O Lagar - Elvas

Very popular but for us it was average. We had the house Bacalhau but the sauce they used was underwhelming. Our soups were good including the gazpacho and canj... read more Very popular but for us it was average. We had the house Bacalhau but the sauce they used was underwhelming. Our soups were good including the gazpacho and canja de galinha. Service was fine too but there are better restuarants in town.

Beware, huge portions of average food. Both had soup, very good indeed. Then steaks each, the size of a man's shoe and then discovered another steak hidden bene... read more Beware, huge portions of average food. Both had soup, very good indeed. Then steaks each, the size of a man's shoe and then discovered another steak hidden beneath! Huge amount of food and of average, chewy/tough quality.

I love Spain, but after two days of tostadas, raciones and tapas, we were in dire need of a solid Portuguese meal to fully rally our stomachs. So, by Friday nig... read more I love Spain, but after two days of tostadas, raciones and tapas, we were in dire need of a solid Portuguese meal to fully rally our stomachs. So, by Friday night, we decided to interrupt our event in Badajoz, and escape to a restaurant called.. O Lagar in Elvas. Even without reservation we were welcome and sat immediately. We started with an açorda alentejana (soup), generous and well served. Migas com entrecosto e enchidos and Cuttlefish barbecued, followed as main dishes . The delicious Migas portion, would feed four or five seamlessly, and the cuttlefish/chocos na brasa came with potatoes baked to the point. The house wine, competent , joined the meal. Finally, the dessert here has to be the mandatory sericaia plain, without plum syrup for me). A very balanced, tasty and not very sweet local delicacy.....

If you're looking for authentic Alentejo cuisine, you've probably come to the right place. Try, for example, the Açorda da Gambas. This strange concoction is ab... read more If you're looking for authentic Alentejo cuisine, you've probably come to the right place. Try, for example, the Açorda da Gambas. This strange concoction is absolutely delicious: bread, garlic, coriander, olive oil, poached eggs all whizzed together into a dlicious flavoursome mush, containing small and...king prawns. If you like garlic prawns, you'll love this. Also, the baked cod on the coals was beautiful, fresh and well cooked with seasonal vegetables bit overcooked for my taste. The ambience is typical of many Portuguese restaurants bright lights and TV showing footabll and/or the news. However, you have to get beyond that and enjoy the cuisine. The staff/owners took some warming up. Their reaction when we arrived at was not particulalry welcoming more, Really, you want to eat They didn't smile much although were pleased when we complimented the food. The wine list was not handed out automatically so you may think that the only wine is of Red/White or of Red/White. There's a list with a good small selection of Portuguese wines we had Marquês de Borba red excellent. So, all in all, well worth a visit, although you'll get a friendlier reception at the Regional, just up the hill and around the corner.

I began with cocktail de gambas This consisted of a plate piled very high with shrimp shaped mush. The mush was topped with an obscene amount of pink tinged may... read more I began with cocktail de gambas This consisted of a plate piled very high with shrimp shaped mush. The mush was topped with an obscene amount of pink tinged mayonnaise of indifferent quality. Served alongside were three unpeeled shrimp, which was quite tasty. This...appetizer was priced at euros. I'd have been happy with eight or ten of those nice enough unpeeled shrimp, and with the mush sent to the cat food factory. Four a main course I ordered escalopes de vitela in Madeira sauce. The meat on the plate was mechanically tenderized yearling beef. There was a tremendous quantity of it. I should very much have preferred to have had veal, which was the item on the menu. A much smaller quantity would have sufficed. The plate was The meat arrived with both potatoes and rice but, alas , no vegetable. While there was nothing wrong with the wine sauce, there was nothing special about it either. I will assume it was made with Madeira wine, although you could not prove it by me. I told the waiter in Portuguese that I was not familiar with the wines of this region. I asked him to recommend a local wine. He did, at a reasonable for the bottle. There was nothing especially wrong about it. Neither was there anything especially remarkable about it. However the following day I asked a waiter km up the road in Estremoz to recommend a local local wine, and what he produced blew my socks off.