Members and their guests met for Sunday lunch at Alameda Restaurant in Faro on March 26th. The restaurant’s green tiled exterior is very traditional Portuguese. The interior has been customised to provide an open kitchen to allow diners to view the Chef and kitchen brigade as they create the menu’s dishes.

Chef Rui Sequeira and his wife Cristina realised their dream of opening a fine dining restaurant in 2018 when they opened Alameda. Their passion for gastronomy, fresh local products and traditional Algarve dishes continues to delight their guests. Chef Rui recreates traditional dishes of his hometown using contemporary methods and techniques.

Glasses of Baga sparkling rosé welcomed us with the first dish of Sr. Custodio’s beef sandwich.

The restaurant’s capable and knowledgeable Sommelier guided us through the menu.

Olhao-style skate followed with lemon pearls and an intriguing ingredient called “old ladies’ hair”, apparently a seaweed variety.

Homage to the different products of the Algarve continued with shellfish from Ria Formosa before the palate cleanser of Monchique smokehouse broth served with sourdough bread, homemade butter and local olive oil.

The main course was quail piri-piri. Lunch concluded with Chef Rui’s grandmother’s chocolate cake and meringues.

Wines chosen both complemented and supported the dishes with which they were served. The selection included Phanus Pet Nat, a sparkling Vinho Verde style white wine; Flui, a white wine from the Lisbon region and Cepa Pura, a rich red organic wine made solely from Touriga Nacional.

The menu ended with tea and coffee. Chef Rui Sequeira and his brigade were thanked on behalf of those present by Bailli Marie-Anne Ferran.

Valerie Lantau
Vice-Chargée de Presse