Restaurants and Cafés

Located in a typical Alentejo house in the heart of Arraiolos, the restaurant O Pelourinho opened in early 2000 and immediately seduced its clients with its simple, albeit well-prepared, cuisine and some interesting proposals for seafood and fish that are not so common in the region. 

The large room with a rustic terracotta tiled floor and large windows contains the reproduction of an Alentejo square as its main decorative feature on one of the walls and on the others feigned archways in terracotta bricks. A large aquarium for seafood attracts our attention at the entrance, as do the cataplanas (covered woks) that hang at the back of the room that looks on to the open kitchen. The laws are dictated here by dona Adelaide, from whose hands arise the most convincing arguments to like this place.  

The menu is varied and begins with delicious starters, such as octopus salad, quail’s eggs, peppers, chickpeas with bacalhau, mushrooms, grilled linguiça sausage, grilled farinheira and scrambled eggs. 

The main dishes include seafood, such as crayfish rice, boiled prawns, edible crab, shrimps in garlic sauce and sea fish stew; the fish dishes include monkfish rice, pasta and fish, charcoals grilled bacalhau or bacalhau made to the restaurant’s own recipe, small deep fried mackerel with tomato rice and Algarve-style baby cuttlefish. Meats include irresistible garlic slices with fried meat; tomato migas with carne do alguidar and coriander or asparagus migas with plumas, in addition to charcoal-grilled steak and veal chops or lamb.  

All the desserts are skilfully prepared in the restaurant, such as fresh cheese delicacy, toucinho de Arraiolos, sericá, egg pudding and poached meringue and custard. A good selection of mostly Alentejo wines!