Vila Joya Sea em Albufeira

As a long-term visitor of the Algarve, I have been meaning to visit the Michelin star restaurant for sometime. However, some friends suggested to me that we should go for lunch at the reasonably new SEA restaurant. This is the hotels high-end alternative beach restaurant which is still of a very high-quality. With high expectations and having been looking forward to our visit for sometime we generally were not disappointed. From the moment we arrived and greeted to the moment we left the staff could not do enough for us. Upon arrival you are met at reception of the hotel and then they arrange a buggy to take you down to the beach restaurant. Leon who drove us there gave us a history lesson of the hotel and he was very friendly and it was a nice intro to the hotel and the grounds. The restaurant is set in beautiful surroundings. The gardens that lead from the hotel to the beach are stunning. There are several features along the way. As you turn the corner to arrive at the restaurant, you have the most beautiful view of the beach and the ocean ahead. This is genuinely a fantastic location even before you start to enjoy the food. Upon seating at the restaurant we are given a comprehensive menu which is a mixture of Japanese dishes and Latin American food. Quite unique. After careful consideration we decide to focus on the Latin American elements. Although we did squeeze in additional course sharing a Japanese dish. Once again, the staff were exquisite, relaxed, friendly but professional. They helped us through a comprehensive menu, a fantastic wine list and were humorous along the way. The whole experience was awesome. Each every course and choice that either of us made did not let us down. The food was both presented beautifully and had magical flavours as you edit it. Once we had finished our main course, we were challenged by one of the waitresses to let her choose our desserts for us. She told us that she already understood what we liked and that if we didn’t want what we had, we can send it back. There was no sending them back we love both the two different desserts which set us off, fully fed with tastebuds circulating in our mouths and we didn’t stop talking about the restaurant for the rest of the day. It’s fair to say that we didn’t need dinner that night. The best news is that we will be coming back to the area in September and I can assure you that we will be rebooking and returning again to enjoy a long slow lunch, with fantastic food, superb service and some stunning views.

Genieten van het eerste tot het laatste moment. Hadden gekozen voor een van de menus (mix tussen Latijns Amerikaana en Japans) en het was hemels. Het Wagyu vlees was ongelooflijk lekker. Niet goedkoop maar elke cent waard. Heel vriendelijke en professionele bediening en het is er prachtig om te zitten.