Eating and Drinking in Faro, Portugal

I’d only heard bad things about Faro. With its bustling international airport, this Portuguese city serves as the gateway to the glittering beaches of the Algarve. It’s a fairly busy place as a result. “It’s too touristy”, “it’s too English”, and “there’s no good food there” were all things I’d been told. But, as with most black and white statements about entire cities, the reality was less alarming!

Sure, Faro is full of international jet-setters taking advantage of the beautiful weather and fabulous beaches of southern Portugal (especially in August, which is when I visited). I swear I counted at least a dozen languages being spoken! But that definitely doesn’t detract from its small-town charm and natural beauty. There is also, luckily, plenty of good food to be had, if you know where to look!

“There’s no good food there”. 

I’ve always hated the phrase “there’s no good food there”. I’ve just never found it to be true! The idea of an entire town or city being completely made up of people who don’t care about their taste buds just doesn’t fly right with me. Even worse, assuming that a city is full of people who can’t tell the difference between good food and bad just seems a little bit condescending. So, “there’s no good food there” usually just means “I didn’t find anything I liked to eat there”, which is totally avoidable if you do your research!

Granted, with the reinvention of Faro as a summer holiday destination (like Marbella or Mallorca), there are plenty of less-than-great restaurants sending out poor imitations of Algarve classics, designed for a palate unused to local flavours. I even saw a few places advertising ‘traditional’ paella, which, in Faro, is about as traditional as eating kangaroo. “But”, I thought to myself, “if there are local people who live here, they must go to local places that serve the kind of food that they like to eat”. And that is what I went in search of.

A note: This is not a definitive guide to food and drink in Faro. I’m not from there, nor do I live there! But this is where I enjoyed some tasty meals and sipped some great booze, and hopefully, it can help you eat well in the Algarve, too!

Where to eat in Faro

Like anywhere in the Algarve, Faro’s cuisine is dominated by fresh seafood. With over 200km of coastline, fishing has provided food and income for as long as the area has been settled. Wild Atlantic fish like cod, monkfish, and sea bream are popular, as well as the ubiquitous Portuguese sardines and anchovies, served grilled or preserved in oil and vinegar. But I was most amazed by the huge amount of shellfish on offer throughout Faro. Fresh, wild clams, mussels, and oysters abound here, all sourced from just a few hundred metres away!

Tasting the Rio Formosa

Not just the gateway to the Algarve, Faro also marks the entrance to the Rio Formosa natural park; one of Portugal’s seven natural wonders. Spanning lagoons, island chains, and natural channels across 18,000 hectares, this is a stunning and complex ecosystem! It’s also protected from overfishing, to allow local fishermen to harvest produce to sell in town. In addition to countless species of migratory birds, the lagoons and channels are home to shellfish, squid, and small Atlantic fish looking for food and shelter in the dense forests of seagrass and samphire lurking just below the waterline.

After doing an eco-tour of Faro’s lagoons by boat, I visited Ilha Deserta, the ‘desert island’ separating the lagoons from the Atlantic. Here you can find the Estaminé Restaurant, the sole structure on the island taking advantage of the amazing views and produce from the Rio Formosa. Respecting its ecosystem, Estaminé also creates its own solar-powered energy and its own fresh water supply.

I was lucky enough to not only enjoy the views from their dining room, but also a delicious petisco (kind of like a Portuguese take on Spanish tapas) of anchovies served with a vinaigrette and briny, bitter samphire picked from the shoreline just a few meters away! It’s a little bit much pricier than the restaurants on the mainland, but given its location, this wasn’t a massive surprise.

Clams cooked in clams

I was also dead-set on trying cataplana. An Algarve classic, this is a simple and delicious seafood stew made with the shellfish that also call Faro home! The stew gets its name from the Moorish cooking vessel used to make it, a clam-shaped pot made of hammered copper. Fishermen would use these cataplanas to scoop shellfish from the lagoon’s shallow waters, before cooking them in the same pot!

Given its clam-like shape, it’s perfect for cooking shellfish (and not just visually!). The copper conducts low heat quite well, and the top half seals shut to steam the seafood without overcooking it. I tasted a delicious version with local clams, mussels, tomato, and parsley at Hápetite. Just outside the old town’s medieval walls, this trendy restaurant is serving traditional food with modern style and flair. And their warehouse-style, exposed-brick setting is straight out of the hipster handbook for dining success.

Pastéis de nata: An egg-celent way to start the day

I think Portuguese custard tarts might be my favourite thing in the world. Not just favourite food, but favourite thing out of all other things. They’re just so perfect! Also known as egg tarts (or in Portuguese: pastéis de nata), these little bites of joy are made up of a wonderfully crispy and flaky pastry cup that shatters into a thousand mouth-melting pieces when bitten, revealing a gorgeously rich and silky custard within.

That’s when they’re done well, but unfortunately, they’re not always done well! The factory line version, churned out by the thousand, are sad and chewy things. They wilt rather than snap, and their custard is too sweet, too eggy, and too disappointing. When in Faro, I sampled plenty, with the best ones baked fresh daily at Demo Urban Bakery. Their coffee isn’t too bad either, and since it’s across the border, it doesn’t suffer from the Spanish scourge that is torrefacto!

Where to drink in Faro

As with most beachside destinations, Faro has its fair share of badly made mojitos and sangría. But peel past the layers of cheap alcohol masked with fistfuls of sugar and you’ll you’ll find a healthy supply of good booze to keep the holiday vibes flowing.

Cocktails bars and leather apron-wearing hipsters

Is there anywhere in the world where you won’t find cookie-cutter mixologists? Seriously, it’s like these guys are pulled off of some sort of bespoke vintage assembly line, with pre-fabricated moustaches waxed into wispy points, a stare that is as condescending as it is punchable, and an assortment of completely out of place surgical apparatus tucked into their leather apron pocket.

But God dammit they make good drinks.

Columbus Bar is your standard trendy cocktail establishment, complete with a gleaming white baby-grand piano. Their drinks are interesting, tasty, and just pretentious enough to be enjoyable without being uncomfortable. They won’t break the bank, either. Similarly, while O Castelo is more of a lounge and restaurant than a trendy cocktail bar, they serve up some nice takes on classics with an unbeatable view; perched on the medieval walls of Faro with views over the entire Rio Formosa natural park.

Portuguese wine (but not Port)

While the Algarve is nowhere near the regions famous for Port production, there are some great local wines to try. Native Portuguese grape varieties are pretty unheard of relative to their French cousins, so sampling some is a must! I had a great time sampling a few glasses from across the country at Epicur, a brand new wine bar in the centre of Faro. The wine is interesting and affordable, and the owner clearly loves his job as much as his customers love his wine!

Read More

Travelling around Portugal? Check out what happened to me when I first encountered a francesinha, Porto’s most famous sandwhich! And while you’re at it, head over to all of my foodie guides to my favourite cities.

I’d love to hear from you! Have you got other suggestions of where to eat or drink in Faro? Are you planning a trip to the Algarve and have food as your number one priority? Let me know in the comments below!