il Basilico, one of the restaurants at our hotel, Portobay Falesia, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, was excellent.
First, Rosé Sangria, then fresh grilled Ahi tuna & chargrilled beef fillet accompanied by seasonal vegetables, and lastly, Tiramisù & red berry Cheesecake for dessert.
The service was perfection, the views stunning & the live band’s music was entertaining. You could sit indoors or outside on the spacious patio. As we had a fairly early dinner, was quite warm out still so we settled on a cooler table inside.
Grilled Ahi tunaBeef fillet Rosé SangriaTiramisù & red berry Cheesecake
Our fabulous server happy to teach us some Portuguese
The beautiful patio overlooking the Atlantic Ocean & our hotel
In Seville, we went on a Hop on Hop off Bus tour & by the time we were done were absolutely roasting in the 37 degree heat. We decided we needed to find a restaurant with AC fast!
We came across the Bar Baratillo after checking out a few spots, it looked & felt cool + the menu seemed good. Had we not already been overheated from our tour, we would have enjoyed sitting on the outdoor patio, watching the people go by.
In the heat (I was feeling faint) I had forgotten to start speaking in Spanish… I asked for a table for 2 in English, our waiter sat us, then studiously ignored us after that.
Quite a lot of other people came in & were served or spoken to way before us, some even receiving their food before our order was even taken. We signalled our guy a few times but he wouldn’t come over. There was a lovely, efficient female server who spoke both Spanish & English to her tables & they were dealt with in order of arrival, so it wasn’t the entire staff acting the way our guy was.
We noted that others who asked for water in Spanish were given glasses with ice & water from the bar tap but because we had inadvertently asked in English to start(then corrected ourselves), we were brought bottles of water & charged.
Despite the bad attitude of our server, the decor was really cool with an industrial, yet modern feel. There were taxidermy bulls heads on the walls (Spain is known for its bullfighting) but also a glass encased wine collection. The art was very Seville in the history that it showed.
We ordered White Sangria with pork chops & Spanish style pork cheeks with sauce. The Sangria was the best we’ve ever had! Very refreshing & citrusy. The pork chops were more of a “designer” chop in that they were artfully arranged on a bed of fries but without much meat on them (check out the photo… very little meat). The pork cheek was delicious. We’d seen this suggested by other travellers we follow on social media & they did not disappoint.
To get our bill, we asked our server multiple times when he would actually look our way but we had to give up & go get it ourselves at the bar… our waiter preferred to clean other empty tables or chat to his coworkers rather then bother with us again.
When travelling we learn key phrases to start a conversation with as a sign of respect for where we’re visiting. Most locals will either switch to English if you struggle or try to point at what they mean for you but aside from one incident in Berlin, this is the only time we’ve had someone be so dismissive of us for forgetting to speak their language.
In Albufeira, Portugal, in this funky glass pod, is a 50s Diner themed little cafe. It’s like a blast from the past!
There’s a life size statue of The King himself + one of Marilyn Monroe! There’s the front end grill of an old car inside & tons of memorabilia.
It’s called American Diner & definitely embodies that very thing. From the Philadelphia Cheesesteak to the Godfather Pizza, the Priscilla’s Rodeo Drive Salad, to the stools up next to the sofa fountain… everything is about as authentic as you could get.
We wish it had been open to go try some food but it was early in the morning & we were just there to pick up our rental car next door.
The rating above is based on a five ticket recommendation. We compare to hundreds of locations and activities during the last ten years.
