West Algarve - Lagos & Sagres

I have to make a confession here; I don't know much about the Algarve, specially outside the Golden Triangle area.

In 2023, I finally managed to explore both the eastern and western Algarve. Prior to that, the easternmost part of Algarve I had visited was FARO and the westernmost part of Algarve I had visited was ALVOR.

This trip was made more interesting because of my Chaîne sister Dr. Alice Newton, an oceanographer. She provided me with lots of advice on where to stay, visit and eat. Since I would be travelling without a car, she suggested that I stay in Lagos and spend a day in Sagres. On other days, she will show me around Raposeira, Vila do Bispo, Cabo de São Vicente and Miradouro da Cordoama.

For accommodation, she recommended Lagos Avenida Hotel in Lagos and Memmo Baleeira in Sagres. And I am grateful that I took her advice. Before I made my reservations, I did a bit of research of course; but none seemed to be decent accommodation. There are some more choices in Lagos, but if you're like me without a car, it's best to stay at Lagos Avenida Hotel. On hotel booking platforms, most show very beautiful pictures at much cheaper prices; thus upon arrival, I was curious and decided to pay a visit to other hotels too (some boast excellent restaurants). Please believe in me, they are all quite run down, so until there are more choices, the above two are the best ones if you're staying the night in the region. Two hotels offer good services with friendly staff, but they are both slightly overpriced for the standard and quality. For example, as a holiday hotel with pools and spa, Memmo Baleeira doesn't offer guests a bathrobe unless you're a guest in their suites. To me this sounds a bit ridiculous. If this was an urban hotel without pool facilities, I'd understand. Secondly, if they don't provide such amenity, they should have notified in advance when I made the request during reservation so I could have brought my own. Sadly the truth is, despite my complaints, the two hotels are probably your only choices if you want a comfortable night's of sleep.

Lagos Avenida Hotel, Lagos

The Rooftop pool at Lagos Avenida Hotel, Lagos

For food and drinks, I pretty much followed my instinct whilst in Lagos. I had my first meal at one of the town's oldest establishments, 2 Irmãos. Sadly I went to the wrong branch by the river. Their original restaurant is on the parallel street behind. I had a grilled monkfish fillet and prawns; not bad, but not a restaurant I'd like to return again. Service is extremely slow so you have to be a little bit patient. 

For dinner, I decided to be more adventurous and walked all the way beyond the tourist area, until I reached a restaurant by the name DOM VINHO. Nice decor, and great food. I ordered the Carré de borrego à Matos (Lamb Chop in Matos Style; butter, mustard, mint, oregano, with boiled vegetables and potato puree), which is named after the owner Antonio Matos. At almost 80 years old, he is still working and told me his illustrious career in the past 6 decades. He ran two restaurants in the area, Alpendre and later Atlantico, both featured in various international newspapers and even Michelin Guide. Dom Vinho is his latest project, and I highly recommend it if you're visiting Lagos.

After breakfast the next day, I went to visit one of Lago's oldest pastry shop Pastelaria Gombá to get one of my favourite almond sweets by the name Doces Fino do Algarve. Did you know that this very sweet made all its way to Thailand during the Age of Discovery and became what is now known as kanom look choup? I also took Dr. Newton's advice and joined a boat tour to Ponta da Piedade. I only had an hour to spare, so I couldn't do much other than to see this spot. And yes, it was very worth it. It's also a good opportunity to see the cliffs from another angle and up close and also to understand a bit about the rock formation. We also had the opportunity to sail under the caves. It's magical. 

Ponta da Piedade, Lagos

Ponta da Piedade, Lagos

Ponta da Piedade, Lagos

For the afternoon, I met Dr. Newton and she showed me around Raposeira & Vila do Bispo. I returned to Lagos for the night and wanted to try out Restaurante dos Artistas. Sadly it was full. Another one called Don Sebastião was closed for Christmas. (One downside about travelling around Portugal during this time of the year). So I had no choice but to return to my hotel where their restaurant Avenida, is actually featured on both the Michelin Guide and Boa Cama Boa Mesa (I often joked that the latter is my Bible to navigate around Portugal and is the only Portuguese book I read and understand). I was a bit skeptical about it because my first breakfast there wasn't the most pleasant. For this reason, I decided not to do the Menu de Degustation and instead ordered the oxtail, foie gras with morel mushroom and truffles. It was actually quite tasty. The bread, butter and olive oil (Olival da Risca) were also very good so if I shall visit Lagos in the future, I will definitely do their complete degustation menu + wine pairing.

