It was our first visit to Portugal, and only a short one, just for the weekend and the Midcounties Travel Conference. We were at leisure from arrival during the Friday daytime, so we wasted no time in walking the 2km distance our hotel to explore the old town area of Albufeira.
There’s a lovely view point overlooking the main beach and town of Albufeira, we were surprised to find two escalators built into the hillside for easy access to the beach. Heading down into the town we browsed the local bars and restaurants for lunch, it was only just midday, but as we’d been up at 3am for our flight, we were more than ready to eat.
We settled on the beachfront location of the Restaurante Louisiana which bridged the gap of offering authentic Portugal dishes and modern tourist food, it was early to contemplate an alcoholic drink, however I succumbed to their order propecia special offer of a strawberry daiquari for €3.50.
I was thirsty after our travels and walk, so gulping my cocktail was a mistake! Once I recovered from the initial brain freeze, it was lovely and refreshing. Having browsed the menu we decided to go for a traditional seafood dish of Cataplana Marisco.
Our lunch took some time to prepare, but it was so worth waiting for, this seafood stew of clams, mussels, crab and prawns was superb. There was so much seafood crammed into the dish, we struggled to finish it. Served with a dish of rice and accompanied by a cool glass of house dry white wine, it was the perfect start to our weekend in the Algarve. We thought the restaurant good value for it’s location, the Cataplana was priced at €35 for 2 people, and wine was €2.50 per glass.
