Mother’s Day: 12 restaurants to celebrate with the family

António and Maria de Fátima Araújo, represented in paintings in one of the rooms, are responsible for the family home, with an elegant atmosphere, which invests in traditional cuisine. It started by occupying a smaller space, on the same street, having been at its current address for 16 years. In the specialties of including “Bacalhau à António”, “Caldeirada de Pesca”, “Polvo” and “Cabritinho” baked in the oven, the latter only on Fridays, at dinner, and on Saturdays. For desserts, order the homemade “Burnt Milk Cream” and the “Abade de Priscos Pudding”. Average price: R$35.

Rural flavors carry truth, spice and simplicity. Traditional gastronomy is celebrated here, with Senhora da Graça, Marão and Alvão as a backdrop. At the restaurant Try the “Sardinhas de escabeche” and the “Fígado acebolado” and proceed to the “Bacalhau com broa” and the “Veal da costa mendinha in the wood oven”. For dessert, the “Red Wine Rabanadas”, available all year round, and the “Coconut Roll” are unmissable. Accompany the meal with our own produced wine. Average price: R$25.

From Luanda, where he began his gastronomic adventure, he only brought the name. Minho elements and cuisine reign supreme in the old manor house: granite, wood and a fireplace provide comfort to the living rooms and the surrounding greenery is evident outside. They comfort, in “Bacalhau com broa”, “Octopus fillet”, “Rice of pica on the ground”, goat and “Pork shank”, along with daily options such as the Sunday “Costela mendinha” or “Cozido”. To begin with, there are the “Pataniscas d’Avó” and the “Ovos rotos”, while the “Pudim Abade de Priscos” and the “Leite‑creme” end the meal with classic sweetness. Average price: R$35.

Guardian of fishing traditions, Praia da Aguda has in its an example of how seafood cuisine can be served without artifice. Fresh fish and seafood are the mainstay of the menu, including “Hake fillets” with Russian salad, “Sea bass rice”, “Fish massada” and “Seafood Açorda”, alongside the simplicity of grilled fish. A good wine cellar and friendly service accompany meals in the blue room, with a decor reminiscent of the sea, and on the two terraces, one of which is right on the sand. Average price: R$35.

Installed in the Serra da Lousã Biological Park, the restaurant takes on the role of guardian and contemporary interpreter of one of the region’s most distinctive dishes. The goat chanfana, cooked slowly in red wine and served in a clay pot, is the absolute protagonist, accompanied by its dense and aromatic sauce. The menu also includes proposals such as “Bacalhau à Serra da Lousã”, enriched with ham, cheese and chestnuts, and the traditional “Wedding Soup”, made with chanfana broth, in an approach that combines memory, territory and product. Average price: R$30.

A reference house in Serra da Estrela, it is around the fireplace and the pot kitchen that an experience deeply linked to the territory is built. The proposal of the is based on a traditionally inspired mountain menu, which starts with sheep’s cheese, black pudding and chorizo ​​and moves on to dishes such as “Rabbit cabidela rice”, “Boar with beans”, “Oven-roasted lamb” or “Leitão de Folgosinho”, always in generous and comforting doses. To close, comes “O Pedrito”, a combination of rice pudding, cream and cream cheese with pumpkin jam, served with the informality typical of homes where time passes more slowly. Average price: R$25.

For more than three decades dedicated to the so-called old cuisine of Lafões, this house lives by fidelity to traditional recipes and gestures. At the restaurant table proposals of comfort and identity arrive, such as the “Vitela asada à moda de Lafões”, the “Migas de bacalhau”, the “Borreguinho de leche grillado” or the “Arroz de galo no tacho de cabidela”, always prepared with regional raw materials and long cooking times. The sausages and various products are produced in-house, highlighting the close connection with the territory and an uncompromising cuisine. Average price: R$30.

In this house with a family soul, the region’s traditional cuisine is kept alive, using the wood-fired oven and recipes from memory. The “Marinhoa ​​Veal in the wood oven” and the “Cabrito in the wood oven” are anchor dishes of the , accompanied by equally identical proposals such as “Grilled bones”, “Bacalhau com broa”, “Tábua à casa” or “Pires de rojões das tripas”. At the end, the homemade sweets, especially the chocolate mousse, closes the meal on a note of comfort and authenticity. Average price: R$30.

A family restaurant with more than half a century of history, it continues to be a reference in Alentejo game and pot cuisine. The menu of It changes to the rhythm of the calendar and what arrives from the moor, with dishes of the day such as grain stew, Portuguese feijoada or fried robins, along with game proposals, including fried wild rabbit, wild rabbit rice and toasted partridge. The meats coexist with classics such as golden cod and kidneys with eggs and brains, in a cuisine that is hearty, frank and without concessions to fashion. Average price: R$35.

Founded in 1977 by Rui and Madalena, it is an established reference in the Western Algarve when it comes to fresh seafood treated with simplicity and rigor. The counter and nurseries advertise the essentials of shellfish, oysters, prawns, barnacles, crab, spider crab and lobster, presented natural or integrated into rice, pasta and cataplanas with a flavor marked by the product. The mixed seafood dishes are a classic, in a context where the quality of the raw material is combined with the art of hospitality, without excess or artifice. Average price: R$40.

With a simple facade, in white and blue, this celebrates the Algarve fishing tradition in a room with long tables and an unpretentious atmosphere. The cuisine is based on recipes with a clearly defined identity, using fresh produce and respecting local recipes, including “Carapaus alimados”, “Raia d’alhada” and razor clam or seafood rice. The fish of the day arrives grilled, without artifice, and there are also cataplanas that reinforce the more generous side of the table, in an honest and faithful way to the sea. Average price: R$30.

A house with a well-kept kitchen and a well-defined Algarve identity, it works on the product with time and attention to detail, crossing tradition and contemporary reading. At the restaurant table There are proposals such as “Octopus pataniscas”, anchovy fillet on toasted bread and various rice dishes, with octopus, razor clams, cod tongues or seafood, as well as earthy dishes such as “Pork queixadas with honey and orange” and homemade rooster cabidela. The sweets follow the same record of rigor and memory, in a serene environment close to Guadiana. Average price: R$35.