A Lareira - Évora

So glad we found this, finding restaurants that are open in the evening in Evora in April is hard! Too much a daytime tourist town... Simple menu of local fish and meat dishes but lovely flavours and charming host and good local wine to complement the food too. Always a good sign when the locals are here as well! Small restaurant so book at busy times of year, if you are happy with good local simple flavours you will love this place.

We ended up here because several other restaurants were closed for holiday. The food was simple but delicious, and we were very happy with our decision.

We came here without a reservation after our previous choices of restaurant were full. It seems you have to book all the top choices on trip advisor. There are 4 outside tables worth booking if you want one of these as they fill up soon, inside is big. We were the only non Portuguese there seems it's a local's kind of restaurant which is always a good sign quality wise. The staff were very nice, the menu is simple local food, very good quality ingredients cooked well. Menu in french and English as well which helps as their english is ok but limited. I recommend the sheep cheese starter it is ripe and very good. For main I had the black pork and my wife had the rock bass. Both were simply grilled to perfection and highlighted the quality of the ingredients. The portion size was very large and we couldn't finish our dishes. We shared some lovely juicy mango for desert before paying. Like most restaurants here in Evora no foreign credit cards are accepted bill with drinks €30.

We ran across this restaurant during our first visit to the city center of Evora. We were walking around and discovered two restaurants tucked up an alley. We chose this one just by luck. The food is basic Portuguese, but delicious. I had a grilled pork served with fresh lemon and butter that was outstanding. Even the simple salad was good. Other reviews have referred to this as a hidden gem, and they are exactly right!

It's one of the frustrations of Trip Advisor that somewhere which has not yet attracted rafts of reviews, but everyone says pretty nice things about, will languish a long way down the list which is one reason I've opted for a five star mark rather than a four it just might help. There are four tiny restaurants along this alley and Lareira is furthest away from the main drag and has the least impressive sign I have seen for a long time. In an age where graphic designers are called in to create attractive and stylish logos that complement a brand, just stencilling the name in blue on a bit of white board seems almost stand offish. But the Friday lunch we enjoyed as the only customers was easily on a par with anything on offer at much higher placed establishments. Opening with that ubiquitous squid salad was no hardship meaty squid without a hint of chewiness, fresh salad zinging with refreshing flavours. Main courses were simple grilled sole with heavenly steamed spuds and chef's special cod, a huge chunk of fish served in batter (but with some bones still onboard, I'm a big boy and can look after myself but some would be offended by that) with a seriously herby braised onion garnish, and we shared a slice of cake for good measure. Washed down with a cold and crisp bottle of quality white for peanuts, the only disappointment was the number of people who came, considered, then walked on. Didn't look flashy enough, busy enough with just the two of us? Their loss, we had already gained.