria Formosa Natural Park.
All of the fish is cooked on the outside grill.
We ended the meal with a few desserts.
Chocolate tart.
Strawberry cheesecake.
Lemon meringue
A rough football pitch is on the sand beside the restaurant, where the local fishermen run off their bellies. We headed off to the Spanish border and stayed in Huelva.
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