Yeah, I know. Sardines (in paste form or in tins) taste more like mackerel (but mackerel is stronger). There are sardine pastes which may also contain extra bits to “enhance” the taste further.
I mash whole filets on bread/toast and add chillies to my liking.
Well I mentioned the bike ride to St Luzia for octopus to the friends we are meeting there. And they think it’s an awesome idea and they love octopus. So now that excursion is mine to figure out. 
If you have any details or advice beyond what you posted let me know! 
presunto,
Loved, loved, loved your Tavira dining report. Just fabulous with great photos! I’m a huge polvo (pulpo) fan and so enjoyed the polvo in Santa Luzia.
Many thanks, Maribel!
Right after leaving Tavira I took the bus to a town on the other side of the border and a second bus directly to Sierra de Aracena.
@Thimes , there’s only 1 bike shop in town as far as I know. We rented bikes from them for a few days. They have a map and can offer info if you have questions. Else you can look at the map on your phone to find the street that takes you to the road with a designated bike path to Sta. Luzia. That’s probably the only road to get there from Tavira.
If I go that way next time would check out the 2 local restaurants just off the main road from where you turn to reach the boat ramp and restaurants etc. Both restaurants are full of locals only. That’s where I want to eat next time.
Look at the menus and prices at several places before deciding. The first 2 or 3 restaurants are full of tourists only as they don’t want to walk a bit farther down the road. Check your receipt, too. For some reason I got charged more for the swordfish and not the octopus and tuna. Look at the tax column.
And of course the local covered market hall. It’s not magnificent like in Spain or France but it’s fun to stroll through after your bica with pasteis de natas (there are cafes outside the market). There’s a spice stall inside with stuff for all sorts of ailments. I only bought the fresh piri piri.
Thanks for the intel and the idea! Looking forward to the trip.
Thanks for all your posts. We had a fabulous time in Tavira, such a nice quiet change from much of the greater Faro area. I’m horrible at remembering to take pictures of food at the table, so I’ll post when I remembered to take a photo. We stayed not far from where you were, in the heart of the city and really only ate within walking distance - unless traveling to explore a different part of the coast.
When we arrived we had lunch at a place called “La Terraze”. It was a nice setting right on the river, up from the center of the action. They had great salads (which are hard to find in much of Europe IMHO) which was exactly what we wanted feeling jet lagged and foggy after our flights.
We did eat at Come na Gaveta, the gastrobar and enjoyed everything. The octopus tempura was excellent, nice light coating and super tender octopus. We also had a tuna taco, pork cheek tacos, sardines “on a rope”, and a few other dishes. All were great. They were packed and had no availability when we called, but when we walked by we asked if they could seat 4 and they said if we could be done in an 1.5 hours they could, they just needed the table back by then. No problems, we finished in a little over an hour without feeling rushed and glad we did.
We also ate at Ti Maria, which also calls itself a gastrobar. It was not nearly as good.
The most surprising meal was out at the beach in Tavira. You have to take a ferry out to the beach and there are probably 10 restaurants out at the beach. You’d think they’d be horrible since there is such a captive crowd but we had grilled sea bass and it was one of the best grilled whole large fish we had. Cooked perfectly, well salted, and charred well on the skin side without overcooking the fish.
In St. Luzia we ate at Casa de Polvo and did a full meal of octopus (of course). We actually enjoyed it enough to go back at the end of our stay for one final lunch (we don’t typically repeat restaurants on vacation). The fried octopus was excellent, the different fried starters were all good (except the english pasty style one which we found too bland - the samosa one was very nice). The cataplana was great, the roasted dishes were well done, we loved the feijuada . . . we just had no complaints.
We loved the Algarve but just didn’t expect the huge UK crowds in Faro (our own fault, we should have). We much preferred the quieter ‘edges’ of the Algarve (east and west) but we will hopefully be back!
OMG, everything looks great! Glad to hear you had a nice time and made it to Sta. Luzia. It’s an easy bike ride for good food. It’s harder to get simple boiled potatoes in Spain but so common in Portugal.
Now you know it’s so hard for me to force myself to go to other places (for holidays) for a change. I could visit Portugal, Greece or Spain twice a year if I could!
Oh yes, Algarve is super popular with Brits. Small towns are more my style, plus the prices are local.
I’m starting to plan a trip to Portugal for next summer, and we’re always looking for smaller towns to stay in. Tavira looks to be the size town we like, but we’d love to be somewhere in Northern Portugal (doesn’t need to be the coast). Porto and Lisbon look wonderful and we’ll probably spend a bit of time in one or both, but we’re hoping for somewhere smaller that still has great food options. Any towns we should look into? Will likely start a new thread eventually as well.
As a point of reference, other favorite places we’ve spent time: Denia, Spain; Kas, Turkey; Portovenere, Italy; Luang Prabang, Laos; Penang, Malaysia.
If it doesn’t need to be on the coast, I’d seriously consider the UNESCO World Heritage town of Guimarães, the “cradle” of Portugal.
It’s a really lovely town, population, 152,000 with a vibrant food scene. Restaurants such as A Cozinha. Here are the chef’s other recommendations-
Thanks Maribel – this town does seem quite interesting, and definitely the size we’d be looking for. I’m going to start a new post with more specifics about our trip (though we still haven’t even bought tickets yet). The main important detail is that our group will be 2 adults and a 19-month-old toddler – so this may impact some of the dining choices we make (though hopefully we’ll still be able to dine out and eat great food – our toddler is currently 14 months old and will happily eat at restaurants in a high chair, and he loves grilled meat and fish).
Thanks again, and let me know if you have other thoughts.
Dave
The Portuguese love toddlers so he’ll be very welcomed anywhere.
