Review of 'O Recanto'
On the roads around our hotel at the top of a mountain in Monchique there are a few road-side restaurants that obviously cater to tourists (though this is not a huge tourist area as we are a bit of a distance from the coast) but, surprisingly, also to the local people. These are not fancy by any means but serve simple, local food at reasonable prices. For us it was good to get away from the good, but fairly non-local food in the hotel to try something a bit more authentic.
“O Recanto” is about a five minute drive down the road from the hotel on a busy, winding road and is pretty much on the road with only a narrow area where you can park your car between the thoroughfare and the actual white-washed walls of the patio-style seating. Yeah, no parking lot. Despite being so close to the road, we never really noticed the traffic while were were eating. There is a small outdoor seating area under several large trees with simple metal chairs with fake wood Formica tables. When we arrived fairly early in the evening on a holiday Friday the place was pretty quiet but during our visit it got a lot busier with most speaking Portuguese, only one tourist couple who opted to sit inside where there is more seating.
Presented the menu on a clipboard, it has both Portuguese and English versions. It is simply divided into “Couvert (p/person)” (“Cover Charge”, obviously if you just want to drink they want you to buy some light snacks which feature here including bread, olives, cheese, meats, etc), “To Start”, “Vegetarian”, “Main Dishes” and “Desserts”. Obviously we were here for local food and were not disappointed. There were three “specials of the day” on a slip of paper attached to the clipboard (in Portuguese) that our helpful server explained to us (as an aside, according to what I have read, O Recanto is a family-run business) in English.
We start with some local bread (and optional butter) which came in a small brown paper bag. The local bread which is fairly bland and slightly chewy with a great crust.
My companion ordered the “Vegetable Soup” (€2.60; “Sopa Legumes”) from the starters section. It was a smooth potato and other vegetables blended together with some pieces of spinach floating in it. Very bland.
I immediately opted for a local specialty “Orelha Assada” or “Roasted Pork Ear” (€8.50) which was diced into small, crunchy/chewy pieces and served with a delicious sauce of parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic. Very tasty with only a slight taste of pork, this was more about texture than anything else.
For our mains we ordered from the “specials of the day” with my companion opting for the rather salty “Bacalhau a Casa” or “Codfish at Home” (€14.50) which came with some of the delicious local potato chips and a small salad on the side. This was salted cod that had been rehydrated then oven roasted. The fish was on the bone with not a huge amount of flesh but she could not get over the saltiness of the dish which somewhat spoiled it for her.
I opted for the “Couve a Monchique” or “Monchique-Style Cabbage” soup (€12.00) which was on the menu for €14.00 but I was advised to get the half portion as it was quite…large. She was not wrong. The massive plate of deliciously tender cabbage (cooked slowly on top of the stove all day we were told) had pieces of local sausages and meats throughout, with only a small amount of seasoning. Really quite good though even the half portion was more than enough for me. Dessert was certainly now off the table…
I was very happy with my dishes but my companion was disappointed with hers. The service was very friendly and welcoming, served at a relaxed and easy-going pace (we had to actually go inside to get our bill). The price was excellent at €47.80 for the two of us including a number of non-alcoholic drinks and water (no tip added).
Simple, good, local food at a reasonable price with welcoming staff in a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere.
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2026-04-03
Cuisine: Portuguese
Address: N266 191, 8550-213 Monchique, Portugal
Location: Algarve (Portugal) - Monchique
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Telephone: +351 282 913 919
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