The summer season of 2025 has come and gone, but the memories of fun, laughter and great food last forever. In many ways, this has been my best summer yet in Carvoeiro, despite all the auxiliary drama that has plagued us as a result of a few rather toxic and soul sick community members, I have literally had the time of my life this summer, and learned a lot of interesting things about Carvoeiro, the people in this corner of paradise, especially where to eat and what to avoid. As a Lifestyle Journalist and avid Foodie, I share with you the good, the bad and the ugly….
EARTH CAFE
One of my favourite regular hangouts, is EARTH CAFE, which regularly queues out the door due to its popularity. I have been a regular at EARTH CAFE for over 8 years now, and I have never once been disappointed with the food or the service. The staff are always super friendly and accomodating, with a special mention to Andre and his Mom for their kindness, and friendly demeanour, and for always making sure that our picky tastes are catered for. Pauline the owner has a really great vibe, is super professional, and has created a wonderful working culture for her staff, which seem to stay with her for years, which is always a good sign that the work environment is a safe space and that the staff are happy and supported. EARTH CAFE is open all week serving breakfast / brunch / lunch, and hosts an boutique shop stocking local and artisan teas, condiments, chocolates, wine, arts and crafts. The menu us full of healthy options, and decadent treats.
It must be said, EARTH CAFE make the best scones in town, baked daily and served with artisan jam and proper clotted cream (not out of a can) and an awesome selection of smoothies, which are my go to faves when I visit. EARTH CAFE has a lovely sea view from the inside, as well as outdoor seating street side and makes the top list of my favourite restaurant in Carvoeiro every year. They are consistent, the vibe is good, the food is good, the staff are awesome, an all round winner!
CHEF’S CAFE
Newly opened this year in the area downstairs from CHEF’S KITCHEN, this fabulously stylish patisserie is decorated in neutral off white tones, and is embellished with unique off centre structural affectations. The staff are always super friendly and welcoming, and the proprietor Silvie is by far the hardest working woman in Carvoeiro, with an eye for perfection. CHEF’S CAFE is a welcome addition to the Carvoeiro coffee culture, baking fresh gourmet pastries and delicious breads every day. I am particularly fond of their filled croissants, their brownie, the Reuben pastrami sandwich, and the egg salad on brioche. I often take away a loaf of their artisan sourdough bread, which is the best in town. In 2025, this has become my favourite go to coffee spot, taking over from ENCCI, which was my favourite spot last year. Simply put, the quality of food and service at CHEF’S CAFE is just better, because the owner is always there to ensure that the standards are maintained, and that the staff stay on point.
CARVOEIRO PLAZA HOTEL SKY BAR 360
As I am rather health conscious and not really a big drinker, I often opt for an iced coffee over alcoholic beverages when out with friends and family. In fact a good iced coffee is a glorious thing, and my go to favourites in most places. With a stunning view over the square and beach, I discovered this summer, completely by accident, that the CARVOEIRO PLAZA HOTEL SKY BAR 360 has the best iced coffees in town. So many places make a rather pathetic iced coffee, but you will not be disappointed in the offerings in the SKY BAR 360, which serves iced coffees in three different flavours.
DONNA MARIA
I booked DONNA MARIA for Black & White Night, which was my first visit there, and thus, I fell in love with this place, which has become my favourite restaurant on the square on the beachfront, having eaten there at least 6 times over the summer. The service is super professional and friendly, the food comes out fast, and the view is exceptional, particularly at sunset. That all being said, the best part about this DONNA MARIA is indeed the food, which is exceptional, and possibly the best Italian restaurant in town, being the sister restaurant to Villa Medici further up the road. My go to dish in any Italian restaurant is a Spaghetti Carbonara, and DONNA MARIA do the very best Carbonara in town, and they are not shy on the parmesan cheese, which comes freshly grated in a big bowl. DONNA MARIA also make the best pizza in town, and that is saying something considering over saturation of pizza restaurants in Carvoeiro. But it must be noted that the Medici Pizza, which is topped with prejunto, figs, honey and sheep cheese, with a perfect wood fire oven baked crust. In fact, when I wrote a piece raving about this pizza, both LEVELS & ENCCI adopted these toppings for their own pizzas.
