Restaurants with a view in the Algarve

Food & Drink Hot List Lifestyle

Where the food and the views vie for your attention

Looking for restaurants in the Algarve that offer a feast for your eyes as well as your stomach? Here's a selection of great restaurants where the views and the food vie for your attention. For bonus tips about great picnic spots, read to the end!

Everything tastes better when accompanied by a fabulous view. So where to find at a table with a view in the Algarve? Happily, you are spoilt for choice. The stunning coastline and beautiful scenery of the Algarve is the setting for many great restaurants. Check out our suggestions below. Not surprisingly, ocean views feature strongly. It is the Algarve, after all.
 

Caniço
The views at Caniço are golden sands and azure waters, but it is the manner in which they appear to you that creates a frisson. Caniço is reached via an elevator that descends through the cliffs, opening to a dimly lit and narrow corridor from which you emerge blinking in the sunlight and bewitched by the views. Not a bad start to a meal. Caniço, next to Alvor in the western Algarve, is open all day during the summer season. The perfect venue for a special experience and an excellent spot for a wedding.
Find out more about Caniço


Casa Velha
The beautiful summer patio at Casa Velha overlooks Quinta do Lago lake and resort from its prime hilltop position. As day moves to dusk, the scene is perfectly set for a summer evening of elegant fine dining. The tranquil ambience complements the amazing food, as nature's light show plays out before your eyes.

Find out more about Casa Velha


Ocean
The view, the whole experience in fact, at Ocean restaurant is immersive. Holder of two Michelin stars, everything at Ocean restaurant, at VILA VITA Parc, is done exceptionally well. Upon entering the restaurant, the vastness of the ocean view embraces each diner, signalling a voyage of discovery of flavours, where the eye and the palate are sated. Dining here is a superlative experience.
Find out more about Ocean Restaurant




Akvavit
If you like your views to include sleek and shiny yachts, then Akvavit will surely hit the spot. The above-water deck gives front-row views of the yachts coming and going at Vilamoura marina. Open all day and with an appropriate nautical theme, Akvavit serves a wonderful selection of Portuguese, Swedish, French and international cuisine. It is an excellent spot for people watching as well as one of the most popular restaurants on the marina, known for its great seafood and hospitality.
Find out more about Akvavit


 

Àbabuja

Ababuja also overlooks boats, but the view is less of sleek yachts and more of colourful fishing boats and old fishermen mending their nets while seagulls wheel in the sky. Set by the riverside in the small village of Alvor, the restaurant overlooks the small marina as well as what was the old fish market. A shaded area, this is a favoured spot with local elders and where they gather for a few hands of cards, sheltered from the hot sun. As befits its location, at Ababuja you can enjoy wonderful, fresh fish, cooked over charcoal and tasting quintessentially algarvian.
Find out more about Àbabuja


Windsurf

Located right on the beach by the picturesque fishing village of Alvor, Windsurf is a fabulous restaurant and snack bar, where you can be assured of a stunning view at any time of the day or year. The vast expanse of sandy beach and the stunning ocean beyond is an ever-changing backdrop to your meal. A great spot to enjoy a romantic dinner and a breath-taking sunset.
Find out more about Windsurf



Mirandus

Mirandus Restaurant, at boutique hotel Vivenda Miranda in Lagos, offers uncluttered ocean views to soothe your soul. Paired with the fresh and healthy Mediterranean cuisine, a meal here replenishes the senses. The vast ocean views are mesmerizing. Keep an eye out for passing dolphins. They can sometimes be spotted just off the coast.


Cafe Ingles

No sea view here. Instead, your eyes are filled with the warm red tones of the ancient bricks used to build Silves castle and cathedral. Café Ingles is a relaxed bistro-style restaurant that nestles directly beneath the medieval castle walls. More than just a restaurant, Café Ingles regularly hosts live music evenings, cinema nights and performance arts.

 

Picnic Spots
Of course to enjoy dinner with a view you could just grab a blanket, your favourite snacks, a bottle of wine and explore...
Explore the clifftop wonder world that is Ponta de Piedade - a fantasy landscape of caves and grottoes caved from the cliffs by Mother Nature. From the cliffs, the views across Lagos and  Alvor Bay are beautiful.
Sagres, at the western tip of the Algarve, exerts an elemental attraction on all who visit. The views from the Fortaleza (fort) are immense, the waves are ponderous and the air is pure.
Between Carvoeiro and Armação de Pêra the coast is made up of cove beaches and secret caves, including the famous Benagil cave and the sea-arches at Praia da Marinha.

Travel the West Coast, the Costa Vicentina, stopping at will at any of the amazing beaches. Many of them are backed by cliffs which make for excellent viewing points. And of course, the sunsets here are incredible. Visit Monte Clerigo, Arrifana, beautiful Amoreira and Odeceixe.

To the East, the gentle beauty of Cacela Velha, near Tavira, is romantic and charming. A tiny hamlet, home to some lovely restaurants, there are wonderful views of the Ria Formosa from the hamlet.

Views are always better from an elevated point. Fóia is the highest point in the Algarve at 902m above sea level. Set in the Monchique hills, the views from this area are stunning. The coastline is laid out before you – as far east as Albufeira and Vilamoura, to the west to Sagres and along the Western coast. To the north, you can see the rolling plains of the neighbouring province, Alentejo. There are some excellent restaurants in the Monchique area serving traditional Portuguese flavours, the food is hearty, fresh and hits the spot. Check out some of the off-road trips to the area which include lunch or the sunset views from the hills.



YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE