Cova da Loba Restaurante [linhares da beira]

I bet the first thing that comes into your mind when I mention mountain food isn’t haute-cuisine. Yet, defying all odds  in the tiny medieval village of Linhares da Beira, you’ll find an exciting restaurant bursting with creativity in its creations and fusion of very traditional local flavours with an exciting presentation.

We were a little apprehensive to be eating at a smart restaurant with two toddlers, but booked a table for lunch keeping our fingers crossed that they’d behave well enough for us to enjoy this meal. We were so surprised when we arrived to find a large toy box in this modern restaurant, perfect to keep our boys happy while we took our time appreciating the local delicacies. There was also a children’s menu, which for €5 was both great value and pretty delicious.

We all had different starters, ranging from a seriously delicious partridge and shitake mushroom soup, to a warming tomato soup (complete with an egg on top) and scrambled eggs with farinheira. I personally had a bite of them all, and each encompassed a world of flavours, which were carefully orchestrated to create slight nuances on your taste buds. If you’ve got a large appetite, then definitely choose the partridge soup, a beautifully layered broth with a puff pastry top – superb.

Tomato Soup – large chunks of tomato, a runny egg and a whole world of goodness.

Ovos mexidos com farinheira – creamy eggs, crispy and doughy farinheira on a super crispy slice of bread with an olive oil drizzle.

Get a load of this starter! Partridge soup with a pastry top.

By the time we got to the mains, we had already consumed a lovely bottle of wine, and were feeling slightly full. But then we saw what we were about to devour and it was pretty. A trio of Bacalhau with a farinheira top on a bed of steamed leaves and pink pepper, veal with a chestnut purée, and a gorgeous piece of trout. I think the pictures speak for themselves, but I will just add that my bacalhau was cooked to perfection, and although I was surprised by the absence of potatoes, the farinheira compensated for the lack of carbs beautifully.

Filets of trout with smoked ham with tomato”migas” and coriander

Cod fish with vegetables and “alheira”

For dessert we made our way outside, where we had our coffee, leite creme (a portuguese creme brulée) and a glass of ginginha (cherry) to finish it off.

The whole experience was wonderful, from start to finish and we would highly recommend visiting this bold restaurant in its quaint little stone village.

How to get here: Open Map

Cost: It’s not cheap compared to the local restaurants, but there is no way you can get a meal like this for such a good price in any city. More than worth it. It cost us around €25 per person for a 3 course meal with lots of wine, coffee and a digestive.

PS: this is the bathroom. Pretty cool, huh?