It has been forever since I was last at Beira Alta.
It was before they did their extension and revamp, which I must say looks fantastic.
Beira Alta has always been up there when it comes to restaurants on the Dolphin Coast with numerous people commenting to me on how it is their favourite. I can understand why they say it, it is a beautiful venue with an upmarket feel and an impressive menu.
Their staff are friendly and do their job well, so that was a pleasure.
The one thing that did get me was the prices.
How do you quantify what is expensive when no two places are the same? For me it’s simple: when the value of the food is greater than the value of my money. It’s a subjective discussion but that’s my opinion.
As far as the food goes, two out of the three dishes we had were very nice.
I had the pork belly with clams and chorizo. The dish was a healthy portion to say the least, to be honest I could not really pinpoint how it was made which is a good thing and means they are doing something different.
If I could describe the flavour it would be it had punch, not in heat but it was bold and rich. Quite enjoyable.
I also sampled their free range chicken which for me is the way to go, free range in my experience is divine and t.hey took the best raw product available and did it justice. It had just the right amount of heat and a beautiful smokiness.
Our third dish was a bit of a disappointment. My colleague ordered the prawns off the lunch menu. They just didn’t look very appetizing as they lacked that beautiful pink colour. They were swimming in an oil based dressing that just did nothing for the dish.
To finish of my meal I had something sweet as always. So I went for the Portuguese Orange Roll, which was delicious. It reminded me of Madeira cake with a true orange flavour (I love that you could see the orange zest). It was a nice way to finish what was by and large a nice meal with only one speed bump.
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