Golden Marina- Vilamoura

Tonight we made reservations for the Golden Marina which is a Chinese Restaurant close to the marina which is about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. You can choose from the menu or do their buffet style which is not a buffet, but a set price that allows you to go through the entire menu.

All you do is write down the dish numbers from the menu on the sticky notes and the waiter hands in these notes. The food is cooked fresh and takes a good 10 minutes for each round of orders to arrive. These are sample type sizes and is a fun way to try new things.

17 Euro's for the buffet and the only rule is you have to finish what you order which is fair enough as there is no wastage. I chuckled tonight as there was one table that did not get past one big plate of sushi and could not order any more. Other tables ordered bowls of rice and also found out as you do not give yourself a chance to work through the menu.

Tonight I was in a similar position and played a smart game of only one portion of rice, no sushi and no spring rolls as those were giant portions. I had a round blocker in my wife so only one portion of prawns was allowed lol as I do not like them.

The crispy duck and pancakes with spring onions and cucumber was seriously good hence the 5 portions. I cannot afford this in SA as this would cost a good 30 Euros per portion back home.

The crispy almond chicken was also fantastic and had a very unique taste as I have never had fried crushed almonds being used as a crumb coating before. This is something I will try and replicate when I am back home cooking and why trying new dishes is always fun. We or should I say me had a couple of these crispy almond chicken dishes.

The beef in oyster sauce was also a good choice and was literally like a good quality tender steak and onions. The pork in pineapple sauce was very good and was not overly sweet and possibly a dish I would not normally order except I was working through the menu looking for different types of dishes.

Prawns and the salt and pepper ribs were what one would expect and this was at least keeping the other half happy. My wife was already full after having the prawns and two duck pancakes.

I told her jokingly she was not a team player and jeopardized the mission with the prawns and ribs. If the prawns were a larger portion we were done as I do not eat them.

We finished off with their version of a Crème Brule which was like a condensed milk ice cream with caramelized sugar on top. It was actually very good and went very well with the coffee to finish off.

This restaurant is very popular and when we were leaving there must have been 50 or more people waiting outside for tables. This is the off season so I would hate to see how busy this is in summer.

What I have found strange and refreshing is tipping is not expected and is appreciated if you feel you want to tip. The smiles I received for tipping good service told me this is not normal. Tonight the waitress struggled to add a tip to the final bill and had to ask for help tells you how rare tips are here. This is how it should be tipping for good service and not expected or automatically added to the bill.

Posted Using INLEO