The best restaurant in Evora – not only according to us but also on the top on TripAdvisor. Origens Restaurant is a must while visiting the city. This is more than just a meal, this is an experience. Join us as we enter this restaurant and enjoy a meal of a lifetime!
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Origens Restaurant – the best restaurant in Evora
As soon as you enter this restaurant, you automatically know that you are up for a treat! They can seat 24 guests at one time so if you want to be sure to eat here, reservations are in order. The menu is incredible and by that, I don’t only mean what’s on there. No, the menu is made out of cork and what can be more fitting than a cork menu in the world’s number one cork country?!
This restaurant is about sharing dishes and about regional products and wine. Their wine selection is more than impressive. The region of Alentejo have about 800 different producers of wine and this place has a huge selection that you can choose from.
A changing menu at the restaurant
At Origens they try their best to only serve food that is produced close by. The menu is often changed due to the season and what is available “right now”. The restaurant opened in June of 2016 and have changed their menu seven times already. Well, that was the case when we were there in February (2018). However, there is one dish that is always been left on the menu but more on that later!
If you are vegan you can also enjoy a really good meal here but make sure to let them know when you make the reservation. They do offer vegetarian and vegan food but need to know in advance so that they can surprise you.
Recommended in the Michelin guide
In November 2017 the Origens restaurant got a recommendation in the Michelin guide. That really shows you the quality of the food here! They don’t have a star (yet) but if they go for it we are pretty sure that they will get it. The best part about this restaurant is that it is small and with really engaged staff. Eugenia was our waiter and she gave us loads of information about all the things that they were serving.
The best restaurant in Evora recommends two adults to share their meals. They recommend that you order two starters and one main course. And yes – that is enough food to be satisfied! We got the meal of our lifetime and I can’t wait to share it with you guys… ok here we go…
The dishes at Origens restaurant
We told them to surprise us and did not choose anything from the menu by our selves. And that was such a success that we recommend you to do the same! So here is the incredible food that we got:
Starter – carrots, olives, cheese, bread and olive oil
This is the place where we got the tip on what olive oil to buy. It tasted amazing and before I had the time to ask what kind of olive oil that was, Eugenia was already there with the bottle, giving us all the information. The olive oil is from the region and what is even better is that you can buy it at Continente and it is not expensive. We paid about 6 euros for 750 milliliters of superb oil. So what made the olive oil so good? The smell and the taste of freshly cut grass!
To our food, we got served white wine (I get a migraine from red wine) that was fresh and really good. It was a local wine called “Vidiguerira – Antao Vas”. And then there were the carrots. Oh boy, those carrots! I can’t wrap my head around how they can get carrots to be so good!
Starter with several super tasty foods for us to try.
Starter and palet cleanser
Mushroom cream served in the cutest shot glass. Now that’s how mushrooms should taste. Don’t ask me how they could get it so creamy. I think that I could eat a whole plate of it like soup!
Mushroom cream served in shot glasses.
Flambéed pears with ham and nuts
By the time we got to this dish, Mini asked me why I don’t cook like that! And yes I am not that great of a cook even if my husband likes my food. The pears were flambéed in muscatel wine and there was cheese, ham, rucola sallad and nuts on the plate.
All these flavors worked perfectly together! And it is worth saying again that this was not a meal – this was an experience!
A piece of heaven in the shapes of pears.
Farinheira A bras
Now, this is the dish that I was talking about before. The one that is always left on the menu. A Bras de Farinheira is a Portuguese bread sausage with fried tomatoes and a creamy scrambled egg. This dish made us feel right at home. It was a really warm and “homy” taste but luxurious at the same time. Minis comment to this dish was…
This dish has a place in my heart!
And this is also the time when we felt that this really is the best restaurant in Evora. And since we stayed in Evora for quite some time we did try a lot of great restaurants but this was really “over the top”. Oh, and by the way… the black stuff that was on top is not coffee (like I thought). It was roasted olives.
Farinheira A bras with roasted olives on top.
The most colorful plate in Evora
Octopus. It’s a tricky thing to make octopus taste great. Good is no problem but great is another deal. This octopus was baked in the oven and it was served with sweet purple potatoes and saluted vegetables. And there is no food coloring in this dish – how awesome is that?!
Is it morbid of me to say that this looked like a Disney movie on a plate? The octopus literary melted in my mouth. Yes – The best restaurant in Evora is by far Origens!
A Disney movie on a plate.
Duck breast – slowly pan fried
“Peito de Pato” is duck breast that is slowly pan fried. This was served with quince and pumpkin. To that, we got served a Muscat wine from Setubal and for the first time, I could taste the flavors of the wine perfectly with the food.
It was an explosion of sweet and salty and so many flavors at once that it was incredible!
Duck breast with quince and pumpkin.
The best restaurant in Evora!
I can’t say that enough! Just remembering the flavors makes me want to head straight back for Evora to enjoy it again. This restaurant is a must to visit while being in Portugal! We had no room for desert but we saw them preparing them and we are 100 percent sure that they taste like the rainbow!
Origens restaurant is opened Tuesday to Saturday and they are open for lunch and dinner so at 12.30 – 14.30 and then again 19.00 – 22.00.
Address: R. de Burgos 10, 7000-863 Évora, Portugal.
While in Evora you might also like to check out:
Ja! Jag har varit där och ätit, en upplevelse! Så gott!! I juli 1017 var vi där, det var runt mellan 35-40 grader varmt….puh! Men så fint, Evora. Andra besöket där, har också varit där en ljum och härlig höstdag i slutet på oktober 2011, ett annat Evora i höstfärg och med en doft av rostade kastanjer…
Eller hur var det toppen! Åååå rostade kastanjer doftar så himla gott!
Visst doftar rostade kastanjer gott! hahaha 35-40 grader är kanske något för varmt 🙂