One the subject of pizzas, it must be said that there are far too many places in town serving pizza, with no less than 3 out of 6 restaurants directly on the beachfront square serving pizza, with LEVELS having this year jumped on the pizza bandwagon with their version called a Pinza, which is an oval, Roman style pizza. There seems to be a distinct lack of originality in Carvoeiro, particularly in the tourist trap restaurants right on the beachfront.
BLACK SALT
Located in Monte Carvoeiro Square, just up the hill on the western cliff of Carvoeiro’s beachfront, I had been dying to try out BLACK SALT for some time. With a warm, clean, minimalistic, albeit masculine interior, I loved this restaurant as it has got one of the best menus in town. BLACK SALT has become one of my top restaurants recommendations if you want something a little bougie and unique, whilst not being overly stuffy or pretentious. The presentation of the dishes are original, such as how they serve the sauteed vegetables, not just as a side, but as a structural adornment on the plate. I was greatly impressed with unique dessert offerings such as their deconstructed cheesecake which was orgasmic. BLACK SALT do unique offerings such as their signature dish being Black Cod, which is cod fish sous vide in squid ink, which you won’t find anywhere else. The waiting staff were extremely professional, worked well as a team, and had exceptional knowledge of the menu, making good recommendations for food and wine. Jonas the owner is charismatic and runs a BLACK SALT with precision, which is now officially one of the best places in town, particularly since the closure of my favourite spot in Monte Carvoeiro, THE SQUARE by Raquel Marques.
JOTA LITA
If you looking for something very typically Portuguese, the place to go is JOTA LITA, which has been in business since 1988, serving up all the Portuguese classics such as Chicken Piri Piri, Portuguese Steaks, Iberian Black Pork (Porco Preto) but to name a few. This place has a very laid back, casual street side vibe, and the owner Lita is an absolute sweetheart, being a second generation owner, with her daughter also working in the restaurant. The staff here are super warm, friendly and efficient, and I recommend this place to everybody looking for authentic Algarvian cuisine and a warm, friendly atmosphere.
FAUSTINO’S
Having opened this year, this steakhouse has taken over the spot previously occupied by THE WOLF. The service was excellent, and the maple glazed burger was outstanding, possibly the best burger in town, and the only reason I would consider coming back here. Indeed, I would travel far for a great burger and FAUSTINO’S burger is an absolute winner
However, I found the cocktails to be underwhelming, and the steak was not the best. The pepper sauce was very watery and the double cooked potato chips and onion rings were not great either. Furthermore the serviettes were so full of chemicals that they burned my face and left my skin red. When I spoke to the owner about this, he seemed disinterested.
CAFE FINO
Opposite Faustino’s is CAFE FINO, which serves up the best English Breakfast in town, with perfectly buttered, thick slices of white bread toast, and real English bacon and sausages. One of my favourite meals, the English Breakfast is my guilty pleasure, and something I crave often. I just love sitting at CAFE FINO, relaxing in the comfortable pavement side couches with comfortable tastefully decorated cushions, complete with shade canopy. It is a great spot to do a bit of people watching, or just chill out for a while. They do a number of other cafe classics, but the English Breakfast is the reason I go there.
ENCCI
Falling a few places in my favour due to staff issues and stiff competition from CHEF’S CAFE, is ENCCI, which has a really unique breakfast / brunch / lunch menu, and then serves up pizzas at lunch and dinner. This is a great place to grab a Matcha or a Golden Latte and catch up with friends in their tranquil landscaped back garden. The interior is delightfully pale pink, and they often host a variety of unique and interesting cakes and bakes. Their Matcha Pancakes and Crouffle is to die for. Being a health and fitness buff, the owner Becci has also ensured a variety of healthy, nutrient dense brunchy bites. Becci has now opened up a second venue called SOLECCI in Salema, which I plan to check out shortly. My big criticism of ENCCI however is the staff. It does seem to be a bit of a toxic work environment, and last Christmas I was brought to tears by unjustified rudeness and attacks after sending back my Matcha for being cold. The service here can also be very slow, and the staff at times seem miserable and disinterested. Needless to say, they also have a high turnover of staff, as they always seem to have new faces serving, which do not seem to last very long.
