restaurants, restaurants - Vilamoura

Review – Thai Restaurant Vilamoura

Thai restaurant in Vilamoura

We miss Thai food having moved here from London, where it used to feature in our diet at least once per week. We heard there was a Thai restaurant in posh / chavvy Vilamoura (delete according to your personal view.)

We set off to find it and were surprised it was not in the central marina area. For the first time ever, one of the numerous tourists reps who line the streets of Vilamoura achieved a purpose other than getting in my way, and pointed us in the right direction.

I am going to stop being snarky about Vilamoura now and get on with the review.

We were disappointed on arriving as the restaurant didn’t appear to have outside space and one look at the menu told us we were in for an expensive night….and I do MEAN expensive. If we hadn’t driven for an hour to get here we probably would have changed our minds.

We were delighted then, when we went in to find everyone eating on a huge outdoor terrace. Everything here is very upscale. Great big, expensive outdoor furniture, and huge gaps

Thai restaurant in Vilamoura

Thai restaurant in Vilamoura

between the tables giving an opulent feel.

The service was impeccable. It would be fair to say so it should be at the price, but credit is due here – it was slick and flawless.

The food was also absolutely top notch. Friends who have done “the travelling thing” rave about authentic Thai food – I have no frame of reference having never visited Thailand, but this was a cut above the best Thai I have had in London, which boasts some seriously good options.

Satay chicken, which can so often be dry and distinctly ordinary was a treat, succulent and with a sauce which we ended up spooning from the dish. Pad Thai was citrusy, crunchy and hot all at the same time, just as it should be, and we were delighted that our red curry was served authentic-hot rather than tourist hot, as you tend to find in the local Indian restaurants.

It was all extremely good…seriously stand-out good. Unfortunately the pricing puts it firmly into the special treats category, meaning we won’t be visiting very often. We are talking twice as much as an upmarket Thai restaurant in London. Sticking to beers instead of pricey wine, along with a couple of soft drinks and no desserts, we were still looking at 50 euros each – which in a country where a 10 euro three course meal with wine is a genuine reality is a LOT of money.

So, wonderful though it is, other than for very special occasions we will have to leave the simply named “Thai,” for the moneyed tourists….and there are plenty of them in Vilamoura.