This guest blog comes from my cousins wife Rosie, after having a long and happy relationship with this area.
They have often shared many special memories of fun filled family holidays, relationships with super friendly local businesses and so agreed to put this together for us.
If you have a favourite place or cuisine please do get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
We were fortunate enough to schedule in an out of season trip to Lagos to celebrate some overdue birthdays and ring in 2023.
A firm family favourite destination for many years and a real hot spot in the summer for anyone seeking endless sandy beaches and a laid back beach vibe.
Lagos has definitely got busier and dare I say it…a little more ‘commercial’ in the years that we have been visiting. There is actually a McDonald’s on the outskirts of town – shock horror! However, you don’t have to look hard at all to find traditional Algarvian fare and the ever present Portuguese hospitality, which means our ongoing love affair with the town has not waned.
We stayed just outside of Lagos town in Praia Du Luz in the beautifully maintained Baia Du Luz Resort. Immaculate sandstone coloured apartments set in lush green gardens set the scene for our mini break. The kids still felt it was warm enough to sneak into the adult only heated pool (a serious lack of adults around confirmed to me it wasn’t warm enough!) and a 10 minute downhill walk took you to the seafront where a few bars were serving strong um abatanado (black americano to you and I) or cocktails, if so inclined. It was a great spot to get in some squinty photos and watch the paragliders leaping off the nearby cliffs.
Lagos town is 10 mins in the car or you can hop on the buses that leave from the centre of Luz fairly regularly (even out of season) and be there in 25 minutes and who knew… even Uber works just as well as in the UK!
This trip didn’t disappoint on the food front as we sampled some of our trusty favourites and popped into some new spots too!
We tried for the first time Pizzeria Olivia for lunch and were able to sit outside and soak up the sun and atmosphere. The place was busy with locals and the friendly staff were certainly getting their steps in! We were a large party of 10 and the majority of us went for pizza which you can order in 30cm, 50cm and the famous 1 meter sizes which prompted appreciative ‘whoops’ from all who could see!
The menu was vast and didn’t disappoint. The pizzas were everything you’d want them to be, perfect sourdough base and super fresh toppings! Speed isn’t the name of the game at Olivia’s so would recommend that you order a nice glass of the house wine and sit back and enjoy some people watching, it’s worth the wait! Not only is the food tasty it’s very reasonably priced, we will definitely be back.
No visit to Lagos is complete without a trip to our ‘treat’ restaurant D. Henrique! Set in the meandering lanes in Lagos town. D. Henrique offers an impeccable service and a vast menu filled with the best quality ingredients. The wine list is pretty impressive too, boasting some gorgeous local varieties as well as the best of what Portugal has to offer.
The seafood soup to start was presented beautifully and I was assured by my very discerning father in law it was the best he had tasted since O’Galeao (THE favourite restaurant, whose closing has long been mourned in our family) – very high praise indeed!
The husband and boy always have the fish Cataplana here. For those of you that have yet to come across a Cataplana it is named for the pot that it is cooked in. There are two popular types, seafood packed with both fish and seafood, or a pork and clam version. The seafood version is cooked in a tomato sauce with lots of onion and red and green peppers and presented in show stopping style straight from the gleaming copper pot into your bowl. The Cataplana this time had monkfish, prawns, cat shark, clams and mussels. I think the look on his face says it all!
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