Chafarica Torre-Restauração Lda

Generally I enjoyed the fist experience in this restaurante. It has a good location and it is a small but with a good environment. it is famous for its beef meals and I can say that my piece of beef I ate was melting in my mouth and juicy. I had Beef à café- i was a bit disappointed it didn´t taste of coffee almost at all. And it took quite a long time to bring the food at the table. The starters were nothing special-I tried olives, peixinhos de horta, croquettes and i would prefer next time they don´t put them in front of you without asking for it . The biggest disappointment was the desert. For this kind of restaurants and for the price they had I expected something good, made in the restaurant-they didn´t have cheesecake and we asked for a strudel which was simply horrible. I advice them to be careful with this aspect-it shouldn´t be difficult to make simple but good deserts. The rest was ok but I still expected more for that price.

With a recommendation from the night concierge of our hotel in Santarem we walked down to Chafarica da Torre to find them open earlier than advertised. Although not a fluent English speaker our waiter was friendly, helpful and persevering. We had the best grilled salmon we have eaten so far in Portugal and what we have previously had was excellent. The salmon cutlets were large, had minimal bones and were charcoal grilled to perfection. The fish was accompanied by small jacket potatoes and cabbage which were both also delicious. I had white rice which complemented the fish. The waiter recommended the house wine, a litre of local red at our request. It was very good. Vegetable soup and crusty bread provided a very enjoyable starter. The total cost was a very reasonable €35.

The restaurant facilities are ok but it was rather cold. The staff is ok, very nice but...Food is good but rather salty. The bill.... I was overcharged with a beer (nobody has seen it), 2 croquettes (nobody has seen it either!) and olives (nobody touched them). Unfortunately I just noticed this some days after.... I thought these people would be more serious and more attentious with their customers, even if it wasn't a bust night in the restaurant. Be careful.... Will not come back, for sure.