Food review: Caniço Restaurante Bar

Hidden behind a villa park with small and simple villas, Caniço beach restaurant Alvor is literally sandwiched between two rocks. If no one recommended this (ex Michelin star) restaurant to you, you would never discover it.

By Peter Cruiming , in Restaurant Reviews · 07 Jun 2023, 14:00 · 0 Comments

Top food in a top location. A must-see!

You park your car in the road in front of the barrier and walk through the park to the small beach and restaurant. There is control at the entrance.

Make sure you have a reservation, otherwise you won't get in, unfortunately. You go down via a lift, which feels a bit strange because you usually take the lift to go up. You come out at a historic underground tunnel, inside the rock… Walking through that, you come to the bar/snack bar, where you can order drinks and simple snacks.

Tasty Ibiza music is played. It's open until 4am at night. Those must be fun parties.... ?? I’m told… The resort looks a bit old and unsociable, but this probably makes up for a lot...

At level -1 you'll find the toilet and the beach, at + 1 restaurant Caniço, which you reach by a small staircase...

Apart from fresh fish, Caniço serves meat and four vegan dishes such as Tahine, paella, risotto and mushroom crepe.

Prices of the main courses range from 13.50 - 26 euros.

The service is friendly, but has to work too hard. And too often take the stairs because the bar is downstairs and the kitchen upstairs. Logistically a challenge! At least one waitress should be added, Mr manager!

We start with a nice white wine.

Next comes bread with olive oil and salt.

As the main course, paella (13.50). What a beautiful and delicious paella! We lived in Barcelona for 2 years, but this one is at least as good as the original Spanish paella! Highly recommended!

As a side we have a beautiful colourful salad (4.20) and boiled Portuguese potatoes (3.50).

For dessert we have the drunken pear (4.50) with cinnamon and a delicious Port. Yummy!

The decor is simple but beautiful.

A unique small restaurant/beach club with good service, great views and delicious food for a fair price! Many beach clubs can take an example from that!

Highly recommended

Reservations:

282 458 503

Opening hours:

All day, every day

09:30–04:00, 7 days a week

Rating: Food 8.9 Service 8.5 Price/Quality 9.0 Atmosphere 9.0 TTL rating 8.9

Vegan friendly: 4/5

More info: https://www.hotspotsalgarve.com/restaurants/canico-beach-restaurant/

Meet Peter Cruiming, an Algarve-based food blogger. Residing in Almancil with wife Marlot Anna, a professional photographer, and their 7-year-old son, Elyas. Explore daily Algarve dining stories at www.HotspotsAlgarve.com, focused on Peter's passion for healthy and vegetarian food. Photo by www.MarlotAnna.com.