Restaurant Review – Hamburgueria Casavostra

Since moving to Portugal, we have been searching rather fruitlessly for the ultimate gourmet burger, but it seems that we may have found it at last, thanks to Hamburgueria Casavostra in Almancil.

Hamburgeuria Casavostra – the Hamburgo

In London, Gourmet Burger Kitchen was our burger joint of choice, while in New York it has to be Shake Shack. Nothing in Portugal had even come close to these dizzying heights of burger greatness until we tried out Hamburgueria Casavostra last weekend. Tempted by the interesting menu, which featured some unusual combinations (the burger with blood sausage, green apple, fried onion and mustard certainly stood out) we headed to Almancil to see what the place was all about.

Hamburgeuria Casavostra – menu

First impressions were good – the staff were friendly and attentive and seated us in a sunny spot in the quiet garden area. Drinks arrived promptly and they were happy to ensure that my burger was well done while my husband’s was medium. He opted to try out the Hamburgo – a classic burger with cheddar, bacon, pickle and tartar sauce – while I sent for the New Yorker, which was essentially the same but with the pickle exchanged for a fried egg.

Fried eggs on burgers seem to be very common in Portugal. It’s not something that has ever appealed to me before, but clearly my pregnancy hormones were in charge at the point I ordered my food!

Hamburgeuria Casavostra – burger with egg

Our burgers were served accompanied by a generous bowl of chips with a small scattering of salad to the side. After a couple of bites, we knew that we would be making the drive to Hamburgueria Casavostra a lot. While the presentation was good, the burgers were simply fantastic. The patties were juicy and full of flavour and clearly careful thought had been put into the overall balance of flavours on each plate. Everything was cooked perfectly.

Hamburgeuria Casavostra – the New Yorker

Sadly the portions were so large that we couldn’t possibly squeeze in dessert, nor did we have room to try one of the many tempting-sounding cocktails on the menu, but we will definitely be checking out both on a future visit.

At €25 for two burgers, chips and drinks, Hamburgueria Casavostra certainly isn’t the cheapest place to stop for lunch by Portuguese standards, but we felt it was well worth the money. These were by far the best burgers that we have eaten since moving to Portugal four years ago. It seems that our quest for the ultimate Portuguese gourmet burger may finally be over!