Restaurants and Cafés

Imagine a typical Alentejo meal in the characteristic environment of the region - an open horizon, the cork oak and holm oak forest known as montado, absolute calm - and with the modern requirement of comfort: all of this in the restaurant Chaparro, in the Monte Filipe Hotel & Spa, at Alpalhão, a picturesque town in the council of Nisa in Alto Alentejo. The wall at the back of the large, light and very cosy dining room is painted with the image of a beautiful cork oak or a chaparro, as it is known here, and another with wall to wall windows that fill it with natural light and bring it closer to nature. The elegance and comfort invite one to enjoy a quiet meal conversing with relatives, friends or business partners. 

The menu changes twice a year, which permits the restaurant to take advantage of the most seasonal produce and offer lighter dishes in the summer, such as salads, which are still around in the winter. Among the favourite starters are farinheira pastries and the board of both cheese and regional sausages (Nisa Cheese PDO and sausages from Alpalhão); the main dishes, such as bacalhau à Monte Filipe, dogfish in garlic sauce and alguidar pork fillets  are an absolute must in this restaurant and correspond to the so popular and typical migas com carne de porco de alguidar; desserts include encharcada and cream cheese cake (the cream cheese being made in Nisa with sheep’s milk that go out to pasture around the hotel). For the smaller ones there are other delicacies that of course include Alentejo meat, such as hamburgers or spaghetti bolognese. The wine cellar is filled with mostly Portuguese wines, the majority from Alentejo.