Casa do Polvo Restaurant - The Octopus House, Santa Luzia

Posted on April 8, 2008
Filed Under Restaurants

What a treat we stumble on…actually have to give all the credit to our friend Rui, who found and took us to the little gem last summer. Otherwise, we would have never found this spot, that we now frequent whenever we’re in Tavira.

Casa do Polvo - Santa Luzia

Their number isn’t listed, and the number I did find took some work (thanks Sulezio), it might just be the owners cell…so use it wisely, I don’t want any run-ins with angry Octopus’ or their captors.

Casa do Polvo, is a unique little restaurant dedicated to Octopus, that’s right - the multi tentacle invertebrate, most people aren’t really sure what to make of. Well, all I can say, is cooked up right, it’s absolutely wonderful, and this little place knows how to choose, prepare and cook it deliciously.

Santa-Luzia-Boats

Aside from the seafood, Casa do Polvo has a special charm that’s different than anything in the area. It’s situated in the charming little village of Santa Luzia, within the Tavira district, and best of all, its front doors and esplanade face an inlet where local fishermen dock their colourful wooden boats for the evening. Making the scenery something like a trip back in time.

On our first visit to Casa do Polvo, we were seated in the small but modern dining room, this time around we were seated in the expanded space next door, appropriately named Casa o Lado, “The House Next Door”, but truth be told, the original dining room is much more charming than the second, so we’ll know, for it next time. On this visit we were in a group, one of my favorite ways to try a variety of dishes; everyone orders something different and shares. Between the group, I’m quite sure we had every octopus dish on the menu. There are other options for the less adventurous, but we were looking to fill our octopus craving, so nothing else would do, accept maybe the calamaris…

Polvo-Frito

In typical Portuguese food fashion, we had a lot food, over a number of hours. Here’s what I can remember from the haze of the many dishes:

Octopus salad - with diced tomato, potatoes, and onion - in an olive oil, vinegar and oregano dressing, refreshing and light even with the potatoes

Stewed Octopus - slow cooked, and so tender it almost melted on the fork, served with little steamed potatoes

Octopus strips - sliced full length, lightly floured and fried, delicious! *But not always available, depends on season

Octopus carpaccio - once cooked, sliced paper thin and served cold on a round wooden board, with a spicy sauce in the center. One of my favorites

Octopus with cabbage - this was the only one that got a thumbs down from the group.

Fried calamaris - not octopus but delicious strips of tender cuttlefish, these required multiple orders to keep this brood happy, a definite crowd pleas-er. Highly recommended.

Casa do Polvo stocks a few nice wines and serve Sages as apposed to SuperBock. There are also lots of desserts to choose from. As a group we really enjoyed the seafood, side from the octopus and cabbage. The only complaint was the desserts, we tried different ones and only one that stood out was the Tart de Alfarroba (carob tart). The others were nothing really to talk about, but then again, this is “Casa do Polvo”, not a pastry shop. Must say though, after such a great meal a tempting sweet is always a nice accompaniment to a steaming bica cafe, if there is any room left.

Things you should know:

When asking about the Casa do Polvo, especially if going by taxi…make sure you emphasize the “L” in P.O.L.V.O otherwise, you might end up at the local “Casa do Povo”, which is the Regional Government Council Chambers…and you won’t be getting any good seafood there…so watch the pronunciation.

Casa do Polvo doesn’t accept cards, so forget the plastic and take cash, and if you over do it, like we did, there’s a multibanco just few doors down.

Casa do Polvo
Cusine type(s): Traditional Portuguese
Avg. price: €15-20 per person (bottle of wine, appetizer, main dish and desert)

Location: Av. Eng. Duarte Pacheco No.3
Santa Luzia (view on Google Map)

Hours: Open daily but closed on Wednesdays