Oh, I could talk about brunches for hours! There are few things in this world that I like more than a proper Sunday Brunch! Today we are talking about the spectacular Brunch at Bovino in Quinta do Lago, Algarve Portugal.
Our history with brunches
During our hustle years in Bucharest (this was between 2016 and 2019), when we decided to raise money to buy a house somewhere in the world (we didn’t know back then that it would be Portugal), we were cutting spending like crazy: no more summer vacations at 5 stars resorts (not only at 3 star resorts), no more ordering and eating out, no more dying my hair at expensive saloons, no more of anything.
But because it was such a dramatic change in our lifestyle, we said that we have to keep something for ourselves, something to remind us that we are alive, and to keep us going. And because we both like to eat, we kept Sunday Brunches. I thought that it’s going to be one of the most ugly period in our lives, with so much restriction, uncertainty and stress, but looking back at those Sunday Brunches, they were one of the most happy and joyous days. Yes, the sparkling wine had a say in all this, for sure. 🙂
How is Sunday Brunch in Romania vs. Portugal
Oh, let me tell you about Sunday Bruch in Romania vs. Sunday Bruch in Portugal! The main difference (besides the price!) is that all the beverages are included in the price of the Brunch. And I don’t mean soft drinks. I mean wine, bear, cocktails – a certain selection but still, and the most important thing, without which a brunch is not a brunch: free flowing champagne! Well, to be fair, it wasn’t French champagne, but it was a very good bubbly sparling wine!
This is me at a random brunch in Bucharest some years back.
Because we love brunches so much, we wanted to keep the tradition here in Portugal also. The problem is that a brunch without sparking wine or champagne is just not the same. Is just a regular Sunday meal.
Yes, in Portugal you can buy the drinks, but it’s just not the same. It adds up quite a lot to already a costly meal and it’s just not the same feeling.
What to expect from Brunch at Bovino in Quinta do Lago Portugal
I’ve read that the Halloween Brunch at Bovino is legendary and quite famous! We said we couldn’t miss it being here in Algarve in this time of year. Moreover, I wanted to celebrate. With the recent events in the world, I want to actively live as intensely as possible and not miss any experience!
Bovino is also a steakhouse and renowned for the meats they served and for Flavius this is the definition of heaven on earth!
The decorations at the entry, in the restaurant and also in the backyard were extensive and very beautiful. I really felt the atmosphere of Halloween even if outside were like 27 degrees and a clear blue sky, characteristic for Algarve.
The brunch had more kids and adults and the kids were all kind of ages, from babies to young adults. Even if there were so many children, because they had a live band who played throughout all the duration of the brunch, the noise was not disturbing.
A lot of the success of a brunch (if not the most important part) is the atmosphere they manage to create trough music and entertainment. The fact that they had live music not only 1 hour but for the whole duration of the event, was a big plus. They even played Sweet Caroline, but of course, without all the reaching and the touching… 🙂
Also, a big plus was the fact that the whole yard was filled with playgrounds and toys and different activities like face painting. Even the adult got their face painted!
Having such attention to detail and much personal to entertain the children, the brunch was very pleasant for us, the ones without children or not used to be around children.
Our immediate reaction when we saw the food was: OMG I have never seen sooo many selections of different foods! So much variety of meat in particular! So many side dishes that can be considered a main dish easily! They even have an ice sculpture with the oysters on it!
The quality of meat is great and we liked the fact that besides their ageing special meat, you could try everything from their regular menu. So if you ever desired to taste a particular part of meat, let’s say maybe a ribeye or a New York Steak, at this brunch they had it all!
I was very happy to find the lamb ribs for me, and also for vegetarian they had a number of dishes to choose from. For me a particular pleasure was also the cheese plate, with a large selection of Portuguese cheeses. I even tried the sushi, and the pastas. They had some wonderful ravioli with cheese sauce.
The selection of side dishes seemed endless and you could find anything you wanted from French fries, boiled potatoes, of course rice (because we are in Portugal), even asparagus and some other few that I forgot.
They had a lot more food that we managed show in this pictures.
And we saw a lot of grownups being impressed with how the sweets corner looked! The taste of the sweets was not the greatest, but they looked very spooky!
The kids looked very happy with the food also! The majority went for the miniburgers, for the pastas and of course, for the sweets.
The drinks were not included, not even the water. But what was included was surprisingly the apple juice, that was at the discretion of everyone, children and adults alike. I said in the previous post (or maybe on YouTube) that water, and mineral water in particular is very expensive and considered like gold in Portugal. Well, we consider it like gold, that is how expensive it is! So it kind of made sense for us to get free apple juice instead of any kind of bottled water.
Is it worth the price?
The price of the brunch was 68 euro/person without the drink included. At first glance you wouldn’t say it’s a big price for the location and for the quality of food. But you can easily pay another 50-60 euro on drinks.
If I was back in Romania I would said a definite no, because what brunch does not include the beverages? But I come to understand that this kind of “luxury”, (having the beverages included, especially the free flowing champagne), I will only find in Romania. At least at this price. Because of course, you can buy the beverages separately.
So for Portugal, I would say that this thematic brunch such as Halloween or Christmas, compared with the other offers on the market in the same area, it would worth the money. Especially considering the location of the venue.
We will definitely go back to brunch at Bovino in Quinta do Lago Portugal, for an exquisite experience or to celebrate a special occasion.
But for a more day to day brunch affair we will keep searching for that perfect weekly cozy spot that screams Sunday Brunch.
If you are in the Algarve and you are looking for cool places to eat, take a look in the Food section.
Also take a look at our YouTube channel for more fresh update from the Algarve and Portugal.