Café & Restaurante O Frango Maluco

To be honest, Portugal’s full of restaurants with paintings of happy chickens in the countryside, or chickens fleeing the knife-weilding chef, but you’d have to go far to find a place with a name as wacky as this one: the “frango maluco” (Crazy Chicken)! It reminded me of that classic old song by the American group, the Fools - «Psycho Chicken», from 1980. But, humour’s always welcome… this place opened last March.

It used to be a small Portuguese café, but it’s now a restaurant with a dash of German flavouring – and the site is strategic: on one of the roads giving access to Carvoeiro beach (via Sesmarias), so there’s no lack of interest. The interior is well organised and even better on sunny days. There’s parking at the door, and things start early here: from 9am you can enjoy breakfast, from €4.50. Later on a complete meal, with a touch of class, costs just €7.50.

When we visited, there was chicken with bacon and mushrooms, smoked cod fillets, fish stew, turkey casserole with red wine and mixed grill. We chose the first two options, washed down with red wine from the Alentejo (Borba region) «Cabeça da Barriga».

In the evenings, the menu is more sophisticated, with international touches – and prices that demand an “anti-troika” kind of attitude. Particularly good are the homemade desserts, while the father-in-law of one of the people in charge makes an absolutely fantastic medronho (at €2.75 a shot!). Some guys get all the luck!

Specialities: dishes of the day, international cuisine; Hours: Monday to Saturday, from 9am to 11am; Credit and debit cards: accepted; Bill: €20.50; NIF 509 313 140.