Kitchen Staff at Pappas

People are so friendly

Kitchen Staff at Pappas

The siesta tradition is alive and well in Portugal.  But as much as I love my afternoon nap, I am still sufficiently North American that when my interests have been captured by something, I stay focused and lose track of time.

Such was the case one day when I was beach rambling somewhere.  As I headed back towards my hotel, I realized I was starved and it was after 2 p.m.  Most restaurants were closed and it would take me too long before I got back to Olhos D’Agua, a sufficiently touristy area that places would still be open.  What to do, what to do?

As I cruised along infamous Highway #125 (which these days is more like a very fast high street than a true highway along much of its route) I noticed a small place with quite a number of cars still in the parking lot.  So I whizzed in and we were graciously greeted, although it was clear that the place was getting ready to close up.  Once we’d ordered from the small menu, the owner checked whether we’d want dessert and coffee and then let us know that his Mama, who didn’t speak English, would finish our service because he had errands to run.

The food wasn’t fancy, but it was completely home cooked and very delicious (as is food pretty much throughout the Algarve).  If I recall my friend had a shrimp omelette and I remember having pork chops, which were pounded thin and quickly grilled.  With a small salad and some home made fries it was a great little lunch.  And, of course, the incredibly inexpensive wine helped too.  We thought we were ordering a glass, but for 1.5Euro each of us got a half-litre of very drinkable local juice of the grapes.

Perhaps Mama couldn’t speak English, but she was extremely gracious, insisting on bringing us seconds of coffee and a little dish of candied almonds to complete our meal.  As we were leaving, we stopped by the open door to the kitchen to thank the staff for accommodating us when they could have been on their way home for siesta.  They seemed tickled that we would stop for a chat and were very pleased to have their picture taken.

With our appetites sated, we headed back to our hotel for our siesta.  I hope that Mama and her gang got at least a little nap in because of us.  Their generosity of spirit sure earned them a good one.

p.s. Pappas Snack Bar can be found on the north side of N-125 a couple of K West of the Vilamoura traffic circle

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