Oxtail, foie gras with morel mushroom and truffles

After breakfast and a dip in the beautiful rooftop pool in Lagos Avenida Hotel, I checked out and headed to Sagres, where I checked in at the Memmo Baleeira. Dr. Alice immediately whisked me away and we visited the Sagres area; she even gave me a tour of the fishing port and told me things about aguaculture and fishermen... ... She left me to explore the Fortaleza de Sagres while she worked on her emails in her car.

Cabo de São Vicente, Sagres

Praia do Martinhal, Sagres

Memmo Baleeira, Sagres

After all the sightseeing, we headed to Restaurante Carlos on Sagres' main avenue for lunch. Dr. Newton recommended me to get a Sargo fish (black seabream) and told me that percebes in Sagres are good. An oceanographer can't be wrong! She had fish soup and grilled cuttlefish herself. For dessert, I opted for a thing called "Bolo 3 delícias do Algarve" which is made with fig, almond and carob, three ingredients the Algarve is famous for. Initially I thought it was carrot cake because I heard the server saying something like carrot; it was in fact Carob and only until then I learned that most of the world's carob is grown in Portugal. When I had my first bite, I thought they put chocolate and Dr. Newton explained to me that it's actually the carob. Turns out this can be a good chocolate substitute as it has less calorie but sweeter so it's also suitable for some diabetic patients.

Dr. Newton and I bid farewell after lunch and she recommended me to try out Vila Velha for dinner; and try out an Algarvian specialty called moreia frita at Casa da Moreia the next day before returning to Lisbon.

The dinner at Vila Velha was another highlight of my trip; it's a simple place yet cosy and beautifully decorated. They have a fireplace and nowhere can be more delighting to end the day. They have quite an interesting menu offering traditional Portuguese cuisine, and I ordered a slow cooked rabbit and paired it with an Aletejano wine of my new favourite blend: Tinta Caiada, Touriga Nacional and Alrocheiro (in layman's terms, that's called fruity). I was the last customer to leave the space and I caught up with the staff for a chat. The restaurant is in fact run by a Dutch lady who came here about 30 years ago. And she lives upstairs. When I left the villa, I looked up on the second floor and spotted another cosy space with a huge bookshelf filled with books. It's very beautiful and I didn't want to leave, and wonder if one day I should have a similar arrangement... living above my workspace!

Vila Velha, Sagres

Sadly, Casa da Moreia was closed for the Xmas season. The concierge at Memmo Baleeira recommended that I should check out A Bica, which also offers moreira frita, or alternatively at the recreational club called Escola da Primaveira. I opted for the former. Walked all the way without knowing if they were opened or if they accept cards. You are probably wondering by now what exactly is Moreia? Moray Eel. Search for its photo online and you'll have an idea. They deep fry the skin so it's crispy and hot, you can squeeze a bit of lemon juice. The girl at A Bica suggested that I pair it with Beer with Martini. I normally dislike mixing alcoholic drinks but this combination was surprisingly good; because the fried morey eel was really salty. How can I describe the taste? It's a bit like fried pork rind, or pork belly. Therefore it's sometimes known as the Torresmos do Mar.

Moreira Frita at A Bica (€7.5)

I returned to Restaurante Carlos for a hot fish soup, another plate of percebes (goose barnicles), some Algarvian oysters and an ice cold beer. Now my stomach is happy and satisfied, it's time to return to Lisbon. It was a long ride because we drove along the N125 passing through the western Aletejana coast and even had a stop in Porto Covo. It was pouring by the time I reached Lisbon and I already missed the mild weather of Algarve's winter.