Restaurante Myself

Anyway, let’s get down to business. Here, there’s no problem parking, and it’s free! Occupying an old warehouse that used to belong to the fish-canning factory «Feu Hermanos», this restaurant has been open since the end of last year.

It has seating for around 300 - which means even at the height of August there shouldn’t be too much trouble finding a table… And the food is ready-made, hot and right at hand.

That’s the good news! Particularly good for Portuguese holidaymakers who don’t want to wait, and seek the sun, beach and picturesque Portimão – all excellent reasons for relaxing, and escaping the urban stress in which they live (most likely miserably) for the rest of the year.

Besides, it’s the agility of each diner (from the moment they get hold of their tray, until they order their jelly dessert) that determines the speed and happiness of each meal.

Another piece of good news is the children’s playground. Parents who’ve run out of patience, neurotic mothers and couples on the point of meltdown due to their children will all be grateful – and will certainly return to this altar of temporary tranquility.

The staff is friendly, and help the more spaced-out diners find their trays. Finally, and just at the right time, there’s live music and events during the weekends.

Lasagna is the house speciality here – and we can confirm that it’s good (really good!) and available everyday.

As an alternative, there are always two other ready-made dishes that change by the day. Each one is sold for €3.99.

Otherwise, there’s fish or meat (fillets, steaks or ribs) that can be grilled to order. Wines vary in price – from the house wine in a jar at €4.50 to the «Esporão» at €33.50 a bottle. What else can we say?

The philosophy here is low-cost shopping-centre style – the sort that makes a lot of people feel completely at home given that Portugal is now hostage to sprawling shopping malls (thanks in large part to the largesse of our visionary council chiefs).

The truth is that many times the best way to put out a fire is to light one of your own… so in this context, we applaud Restaurant Myself owners’ strategy!

Specialities: lasagna, dishes of the day (by weight) and grilled fish & meat to order; Hours: Lunches and dinners, everyday; Languages: Portuguese & English; Bill: €7.95 for 1; Bank cards: Multibanco; Owner: Docas do Sul, Expl. de Rest., Lda; NIF: 506 319 792.