Ocean (), Vila Vita Parc, Porches, Portugal

We had a lovely summer break at Vila Vita Parc resort on the Algarve, Portugal – a great hotel that this year was awarded 3 Keys from Michelin (their new way of ranking restaurants – this is only one of two such hotels in Portugal). One of the highlights of our visit was finding a babysitter for the kids and enjoying dinner at the Ocean restaurant, where Austrian chef Hans Neuner has held two Michelin stars since 2011. We visited this time last year and really enjoyed it, so were keen to visit again…

Overall: Fantastic meal in an elegant room with a beautiful view of the Ocean (obviously!) and great service. Clearly pushing hard for that third star…

We had the “Tastes of Discovery” tasting menu – the concept here is to reflect the chef’s latest travels around the world and back to Portugal. A vegetarian alternative was also available.

Photos:
1) Cod canape. Crispy tart with various textures of cod/bacalhau. Nice start to the meal!
2) “Frozen Bagel” canape. Delicious one-biter with smoked otoro, caper leaves and green papaya. Fantastic and indulgent! Not pictured was thr “Cornnut” with chorizo canape. My favourite of the canapes – delicious!
3) and 4) “Huli Huli Chicken” barbecued piri piri chicken two ways. Nice, but lacking in piri piri flavour for me.
5) and 6)”Maple syrup” marinated alfonsino fish with geranium and lettuce cream. Very pretty dish, a little lacking in flavour – the nitro-frozen accompaniment (can’t remember which element this was) was fun
7) and 8) Soughdough bread with two butters shaped to resemble sardines, presented in a tin – fantastic bread course!
9) sardine mousse crackers that accompanied the bread – superfluous, for me, but I’m not a big sardine fan!
10) “Treasures of the Algarve”: Imperial caviar, more sardine (!), razor clams, cockles – dish of the night, at that point – perfect tastes of the sea!
11) and 12) “Blue Lobster” – XO sauce, aubergine (egg plant), paprika – even better! The XO marinated lobster was incredible
13) Abalone rice with skate – delicious risotto/paella-like dish – I wanted more!
14) “One Night in Bangkok” scarlet prawn, kampot pepper and seaweed – nice but somewhat overshadowed by the previous dishes, for me
15) “Cherry from Fundao” – palate-cleansing granita – I’m not a fan of these type of sorbet courses – a bit superfluous and old-fashioned for me
16) “Purple Curry” – the most amazing duck dish. I’m a big fan of duck and this was top notch – beautifully cooked. I can still taste it!
17) Watermelon pre-dessert – elegant and refreshing
18) Goat cheese and rhubarb textures – beautiful and not too goaty. Light and refreshing
19) “Oceo” petit four: playful take on Oreo cookies
20) Can’t remember exactly what this petit four was, other than it was served on a giant Nintendo Gameboy (the petit fours were focused on the chef’s childhood memories)

Wine: we had the “standard” wine pairing at 185 Euros – all Portuguese and really fun – I’m not an expert on Portuguese wine, but they paired relly well with the dishes. There was also a Prestige pairing at 360 Euros.

Cost of meal was 295 Euros per person. Total cost after pairing, champagne aperitifs, post-dinner cognac and service was 1000 Euros (ie 500 Euros perp person) – not cheap, but not outrageous, certainly compared to UK equivalent restaurants. (I’m not including cost of the resort’s babysitter sevice 😉)

We really enjoyed this meal and felt it was a step up from our visit last year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ocean receive a third star, as it certainly held its own against a few of the UK 3-stars that we’ve visited recently (RGR, Core, Helene Darozze). In terms of other Poruguese top restaurants, I haven’t eaten at Bel Canto in Lisbon, but I think it compares well to Alma, another Portugal ** that I’ve visited.