Where to eat in Tavira

Tavira is a small town with a serious food scene, which is an unusual combination anywhere. Most visitors give it an afternoon on the way somewhere else and never work out that the eating here rewards planning.

This is how we would spend the money, depending on what kind of evening you are after.

If you want the best meal in town

A Ver Tavira holds a Michelin star and sits beside Tavira castle, run by chef Luis Brito with sommelier Claudia Abrantes. The pairing matters here: this is a kitchen where the wine list is treated as part of the cooking rather than an afterthought.

Book it well ahead. A town this size does not have a second Michelin-starred room to fall back on.

If you want serious cooking without the occasion

Two kitchens in Tavira carry Michelin Guide recognition without the full-dress formality.

A Mesa Tavira comes from chef Joao Dias and pairs refined Portuguese cooking with a real commitment to sustainability. Mesa Farta is chef Joao Viegas's room, a pick of both the Michelin Guide and the Repsol Guide, built on Portuguese produce and technique rather than imported ideas.

Either is the answer when you want the cooking to be the point but you would rather not dress for it.

If you are eating with other people and want to share

Come na Gaveta is the gastrobar answer: Portuguese-inspired tapas and cocktails, made for a table that wants to keep ordering. It also runs a seasonal outpost, Come na Ilha, out on Ilha de Tavira, which is one of the better reasons to take the ferry across in summer.

Bossa Tavira on Rua da Liberdade goes a different way, Italian and Brazilian influences built around Atlantic fish and seasonal local produce. It is the most interesting cooking in town that is not chasing a guide entry.

If you want the small, unfussy version

O Tonel is a small Mediterranean restaurant tucked on a side street, open evenings, and the dishes people come back for are the octopus, the lamb shank and the tuna steak. No view, no ceremony, and that is rather the point.

If the view is doing half the work

Rooftop Nomad sits on top of the AP Maria Nova Lounge Hotel with 360-degree views over the city. Fine dining and cocktails, and the sort of place that justifies going early and staying for the light.

The rest of the day

Breakfast is La Baguette, a French-run artisan bakery in the old town doing fresh bread, pastries and breakfast, open daily. If you would rather sit down for longer, Flavour Café runs Mediterranean and Portuguese food from breakfast through to dinner in the centre.

For coffee that has been thought about, The Table is a specialty coffee and matcha bar with a Nordic-minimalist coworking space attached, which makes it the obvious morning office if you are working from town.

And for the end of the evening, Al-Lagar by Casa Santos Lima is a wine bar, tasting room and shop inside a restored 19th-century wine press just outside town, run by the producer itself. Tasting at the source is a different experience from reading a list.

If you want sport and a Sunday roast instead, The Black Anchor on the riverside esplanade is the Irish bar and grill, with screens, weekly live music and a roast from 14.50 euros.

How to plan it

Tavira's old town is compact enough that everything above is walkable, which means the decision is about the evening you want rather than logistics. Our suggestion: one night at the star, one night sharing plates, and breakfast at the bakery both mornings.