CARVOEIRO BAR
A stable in the local bar scene, CARVOEIRO BAR is a super warm and friendly place, typical of an old school English pub, albeit Dutch owned. CARVOEIRO BAR is particularly cosy in winter, and opens up onto the street in summer. CARVOEIRO BAR hosts a variety of live entertainment, quiz nights and Karaoke on Wednesday nights, and also shows sports for those who like to go to pubs and stare at screens. If you fancy an epic cocktail, the bar staff are super skilled and make some of the best cocktails in town. As the owner, Bob, is a Dutchman, there is a variety of Dutch style fried snacks on offer, which are particularly satisfying during a boozy session.
BRAZZO
Newly opened this season, BRAZZO is a cheap and cheerful spot to get some cocktails and grilled meats, salad and chips, including Piri Piri Chicken for 8 Euros. We opted for the mix grill which was a little underwhelming, and to be honest I don’t see myself going back there, however it has become rather popular with the locals given that it is well priced. If you are looking for a cheap eat, BRAZZO is the place to go. The service and staff were very friendly and tried to accommodate our picky tastes as best as possible.
BERDISSIMO WINE BAR & ART GALLERY
Although this venue is no longer open, it was one of the places that I loved to visit. This elegant little wine bar was located on the square in Monte Carvoeiro, and stocked an epic selection of wines, fabulous cocktails, making the best Porn Star Martini I have ever had, whilst serving up delicious cheese, ham and olive platters. The owner Anett is a truly sweet lady, who gave me the opportunity to display my art in her gallery, which was a real privilege, and something I will always be truly grateful for.
Sadly, this lovely little venue closed down due to being bullied out of business by their neighbours. More about this at the end of this article.
SKY BAR TIVOLI
Possibly the most bougie and overpriced spot is the SKY BAR at the Tivoli Hotel. It must be said that the view and atmosphere here is magnificent, the service is indeed excellent, but the quality of food and beverage on offer is extremely mediocre for the price. This is however one of my best spots to enjoy the sunset and catch up with friends far from the madding crowd of the village. When the sun sets and temperature drops, the staff bring blankets and turn on the decorative fire heaters, which is a lovely touch. There is often a DJ playing music and the crowd that hang out here are a little more classy than the rabble that mooch about the bars in town, albeit a little pretentious.
PLACES TO AVOID
Anything on the square in front of the beach. Apart from the fact that all the restaurants on the square are overpriced tourist traps serving up below average to extremely awful food, there is a massive sewage tank under the square, and the smell is extremely unpleasant, especially when it is hot and busy. Furthermore, the drains that surround the square are infested with cockroaches given that there is infact a sewage tank under the square. I have literally had a cockroach crawl over my hand and across my nachos whilst drinking cocktails at LEVELS which totally freaked me out. Furthermore, I have been poison 3 times from LEVELS, once from the mold in the water bottle lids, because the proprietor and staff are dirty, sloppy people and don’t clean anything properly, and actually don’t give much of a shit about anybody’s well being. Furthermore, I have also been bullied and harassed by their staff, who took to Facebook to post taunting posts depicting my husband and I as apes, because I had the audacity to hold them to account for not maintaining the basic standards of professional service, etiquette and basic hygiene. The passive aggressive bullying from the staff there has gone as far as to break up friendships and cost me business opportunities due to their vengeful persecution of me. As a customer, I was only ever kind and supportive, often doing doing write ups and promoting this venue, and I am always polite to all the staff, and always made an effort to befriend those I could. I was never belligerent or rude to the staff, and have always tried to help those I could with various opportunities or troubles they were facing. As a result of the disgusting behaviour of LEVELS, I am currently suing LEVELS for slander with deliberate intention to cause loss and harm, whilst violating my constitutional rights to earn a living and live with dignity. I have so much evidence to prove the actual malice standard required for defamation cases. LEVELS is also being sued by former staff members, one in particular, for dismissal without payment of monies owed. This is such a toxic work environment, and the staff there always look completely miserable, and often lash out at customers.
