Albufeira

Albufeira is I believe Birmingham’s only Portuguese eatery (unless you count Nandos and I don’t) and is a lovely place. Run by incredibly friendly staff the menu boasts Portuguese specialities such as salted cod, sardines (in fact I loved the poster in their window that proclaimed ‘WE HAVE SARDINES’), those yummy custard tart things and Portuguese steak — which came with a fried egg, chips, salad and rice… It was pretty busy when we visited — with a couple of Portuguese families and a large party of people celebrating a birthday. Whilst the place is currently unlicensed you can take your own booze and it’s all very reasonably priced. We had a nice starter of pâté and bread, two mains, two cakes and a coffee and it came to just over twenty quid — you can’t really grumble with that. Inside the décor is minimalist but when we were eating a lady took our photos ready for their photo wall — so if you see a slightly tired looking lady with too much eyeliner on tucking into a steak — well, that’ll be me!

Albufeira is nestled away from the consumption and commutation mania of central Birmingham — however it is well worth going out of the way for.
The exterior is quite humble so it’s difficult to gain anything from the outside other than that is sells Portuguese and continental food — which is the only thing that drew me in. Well I discovered that the modest walls that house Albufeira contain a real gem. The atmosphere was warm, the staff welcoming and the food hearty, Portuguese soul food. Whilst tucking into my rice and turtle bean dish and appreciating a wall decorated with an idyllic ocean scene I spent a moment day-​dreaming of distant, exotic shores and a laid-​back life. It was pleasant while it lasted and gave me inspiration of what to strive for in the forthcoming months.
I sat for a moment and braced myself to leave. I said ‘obrigado’ to the lovely owners, exited from my romantic daydream into a grim, drizzly Digbeth and continued my day reinvigorated, courtesy of Albufeira

I visited Albufeira in Portugal for a group holiday in the sun, so imagine my surprise when I found an excellent little Portuguese establishment of the same name in the Digbeth area. It certainly is different to other establishments in Digbeth, which is dominated by mainly Irish establishments. I can’t say I’m an expert on this type of food as most of my holiday was drunkenly spent eating takeaways in a typically British manner. However, I can confirm that you get some decent tapas here, something I did manage to indulge in when visiting Barcelona. I’m not sure whether the locals will frequent this place, however on account of its decent food, its friendly staff and its reasonable prices I most definitely think they should.

Albufeira must be Birmingham’s newest eatery as when we visited very recently it was only 10 days old. On the site of the old Eastside Café, RIP, the new proprietors are striving to bring a little piece of Portuguese home cooking to Digbeth.
We probably didn’t time our visit too well as we were the only people in the restaurant late on a Thursday evening. However, we were greeted with a warm welcome, huge smiles and some complementary starters.
The menu was pretty small but that made it very easy to order and we plumped for a steak and a chicken dish. The food was very good, not fancy but defiantly worth the price, around £8 per main. They are not licensed yet and I’m not sure if you can take you own alcohol. The owners will also be serving buffets on Friday and Saturday evenings. Good food and very friendly staff.