Review: Ocean restaurant at Vila Vita Parc, Algarve

‘So, how do you get a Michelin star,’ asked my husband. I mumbled something about a team of anonymous inspectors and outstanding food. ‘And how do you get two then?’ he continued.

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Having plumbed the depths of my knowledge (if you do want to know more, this is a very handy page…), I had to admit ignorance and suggest he just looked forward to the meal.

Because, to celebrate 10 years of marriage, we were on our way to Ocean restaurant at Vila Vita Parc in Portugal, one of the country’s only two restaurants to receive two Michelin stars. To say I was looking forward to it would be the understatement of the decade… especially having now swotted up to discover ‘two stars indicates excellent cuisine, worth a detour’.

Fortunately, our detour to the hotel was only around 20 minutes from our villa in Gale in the Algarve (the other double Michelin-starred restaurant was also down the road – the Algarve is evidently the place for foodies in Portugal).

As we weren’t staying at Vila Vita Parc itself, we had a quick tour around the five-star resort and I instantly added a stay there to my hotel wishlist. Set on the coast at Porches, it’s divided into several different areas, including the Residence for adults, as well as more family-friendly villas.

Along with pools, activities, a string of restaurants and bars, and a divine Moroccan-style terrace which cries out for you to lounge with a cocktail, there’s even a private yacht you can hire if you fancy swapping the resort’s beach for another stretch of secluded sand.

But however gorgeous everything else is, it’s hard to top Ocean. Looking out onto the Atlantic, there are tables on the terrace and indoors, and a tasting menu of three, five or seven courses.

We were treated to the seven course option with matching wines, along with various ‘surprises’ from the kitchen.

Quite simply, it was the best meal of my life. Each plate had no more than a dozen mouthfuls, but every one was astonishing – some courses even came with a recommendation about how to eat them.

Considering I’d briefly mistaken the hot napkin at the start for goat’s cheese (in my defence, it was folded into a ramekin, before opening like the petals of a flower when they poured water onto it), I was quite relieved to have instructions.

A mascarpone lollipop went with refreshing lemongrass tea, while later a course of rabbit had beautifully presented squares of meat along with discs of herb jellies and sauces, all crammed with intense flavour.

Another dessert, based around peaches, was the same – peachier than the peachiest fruit, the taste just exploded on your tongue. Even the flavoured butters (olive, herb, tomato, goat milk) for the bread were sensational.

At the end, I asked for a copy of the menu, as I was too busy enjoying myself to take any kind of sensible notes.

Alongside, there was a golden sparkling white wine, a stunning Viognier, and a perfectly matched red, all Portugusese, naturally, and all complementing the food beautifully.

And the double service meant that even the arrival of each new course was an event, waiters smoothly and simultaneously unveiling plate after plate in front of us.

Worth a detour? The Michelin inspectors might be more demanding, but I’d seriously consider a special journey back to eat there again.

Disclosure: Our meal was courtesy of Vila Vita Parc and Algarve Tourism

Images copyright MummyTravels