The most toxic and narcissistic business owners sadly are the proprietors of the dining establishments on the square, and their staff is just as toxic, miserable and nasty, and this includes XAMOR, which also has an abusive and toxic work environment, with screeching and screaming often heard coming from the owner from across the square. Needless to say, they also struggle to hold onto staff, and are being sued by former staff members, with one person actually ending up in psychiatric care due to a mental breakdown. Furthermore, their food is utterly shit. Lots of people complained about how bad the food was over the summer on the CARVOEIRO COMMUNITY Facebook page.
In fact, as I administrate the largest Facebook group in the area, being CARVOEIRO COMMUNITY, I often see people asking for restaurant recommendations, and nobody ever recommends any of the restaurants directly on the square for the above mentioned reasons.
COCKTAIL GARDEN
BERDISSIMO opened in Monte Carvoeiro late year, and from the moment they opened, their neighbour, Luis and Catia, the owners of COCKTAIL GARDEN, began to bully and harass the owner of BERDISSIMO. COCKTAIL GARDEN stole property from BERDISSIMO, a fence that was erected to divide the terrace of the two properties. COCKTAIL GARDEN also vandalised BERDISSIMO by cutting their internet line. COCKTAIL GARDEN threatened and tormented Anett and her partner, and beat up one of BERDISSIMO’S customers, who was doing absolutely nothing other than sitting there having a drink. This person who got beaten up, just so happened to be my husband, who had to spend a day at Portimao hospital. COCKTAIL GARDEN has a long history of being awful to the other businesses in Monte Carvoeiro, and they are currently facing charges of aggravated assault amongst others…. And thus, I implore the community and tourists, please do not support violent bullies that abuse the local community. There are plenty of other places to enjoy a good cocktail in town, safer environments where the staff of friendly and professional.
THE ROUND UP SALOON
This is controversial because THE ROUND UP SALOON is the best Karaoke Bar in town, but it is a disease ridden place. Over the course of this summer, I have seen at least a dozen people who have gotten really sick from some virus / bug they picked up at THE ROUND UP SALOON, many of which have posted about how sick they got on the CARVOEIRO COMMUNITY Facebook group. Being a Naturopath, I have treated many of these people myself, and have heard directly from them that they got sick after attending THE ROUND UP SALOON. As someone who never ever gets sick, as I am really healthy, I too have gone down for 3 weeks at one point from something I picked up there, and it took me another 2 months for my voice to back to normal as the throat infection did not subside. Normally if I do catch a cold or flu, it takes me no more than 3 days, a week max, to get over it. I honestly have never been so sick in my life. The illness presented with Covid like symptoms, and indeed, even my husband picked up something when he was there and he is still not over it six months later, as he has to this day, an ongoing scratch and sore throat which he just can’t seem to get rid of. Maybe he got long Covid… We just do not know, he is still suffering, and many more continue to get sick after being there.
Furthermore, the owner, known as Big Will, is very handsy, and likes to inappropriately touch people, at one point grabbing my husband’s phallus, and having in the past grabbed women’s buttox according to the testimony of past bouncers. The owner will also make very inappropriate commentary such as “That girl is asking to be raped” if a girl looks to sexy, or is wearing something short and / or tight, which is totally disgusting, because no woman asks to be raped. That is the nature of rape, it is non consensual and forceful, and something I have in my past experienced, and thus I find such vulgar commentary completely sick and highly inappropriate, the kind of thing only gutter trash would dare to say. Some time back, I was confronted with a rather tacky comment when Big Will quipped to my utter disgust, ” No sex in the toilets”. I mean, what kind of a business owner says that to customers, particularly respectable, well presented, well dressed, conservative middle aged customers. I found this comment grossly inappropriate, as if I can’t control my sexual urges to the point that I would engage in sexual activity in a dirty public toilet. I was absolutely grossed out at the thought and insinuation. This low level classless behaviour is beneath me and is as dirty and disgusting as the disease ridden venue.
Every year that I live in Carvoeiro brings new adventure and growth to my life. I learn, I love, I grow stronger through adversity. Indeed, I have a love / hate relationship with this town, and often think that perhaps I should pack up and go elsewhere. However I just can’t seem to bring myself to leave. This little corner of paradise is not perfect, there are issues for sure, but ultimately, I am happier here than I have ever been anywhere in my life… and I do not intend to give that up easily.
PEACE LOVE UNITY RESPECT
Mel Ve
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