Joao Belhi - Alcoutim

As can be seen from the photo of the outside this is not a fancy restaurant. However, the food was good and the staff friendly. The food is concentrated around octopus as the name suggests but there are other choices available. We had octopus stew with rice and fettuccini. Both were very tasty.

We stopped here for dinner our first evening in Tavira. It’s located on a busy spot on the waterfront. Not fancy but the food was delicious. We shared an octopus salad large serving easily satisfies two people and my wife had the traditional swordfish while I had octopus paella. Through miscommunication, we also had the octopus appetizer. The mistake was ours alone. Way too much food but each dish was really tasty. We paired it with a good white wine. Others were there because they had read about this place. We simply tripped over it.

I've been to this restaurant on previous visits, but it seems to have changed hands. Not for the better, sadly. I ordered the octopus curry, but the presentation was, quite frankly, unappetizing. Just a chunky yellow puddle with a mound of rice in the middle. But I persevered and tasted it. It was quite tasty, but if I hadn't been told it was a curry, I would not have known. To me, there was no discernible curry flavour. And it was very light on the octopus, which also had no discernible flavour. To make my meal even more disappointing, I had chosen the wrong table. I sat outside, but the waiter (no doubt well meaning) stood in the doorway a meter away from me almost the entire time. I felt I was under scrutiny throughout the entire meal. I was so uncomfortable that I ate quickly and left...only 25 minutes from sitting down to leaving. One of the pleasures of a Tavira lunch is taking time over a meal. Not here. For the first time, I felt no regret NOT leaving a tip. Neither the food, nor the service, nor the price warranted one. A small (25 cl) water was €2, which is the most I paid in any other restaurant for a small bottle. Sorry to have to leave a negative review, but with so many fabulous restaurants in Tavira, I'll give this one a miss in future.

We just drove past this restaurant and looked for somewhere to eat at a cold Sunday afternoon in the januar when very few restaurants are open this year. it was great. there was only us and another table from 3 inside, so a bit lacked in the atmosphere. but decor, service and eat more than made for it. we had cuvert, which was the usual olives and carrots of breadcake good. the menu was extensive with many fresh fish and meat options, but the focus was on otopus. I chose the oktopus algarvian style and my partner chose muscheln in champagner. we both agreed that our choices were beautiful. two negative observations. the bottle white wine was room temperature and it was obvious that there was a limited amount of white wine in the refrigerator. also my otopus could have been hotter, but then I like my eating piping hot. Apart from that, the restaurant was spotlessly clean, the waitress was lovely. it was definitiv worth money and we will go back as we live here. we will also recommend it to our friends. I would have given it 5 stars if it had not been for the temperature of my otopus and wees. well made polvaria

We were upset to find that os arcos had folded after many years! but we found this beautiful restaurant to take its place. that was nice to eat, I had a grilled octopus clink and I had it again for the second time! my man had hard fish I think I only have my new fave restaurant in tavira x