Dreaming of the Algarve

Lift spirits by planning a foodie trip to Portugal’s delicious southern coast, writes Nicole Whitton

Famous for its fresh seafood and sun-soaked dining, Portugal’s Algarve region could be top of your post lockdown list. Its cuisine has been shaped by a tumultuous past of conquests and periods of foreign occupation; almonds, citrus and rice, for example, were introduced by the Moors. Economic hardship also forced residents to get creative with their cooking and celebrate simple pleasures, making garlic, bread and wine staples on the kitchen table.

The result is an inventive cuisine, where simple ingredients are combined with exotic flavours to create a rich variety of dishes.

A taste of the sea

A 20 minute-drive from Faro, 2 Passos restaurant (restaurante2passos.com/ en/; mains from €14.50/£12.60) is a wonderful introduction to the wild Atlantic coastline and the region’s fabulous seafood offerings. It’s best to share plates, as you won’t want to miss out on the salmon gravadlax, fresh clams, juicy langoustines and sea bass cooked the Algarve way, with tomatoes and garlic. Accompanied by local wines, the menu is a real treat, and food is easily walked off along the shoreline.

Comprised of fish, bread and hardboiled egg, with a punchy injection of garlic and coriander, acorda is a seafood broth beloved by locals. Try it at O Palhacinho, just outside Faro’s local market (€6/£5.25 per person).

Raising the game

Fish may take centre stage, but carnivores are also catered for in these parts. Located in the small hamlet of Barranco do Velho (‘Hill of the Old Man’), A Tia Bia restaurant (atiabia.com/en/; mains from €9.50/£8.26) can attract up to 200 diners a day. Highlights include deer and plum stew or oven-baked black pork cheek.

At sophisticated steakhouse Bovino (quintadolago.com/en/restaurants/ bovino-steakhouse/; sharing platter for four €65/£56.40 per person) in Faro, the sharing platter is recommended; it’s the best way to sample the various cuts of rump, fillet, prime reserve and USDA New York strip.

Urban dining

Faro offers an impressive range of restaurants amidst its winding lanes, opulent churches, sleepy marina and historic town centre.

A Venda is excellent for inventive cuisine. When I visited, the roasted mackerel in tomatoes and onions was sublime, with the fish-egg salad