The beaches in Sao Torpes mark the beginning of the “Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina”. Arriving from Lisbon, leaving the IP-8 you hardly can believe that, as you have to pass through horrible landscapes of refineries and camps of all sorts of various tanks, one more ugly than the other. The last you might think of given this scenery is “Nnatural preserve”.
The payoff of the topic is: exactly here, within one of the most unattractive coastal areas of the “Costa Vicentina”, in the middle of bulky coal power stations and oil refineries two of the best fish restaurants of the region established.
Therefore – or better nevertheless, depending on the perspective – we return again and again. On sunny and calm days the terrace of “Trinca Espinhas” is our preferred location.
You can sit here in medium shade, with free view over the beach to the main. The neighboured coal power station remains hidden behind your back and equally so the cranes of the nearby container harbor. The “Trinca Espinhas” is one of the rare steady recommendations of the region from Guide-Michelin, and convinces not only culinarily but also by its atmosphere. That might be why the not far “Arte e Sal” will remain always the second best restaurant, although they cook better than in many of the first best restaurants elsewhere.
So we will continue to revisit one and the other, depending on our moods. We never got disappointed and also the rather unfriendly landscape in our backs are all the same to us eventually, once we took our seats and the food gets served.
Where to find
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