Retiro do Isca is my favorite restaurant in the Algarve. Seriously, it's amazing. The chef here knows what he's doing and has a sincere appreciation for food and flavor. To get here, you take a narrow dirt road flanked on both sides by lemon, lime, and orange trees. Then up ahead you see a clearing and on the other side stands this magnificent restaurant.
Things to try are the Ameijoas a bulhao pato (he might possibly have the best recipe), any kind of prawns, razor clams, and literally any fish. I've never actually seen the menu because every time I've been here the chef just tells me what fish or shellfish he has and I just order that. The prawns I ordered most recently were unbelievable. Perfectly cooked, crunchy, and bursting with flavor. He came out and asked how they were because he said he made up the recipe right then and there. Unreal. The man is an artist. read more