Albufeira's Hidden Gem

So, in preparation for the BIG Brazil trip, I recently took a trip to Portugal, to brush up on my Portuguese and get the tongue rolling again.

One of the cities we headed to was Albufeira, a city that according to Google was filled with "white-washed walls and traditional squares". Maybe the traditional squares of inner-city Liverpool, but they certainly weren't the pracas I was expecting!

Nonetheless, there were some real highlights and these I want to mention.

FOOD

Tres Coroas - link to Google Maps here. Go in the evening, and snag yourself a table on the terrace. This was a great tip that we got from the Guardian, and I'm so pleased we made it here!

This was a truly stunning outside courtyard, with views directly over the ocean. There are trees with beautiful purple flowers casting and shade, making this restaurant a welcome retreat from the 5000 other restaurants offering beans on toast.

Me, enjoying a delicious glass of rose wine!

The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating - do try and hold out for outdoor seating as it truly beautiful. We were waiting quite a while inside, thinking that we had no luck, but 20 minutes later we were walked to the best table, right at the edge of the courtyard with views directly over the ocean. Muito bom!

The menu was in English and in Portuguese, which normally makes me sceptical, but my fears were truly not justified. There was a wide variety of seafood listed and I went for the octopus, which I can really recommend. It was super fresh and came with some nice potatoes and veg on the side. Vegetarian options were on the more limited side, but there were some choices.

The service staff were great and we were given some complimentary shots at the end. One that we tried was definitely a little rough - no idea the name, as I immediately banished the word from my brain. The other one was something with "mel". Here I have desperately tried googling to find the name (learning the word for liquor along the way - "aguardente" for those interested"), but with no luck. This one was nice though!

This is currently my only "hot tip" for Albufeira, as the rest of our meals were only ok, but do check out Tres Coroas!