CombatCritic's TravelValue™: Moncarpacho, Olhão, Portugal: Antonio, Antonio, Wherefore Art Thou Antonio

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Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Moncarpacho, Olhão, Portugal: Antonio, Antonio, Wherefore Art Thou Antonio

Restaurante Antonio

Avenida Lizarda Palermo,124

8700-081 Olhão, Portugal

+351 939 163 759

Website: Restaurante-Antonio (English)

Prices: €€€€

Many people I know had been raving about Restaurante Antonio, a 15 minute drive from our home in tiny Moncarpacho: 'they just remodeled and it is gorgeous'; 'the menu is so eclectic'; 'the food is wonderful'; 'I love Antonio and their patio is so nice'; etcetera; etcetera; etcetera, so we decided to give them a try.

When we arrived for our reservation, I was a bit surprised that the patio I heard was so nice took up half of the sidewalk and several parking spots on the avenida. Yes, it is tastefully done, a nice wooden structure with lighting and a cover, but cars, vans and trucks pass by on the street just inches from diners. Not very romantic.

We started with the obligatory couvert (cover), including bread, butter, and olives (€3.10) as well as the homemade cheese (€2) and a bottle of their house red, Penedo Gordo Tinto €9. Good start!

For our starters, my wife had the Goat Cheese with Honey and Walnuts (€6.25) and I ordered the Vegetarian Samosas (€4.75) so we could share. My wife enjoyed the goat cheese, which was tastefully presented, but I had one bite and decided the cheese was too pungent for me. The samosas were a bit greasy, lacking taste, and came with no dipping sauce. They were both gone in three bites ... chomp, chomp, chomp.

For entrees, we had the Mushroom Pie (€9.50) and the Filet Steak with Mushroom Sauce (€19.50). The 'mushroom' pie looked nice enough, but when my wife cut into it, there was nary a mushroom to be found ... ZERO mushrooms! I cut into my medium-well filet, having explained that 'pink in the middle and no blood in the sauce' was the goal, but it was NOT at all medium-well, but closer to medium rare, so I sent it back. We also asked why the mushroom pie had no mushrooms and the server, who was very nice and did a wonderful job by the way, told us that it was actually a vegetable pie and that she had not noticed the English translation error. When my steak came back, the same piece of meat, apparently washed off and cooked a bit longer, was still pretty red when I cut into it, but the rest of the steak was now overcooked, completely grey inside. Se la vie.

We shared a Lemon Tart (€3.75) for dessert, probably the best tasting course we had as well as a decent value.

In all, I have to say that we were a bit disappointed. Maybe it was because of all the hype, maybe my expectations were too high, an impossible bar to reach. The ambience was lacking, the food nothing stellar, the prices quite high when taste and portion size were taken into account, and the 'mushroom' pie and 'medium-well' filet left a bad taste in our mouths. At €60.35 ($70.45), I have to say that we have had better meals within walking distance from our home for half the price, so Antonio was not a great TravelValue in my opinion.