Tradition at the right pace

A prior warning: if you are the type broadly indifferent to food and prefer to rush through meals quickly, ‘A Charrette’ is not the place for you. This is an establishment where everything takes its respective due time, from preparing and cooking the dishes on the menu, giving (even requiring) space for flavouring the excellent food, taking in the décor and ambience, chatting and enjoying the company.
Located in the centre of Monchique, anybody entering immediately notes the traditional and welcoming environment with old (but well treated) wooden furniture and containing a wealth of working or household utensils from times gone by. Next to the entrance, there is the counter at which the restaurant’s owner, José António Pedro, is normally serving. Currently aged 61, he been running the place for the last 35 years when he took over a snack-bar (and former grocers) and converted it into a restaurant “defending the traditional gastronomy of Monchique”, as he affirms.
Born in Monchique and with a great appreciation for the ethnographic identity of the region, José António Pedro set about discovering on his own initiative the ideas now defended by the ‘slow-food’ movement. Furthermore, he progressively applied them in his establishment. This reflects in the percentage of products both being fresh and locally produced or dishes cooked at the time of ordering. And hence the fact everything requires its own time for full enjoyment. While awaiting your main course, time to try some of the delicious and crusty regional bread, accompanied by the excellent locally produced ‘Monchique Olives’ (olives with onion and carrots braised in olive oil; €1.6). The service sets the pace and the spirit of the meal: unhurried and with a great deal of charm.
The menu features a wide selection of meat dishes, especially pork (an excellent example of Monchique products) even while there is a good variety of fish dishes and traditional vegetable (bean, chickpea) based dishes as well as smoked sausages. The wine list is both extensive and well stocked as rapidly becomes clear from glancing over the wines on display across the walls of the restaurant. One diner opts for one of the traditional dishes on the day’s menu: ‘Baked Leg of Turkey with mashed potatoes’ (€9), both very well cooked and in generous portions. The other goes for a ‘Monk Fish and Prawn Skewer’ (€14.5) with the fish cooked to a level of perfection revealing the skill of those behind the kitchen doors. This all gets accompanied by a jug of house wine (€4.5), in this case a fine red from Pias (Alentejo).
The quality of the dining is only enhanced by the tranquil ambience with the desserts providing another regional dimension to the experience: a ‘Dom Rodrigo’ (2.6€) or an ‘Algarve Tart’ (incorporating carob, almond and fig; €4) are both finely served up. And all artisan produced assures José António Pedro with the tart coming from São Brás de Alportel. The flavours prove correspondingly unmistakeable. In conclusion, the ‘A Charrette’ restaurant is a fine place to enjoy a restful meal with excellent quality food. The prices may not be the cheapest but they are perfectly appropriate to the sheer pleasure coming from eating in such an establishment.