This was the restaurant where I had my first ever meal in Tavira, way back in the late 1990's, and as such it still has special place in my heart. On this year's recent visit for a late summer mini break the Bica was once again our restaurant of choice on our first evening in town.
As this is an ever popular place amongst both the locals and tourists, with a no booking policy, we arrived around 7pm to be sure of securing a table. The Bica is split into two rooms; back in the day the right hand side was more like a bar with a very casual vibe but after recent refurbishments both rooms are now pretty much alike. If the weather is good there are also a few outside tables, situated in the narrow alley way on the right of the building. We picked a table for two in the left hand room and we were soon seated with a hand written menu to mull over as we watched the room quickly fill up.
The Bica has been knocking out classic rustic Algarve classics for at least a couple of decades and despite the recent refurbishments seems in no mood to update its food offering this is probably no bad thing as plenty of folk still like to keep it old school and are happy to eat out while still leaving plenty of euros left in the wallet. If you are looking for something a little more modern try out the Brisa which is a mere two minutes away and is run by the son of the guy who owns the Bica.
After making light work of our couvert (the bread, olives and sardine pate which is the standard offering in most restaurants and should be eaten with caution if you want to get through the full 3 courses) we began the main event by sharing a huge portion of the local clams cooked in white wine and garlic. These little clams were sweet, juicy and as fresh as you like (you can see the guys every day in the Rio Gilao digging away to get these on your table at dinner time); a very different taste experience from the clams we get served up in London and a bargain at 12 euro.
For the main I went for the tuna Algarve style which is a big slab of tuna cooked in a clay pot with plenty of potato, onion, olive oil, garlic and white wine. No culinary airs and graces on display here but it's tasty enough and will definitely mean you need to loosen off your belt at the end of the meal. B, being the old romantic that she is, had the first ever meal she ordered in Tavir:, the turkey with delicias. Essentially a turkey breast stuffed with crab sticks in a creamy, fishy sauce which comes served with rice and chips actually much tastier than it sounds.
I really don't remember what we were drinking other than that it was white, well chilled and from the Alentejo region; perhaps by Joao Ramos. Whatever, it was well priced and was drinking very well.
Yet again dessert was a hurdle too far for us after we had gorged ourselves on the main courses.
I like the Bica a lot but if I was putting together a list of the restaurant delights of Tavira this would not feature in my top 10 having said that I'm very fond the place, and it's rustic charm, and no doubt we will be back next year which perhaps tells it's own story. read more